Resident Instruction Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas (RIIA) & Agriculture and Food Sciences Facilities and Equipment (AGFEI)
The purpose of these programs is to promote and strengthen the ability of eligible institutions in the Insular Areas to carry out education within the food, agricultural and natural resource sciences. RIIA projects strengthen institutional educational capacities, including libraries, curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention, in order to respond to education needs in the food and agricultural sciences.
AGFEI projects support activities to acquire or renovate facilities and relevant equipment necessary for conducting agricultural research to support tropical and subtropical agricultural research, including pest and disease research. These programs are intended to broaden the undergraduate student experience by integrating opportunities to participate in research, education, and extension and to enhance collaborations with community colleges, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, 1890 and 1994 land-grant institutions, and non-land grant college and universities of agriculture.
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Who Is Eligible to Apply:
Other or Additional Information (See below)More on Eligibility:
1. Individual Institutions. For the purposes of the RIIA program, an eligible institution is an
institution of higher education, as defined in section 101(a) of the
2. Higher Education Act of 1995 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)); is located at an Insular Area; and has a
demonstrable capacity to carry out teaching and extension programs in the FANH sciences. All public
or non-profit 2-year and 4-year accredited institutions of higher education that offer
certificate/degree programs in the FANH sciences are eligible. For the purposes of the AGFEI
Program, only individual land-grant colleges and universities, and other institutions that have
secured land-grant status through Federal legislation, and which are located at Insular Areas are
eligible for awards under this RFA as individual applicants. The eight Insular Areas are:
a. American Samoa,
b. the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
c. the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,
d. the Federated States of Micronesia,
e. Guam,
f. the Republic of the Marshall Islands,
g. the Republic of Palau, and
h. the United States Virgin Islands
3. Branch Institutions of a Territory University System. For the purposes of the RIIA and AGFEI
programs, the individual branches of a territory university system that are separately accredited
as degree-granting institutions are treated as separate, individual institutions eligible to apply
for and receive awards, provided they otherwise satisfy the definition of “eligible institution” as
specified above.
4. Independent Branch Campuses. Independent branch campuses of individual institutions may apply
for and receive grant awards under this program, provided that they otherwise satisfy the
definition of “eligible institution” as specified above.
5. Certification of Eligibility. At the time of application, each primary applicant will be
required to demonstrate or certify that it is an eligible institution as defined by this RFA. A
non-Land Grant institution must submit a letter signed by the institution’s Authorized
Representative (AR) certifying that it meets the requirements of an “eligible institution” as
defined above. The AR must also certify the institution, or parent institution in the case of an
independent branch campus.
a. Admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school
providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate.
b. Is legally authorized by the Territory in which it is located to provide a program of
education beyond secondary education.
c. Provides an educational program for which the institution awards a bachelor’s
degree or provides not less than a 2-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward such a
degree.
d. Is a public or other nonprofit institution; and is accredited by a nationally recognized
accrediting agency or association, or if not so accredited, is an institution that has been granted
pre-accreditation status by such an agency or association that has been recognized by the Secretary
for the granting of pre- accreditation status, and the Secretary has determined that there is
satisfactory assurance that the institution will meet the accreditation standards of such an agency
or association within a reasonable time.
Eligibility documentation must be submitted as part of the applicant’s Project Narrative. See Part
IV § B, Field 8 of this RFA.
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c. Provides an educational program for which the institution awards a bachelor’s degree or
provides not less than a 2-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree.
d. Is a public or other nonprofit institution; and is accredited by a nationally recognized
accrediting agency or association, or if not so accredited, is an institution that has been granted
pre-accreditation status by such an agency or association that has been recognized by the Secretary
for the granting of pre- accreditation status, and the Secretary has determined that there is
satisfactory assurance that the institution will meet the accreditation standards of such an agency
or association within a reasonable time.
Eligibility documentation must be submitted as part of the applicant’s Project Narrative. See Part
IV § B, Field 8 of this RFA.
Posted Date:
Friday, October 16, 2020For More Information Contact:
Irma LawrenceClosing Date:
Thursday, February 18, 2021Contact for Electronic Access Problems:
electronic@usda.govOther Due Date:
Funding Opportunity Number:
USDA-NIFA-RIGP-007856CFDA number:
10.308Previous fiscal year(s) RFA:
Estimated Total Program Funding:
$1,200,000Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement:
Matching is not requiredRange of Awards:
$30,000 - $150,000