The Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education awarded Rust College $1 million on October 1, 2025, under the Higher Education Institutional Aid program (CFDA 84.031) to expand the computer science program's interdisciplinary efforts. The award supports activities to strengthen the college's academic quality, including planning, developing, or implementing initiatives that build interdisciplinary capacity within computer science. Rust College, a historically Black college located in Holly Springs, Mississippi, will perform the work through September 30, 2027. The program's purpose is to help eligible colleges and universities strengthen their management and fiscal operations and to plan, develop, or implement activities including endowment building to strengthen academic quality. As an HBCU meeting the program's eligibility criteria, Rust College receives funding through a statutory formula-based allocation mechanism rather than discretionary competitive review.