Tribal Colleges Endowment Program

To enhance educational opportunities at the thirty-five (35) Land-grant Institutions by strengthening their teaching programs in the food and agricultural sciences in targeted need areas. The legislation designates that the interest from the endowmen

This grant provides funds for use at the 1994 Land-grants' discretion. The Endowment fund is an interest-bearing account. Congress appropriates funding for this account annually.

Eligibility is defined by legislation. An institution must be an accredited 1994 Land Grant Institution with current accreditation from a recognized accreditation organization.

Eligibility is defined by legislation. An institution must be an accredited 1994 Land Grant Institution with current accreditation from a recognized accreditation organization. Section 7402 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) (Pub. L. 110-246), amends Section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note: Public Law 103-382) by adding at the end the following: ''(34) Ilisagvik College.''

The Tribal Colleges Endowment Fund benefits the 1994 land-grant institutions by promoting capacity development in teaching programs in the food and agricultural sciences. The Tribal Colleges Endowment Fund, as a teaching capacity development program, is a companion program of the Tribal Colleges Equity Grants Program. It differs primarily from the Equity Grants Program in two (2) respects, namely: • Endowment funds may be escrowed indefinitely and used for major obligations relating to the allowable activities. • As of October 1, 2001, Endowment funds also may be used for facility renovation, repair, construction. and maintenance in support of and in addition to the six (6) targeted areas of support listed below. Interest distribution from an endowed corpus based on a formula specific to this legislation. The legislation designates that the interest from the endowment funds benefit the 1994 land-Grant institutions by supporting teaching programs in the food and agricultural sciences in the target areas of: 1) Curricula design and instructional materials 2) Faculty development and preparation for teaching 3) Instruction delivery systems 4) Student experiential learning 5) Equipment & instrumentation for teaching 6) Student recruitment and retention Additionally, endowment funds released on or after October 1, 2001, also may be used for facility renovation, repair, construction and maintenance to support teaching programs in the food and agriculture sciences in addition to the above six (6) areas, to support the land-grant mission.

USDA, NIFA, National Program Leader, Multicultural Alliances for approval. Institutions that list plans for new construction in their Planning Document will be sent specific guidelines. Section 7402 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (FCEA) (Pub. L. 110-246), amends Section 534(a)(3) of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note: Public Law 103-382) to require that all eligible recipients of the 1994 Institutions Endowment Fund meet certain accreditation requirements in order to receive interest distributions from that fund. Those LGIs that do not meet these requirements will have their share of funds redistributed to those 1994 institutions which meet accreditation requirements.

Interest distributions are made on an annual basis. The Endowment Interest distribution is "no-year" funds and can be used or held indefinitely.

Preapplication coordination is not applicable. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

On the termination of each fiscal year, the Secretary of Agriculture withdraws the earned interest from the Endowment fund and distributes it to the 1994s on a pro rata basis. The pro rata basis formula is as follows: 60 percent is based on the Indian student count for each institution; 40 percent is distributed in equal shares. Interest distributions are made on an annual basis. The interest earned from the endowment corpus is distributed to each 1994 Institution based on a 60-40 percentage formula: • 60 percent (60%) is based on the number of American Indian students enrolled (based on the annual Student Indian Count as defined in Section 390(3) of the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act) will be furnished to the agency by the American Indian Higher Education Consortium - AIHEC) and • 40 percent (40%) on an equal base formula. The computation is made by NIFA and a letter of notification is sent to each 1994 institution President. The Endowment Interest distribution is available to the 1994 Institutions to be drawn down at their discretion through the electronic payment systems of either the Department of Health and Human Services (PMS) or through the Treasury ASAP system. Upon notification of their annual distribution, 1994s are required to submit a Planning Document (subject to approval) on how their Endowment funds will be spent.

Not applicable, each year of funding is awarded as a new grant.

2 CFR Part 200 - Subparts D & E apply to this program.