Scholarships for Students at 1890 Institutions

The purpose of the 1890 Scholarships Program is to provide scholarships to support recruiting, engaging, retaining, mentoring, and training of undergraduate students at the 1890 Land-grant Universities, resulting in baccalaureate degrees in the food

The Scholarships for Students at 1890 Institutions Program provides funding to each of the 1890 Universities to provide scholarships to outstanding students pursuing baccalaureate degrees in the food and agricultural sciences and related fields who: 1. Have been accepted for admission at an 1890 University; 2. Will be enrolled at an 1890 Universities not later than one year after the date of acceptance at the 1890 University; and 3. Intend to pursue a career in the food and agricultural sciences, including a career in agribusiness, energy and renewable fuels, or financial management.

The 1890 Land-grant institutions must use the grants to award scholarships to students. The scholarships are intended to encourage outstanding students at 1890 institutions to pursue and complete baccalaureate degrees in the food and agricultural sciences and related fields that would lead to a highly skilled food and agricultural systems workforce. Federal funds for scholarships must only be awarded to Scholars to cover the following: Tuition, Student fees, Room and board, and Textbooks (or e-books).

Use Restrictions will be identified on the NOFO and the grant award documents. All funds granted by NIFA may be used only for the purpose for which they are granted in accordance with the approved application and budget, regulations, terms and conditions of the award, applicable federal cost principles, USDA assistance regulations, and NIFA General Awards Administration Provisions, 7 CFR Part 3430, subparts A through E.

In accordance with statutory time limits, project periods, including no-cost extensions of time, are not to exceed five (5) years. Further details are provided in the Award document Form NIFA-2009.

NIFA will evaluate applications using the evaluation criteria described in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. In general, NIFA evaluates applications using a two-part process. First, NIFA screens each application to ensure that it meets the administrative requirements set forth in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. All administrative requirements must be met in order for the application to proceed to the next level of review. Second, a scientific peer-review process is used to technically evaluate applications that have met the administrative requirements using a review panel.

Applications are subjected to a system of peer and merit review in accordance with section 103 of the Agricultural Research, Extension and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7613) by a panel of qualified scientists and other appropriate persons who are specialists in the field covered by the proposal. Within the limit of funds available for such purpose, the NIFA Authorized Departmental Officer (ADO) shall make grants to those responsible, eligible applicants whose applications are judged most meritorious under the procedures set forth in the NOFO. Reviewers will be selected based upon training and experience in relevant scientific, extension, or education fields, taking into account the following factors: (a) The level of relevant formal scientific, technical education, or extension experience of the individual, as well as the extent to which an individual is engaged in relevant research, education, or extension activities; (b) the need to include as reviewers experts from various areas of specialization within relevant scientific, education, or extension fields; (c) the need to include as reviewers other experts (e.g., producers, range or forest managers/operators, and consumers) who can assess relevance of the applications to targeted audiences and to program needs; (d) the need to include as reviewers experts from a variety of organizational types (e.g., colleges, universities, industry, state and Federal agencies, private profit and non-profit organizations) and geographic locations; (e) the need to maintain a balanced composition of reviewers with regard to minority and female representation and an equitable age distribution; and (f) the need to include reviewers who can judge the effective usefulness to producers and the general public of each application. Evaluation Criteria will be delineated in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Specific details are provided in the NOFO, which are generally published annually.