by Derek Major
December 12, 2023
The U.S. Department of Education announced $93 million in grant awards to 20 HBCUs, MSIs, and Tribal colleges and universities.
The U.S. Department of Education announced $93 million in grant awards to 20 colleges and universities to support research and development efforts for underserved students.
According to a DOE release, the grants will support Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) and boost completion rates.
The grants will be provided to the institutions under the Research and Development Infrastructure (RDI) program and the Postsecondary Student Success Grant (PSSG) program. The RDI program provides funds to HBCUs, TCCUs, and MSIs to overhaul research infrastructure, including strengthening research productivity, faculty expertise, physical infrastructure, and partnerships leading to increases in external funding.
The PSSG program aims to equitably improve postsecondary student outcomes, including retention, transfer, credit accumulation, and completion, by leveraging data and implementing, scaling, and rigorously evaluating evidence-based approaches.
Since President Joe Biden took office, the grant funding has added to the more than $25 billion the Biden administration has provided to HBCUs, MSIs, and TCCUs.
“The Biden-Harris Administration recognizes the urgency of this moment in higher education and that creating opportunities for students of color and other underserved students to succeed in today’s most cutting-edge fields has never mattered more,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “These grant awards will help many of our nation’s most inclusive and diverse colleges and universities expand their capacity to drive research and innovation and propel more students to graduation day and fulfilling careers. This is how we Raise the Bar for college excellence and attainment in this country and close equity gaps in higher education that have no place in the 21st century.”
RDI program grants will be given to five HBCUs and three MSIs to increase their level of research activity in alignment with the Carnegie Classification designations to move from the Doctoral and Professional Universities (D/PU) classification toward the Doctoral Universities with High Research Activity (R2) classification. Additionally, the grants will increase their classification from the Doctoral Universities with High Research Activity (R2) toward the Doctoral Universities with Very High Research Activity (R1) category.
Two TCCUs will use the grants to support increased research activities, undergraduate research opportunities, faculty development, research development, and infrastructure, including physical infrastructure and human capital development.
Schools receiving RDI program grants include Hampton University, Southern University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Texas Southern University, Tennessee State University, United Tribes Technical College, Blackfeet Community College, City College of New York, The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, and California State University, Fullerton. Schools receiving PSSG program grants include The University System of Maryland, Long Beach City College, Saint Peter’s University, California State University, Fullerton, Tulsa Community College, University of California, Berkeley, City College of New York, Colorado State University System, and Georgia State University.
