Grants and fellowships for food and agricultural sciences education
Higher education teaching programs
Grants
The Secretary may make competitive grants (or grants without regard to any requirement for competition) to land-grant colleges and universities (including the University of the District of Columbia), to colleges and universities having significant minority enrollments and a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences, and to other colleges and universities having a demonstrable capacity to carry out the teaching of food and agricultural sciences, for a period not to exceed 5 years—
to strengthen institutional capacities, including curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention, to respond to identified State, regional, national, or international educational needs in the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development;
to attract and support undergraduate and graduate students in order to educate the students in national need areas of the food and agricultural sciences, or in rural economic, community, and business development;
to facilitate cooperative initiatives between two or more eligible institutions, or between eligible institutions and units of State government or organizations in the private sector, to maximize the development and use of resources such as faculty, facilities, and equipment to improve food and agricultural sciences teaching programs, or teaching programs emphasizing rural economic, community, and business development;
to design and implement food and agricultural programs, or programs emphasizing rural economic, community, and business development, to build teaching, research, and extension capacity at colleges and universities having significant minority enrollments;
to conduct undergraduate scholarship programs to meet national and international needs for training food and agricultural scientists and professionals, or professionals in rural economic, community, and business development; and
to conduct graduate and postdoctoral fellowship programs to attract highly promising individuals to research or teaching careers in the food and agricultural sciences.
Priorities
In awarding grants under subsection (b), the Secretary shall give priority to—
applications for teaching enhancement projects that demonstrate enhanced coordination among all types of institutions eligible for funding under this section; and
applications for teaching enhancement projects that focus on innovative, multidisciplinary education programs, material, and curricula.
Eligibility for grants
In general
Minority groups
Research foundations
Food and agricultural education information system
From amounts made available for grants under this section, the Secretary may maintain a national food and agricultural education information system that contains—
information on enrollment, degrees awarded, faculty, and employment placement in the food and agricultural sciences; and
such other similar information as the Secretary considers appropriate.
Evaluation of teaching programs
Continuing education
Transfers of funds and functions
National Food and Agricultural Sciences Teaching, Extension, and Research Awards
Establishment
In general
Minimum requirement
Funding
Secondary education, 2-year postsecondary education, and agriculture in the K–12 classroom
Definitions
In this subsection:
Institution of higher education
Secondary school
Agriscience and agribusiness education
The Secretary shall—
promote and strengthen secondary education and 2-year postsecondary education in agriscience and agribusiness in order to help ensure the existence in the United States of a qualified workforce to serve the food and agricultural sciences system; and
promote complementary and synergistic linkages among secondary, 2-year postsecondary, and higher education programs in the food and agricultural sciences in order to promote excellence in education and encourage more young Americans to pursue and complete a baccalaureate or higher degree in the food and agricultural sciences.
Grants
The Secretary may make competitive or noncompetitive grants, for grant periods not to exceed 5 years, to public secondary schools, institutions of higher education that award an associate’s degree, other institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations, that the Secretary determines have made a commitment to teaching agriscience and agribusiness—
to enhance curricula in agricultural education;
to increase faculty teaching competencies;
to interest young people in pursuing higher education in order to prepare for scientific and professional careers in the food and agricultural sciences;
to promote the incorporation of agriscience and agribusiness subject matter into other instructional programs, particularly classes in science, business, and consumer education;
to facilitate joint initiatives by the grant recipient with other secondary schools, institutions of higher education that award an associate’s degree, and institutions of higher education that award a bachelor’s degree to maximize the development and use of resources, such as faculty, facilities, and equipment, to improve agriscience and agribusiness education;
to support other initiatives designed to meet local, State, regional, or national needs related to promoting excellence in agriscience and agribusiness education; and
to support current agriculture in the classroom programs for grades K–12.
Administration
Report
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated for carrying out this section—
$60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1990 through 2013; and
$40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018.