More Outreach Needed to Increase USDA Grant Funding, Report Says
By Charles Dervarics
More outreach from the U.S. Department of Agriculture could help minority-serving colleges and universities better compete for grant funding, a federal watchdog agency says.
In a new report, the U.S. General Accounting Office says minority-serving institutions (MSIs) received less than 2 percent of funding awarded by the National Research Initiative, USDA’s largest grant program. While the number of Black, Hispanic-serving and tribal colleges winning funds has increased in recent years, these institutions still report that a lack of resources “places them at a disadvantage” in the program, particularly because they often must compete with major land-grant universities.
