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Higher Education Challenge Grants Program (USDA NIFA) - FAQs

What is the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program?

The Higher Education Challenge Grants Program is a competitive grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), administered through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Its purpose is to strengthen higher education in the food and agricultural sciences by supporting projects that address clear educational needs and lead to meaningful improvements in curriculum, teaching, and academic programming.

What types of educational needs does the program aim to address?

The program emphasizes projects that respond to clearly defined educational needs at the state, regional, national, or even international level. The intent is to support improvements that can create benefits beyond a single campus and contribute to broader educational impact across institutions or regions.

How is this program different from routine instructional improvement funding?

This program is not focused on incremental or routine updates. Instead, it prioritizes meaningful educational change that can be replicated by others and that continues to deliver value after the grant period ends.

What is meant by a "creative or non-traditional approach" in proposed projects?

A central requirement is that projects take a creative or non-traditional approach to solving the educational problem being addressed. In practice, applicants are expected to propose more than small improvements, offering ideas that could serve as models for other institutions to adapt or replicate.

Does the program encourage collaboration?

Yes. The program strongly encourages collaboration within the higher education science and education community and also between universities and the private sector. Collaboration is framed as a way to increase program quality, share expertise, and make limited educational resources go further by leveraging complementary support, facilities, or real-world input from industry and other stakeholders.

What kind of outcomes is NIFA looking for?

NIFA is looking for durable outcomes rather than short-lived activities. Projects are expected to build capacity, systems, instructional approaches, partnerships, or educational infrastructure that remains useful after the USDA funding ends.

Do projects need to continue after the grant period ends?

Yes. A defining expectation of this opportunity is that benefits should outlast USDA funding. Proposals should be structured so the project can keep operating, scaling, or influencing teaching practice after the award ends, and ideally be transferable to other settings.

What is the Funding Opportunity Number for this competition?

The Funding Opportunity Number listed for this opportunity is USDA NIFA CGP 004896.

What is the CFDA number associated with this opportunity?

The CFDA listing associated with this opportunity is 10.217 (Higher Education Institution Challenge Grants Program).

What type of grant is this?

This opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant within the Agriculture funding activity area.

How much total funding was estimated for this competition?

The estimated total funding amount for the competition was $4,770,000.

Is there a cost-sharing or matching requirement?

Yes. The program includes a cost-sharing or matching requirement, meaning applicants must plan to contribute non-federal resources alongside the requested federal funds.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligible applicants include U.S. public or private nonprofit colleges and universities that offer a baccalaureate or first professional degree in at least one discipline or area within the food and agricultural sciences.

Are land-grant institutions eligible?

Yes. Eligibility explicitly includes land-grant colleges and universities, including land-grant institutions in the Insular Areas.

Are institutions with significant minority enrollments eligible?

Yes. Institutions with significant minority enrollments are eligible if they can demonstrate the capacity to teach food and agricultural sciences.

Are other colleges and universities eligible if they are not land-grant institutions?

Yes. Other colleges and universities can be eligible if they can demonstrate instructional capacity in food and agricultural sciences and meet the stated eligibility requirements (including being U.S. public or private nonprofit institutions offering an appropriate degree).

When was this opportunity posted and when were applications due?

The posting date for this announcement was February 6, 2015. The application deadline was March 19, 2015.

Is this an active funding opportunity?

The archive date was April 18, 2015, indicating this was a past competition cycle. Even so, the information remains useful as a reference for the program's priorities and structure.

What support was available if applicants could not access the full announcement electronically?

NIFA provided a help desk contact for applicants who had trouble accessing the full announcement electronically. The help desk phone number was 202-401-5048.

What were the help desk hours of operation?

The help desk was reachable during business hours, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays.

Was there a contact for questions about application content?

Yes. The announcement indicated there was a separate point of contact for questions about preparing application content, and applicants were expected to follow the specific guidance in the full funding notice.