Preparing Students for Professional Careers in Agricultural and Food Sciences

Grant opportunity: The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Higher Education Challenge grant program supports initiatives that strengthen the capacity of colleges and universities to provide education in the food and agricultural sciences. Projects should address curriculum, faculty, scientific instrumentation, instruction delivery systems, and/or student recruitment and retention for advanced degrees in food and agricultural sciences as well as in rural economic, community, and business development.

Grants are administered in several categories.

Standard Grants support targeted education projects.
Collaborative Grants Type 1 (CG1) support projects carried out with at least one partner institution that focus on strengthening upper-division and graduate agricultural science through curriculum modernization, faculty development, joint teaching initiatives, shared instructional resources, and recruitment-focused collaborations.
Collaborative Grants Type 2 (CG2) support projects carried out with at least two partner institutions that focus on major state or regional challenge in agricultural science education at the baccalaureate, master’s, doctorate, or DVM levels.

Eligibility: Eligible applicants include land grant institutions as well as institutions of higher education that show the capacity to teach food and agricultural sciences and confer a graduate degree in at least one discipline or area in the field.

Grant Amount and Grant Period: The maximum for Standard Grant awards is $150,000 total. The maximum for CG1 Grant awards is $300,000 total. The maximum for CG2 Grant awards is $750,000 total. The grant period ranges from 36 to 78 months.

Applications Due: October 15th, 2026

For more information: For more information or to apply, click here.

Brockport Research Institute is a NYS certified woman-owned business enterprise that provides grant-writing, evaluation, project management, and professional learning services. If you or your organization are interested in this grant and want to know how Brockport Research Institute can help, please reach out to us at grants@brockportresearchinstitute.com or 1585-431-3416. Brockport Research Institute is not affiliated with this grant program or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.