Distance Education Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education (US)

The purpose of the DEG program is to strengthen the capacity of institutions of higher education in insular areas to carry out resident instruction, curriculum, and teaching programs in the food and agricultural sciences through distance education technology. Projects funded by the DEG program support the creation, adaptation, and adoption of learning materials and teaching strategies to operationalize what they know about how students learn. DEG-funded projects must also focus on imparting both technical knowledge as well employability skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem solving.

Purpose and Priorities

• The DEG is aligned with the following USDA Strategic Plan FY 2022-2026 goals:
  • Strategic Goal 5: Expand Opportunities for Economic Development and Improve Quality of Life in Rural and Tribal Communities
  • The DEG is aligned with the following USDA Science and Research Strategy, 2023–2026 priorities:
    • Priority 1: Accelerating Innovative Technologies and Practices
    • Priority 2: Driving Climate-Smart Solutions
    • Priority 3: Bolstering Nutrition Security and Health
    • Priority 4: Cultivating Resilient Ecosystems
    • Priority 5: Translating Research into Action
• NIFA is soliciting applications for the DEG program that support:
• Acquisition of equipment, instrumentation, networking capability, hardware and software, digital network technology, and infrastructure necessary to teach students and teachers about technology to support distance education.
• Development and enhancement of educational services (including faculty development) to prepare students or faculty seeking a degree or certificate that is approved by the state or a regional accrediting body recognized by the Secretary of Education.
• Providing teacher education, library and media specialist training, and preschool and teacher aid certification to individuals who seek to acquire or enhance technology skills in order to use technology in the classroom or instructional process.
• Implementation of a joint project to provide education regarding technology in the classroom with a local educational agency, community-based organization, national nonprofit organization, or business; or provide leadership development to administrators, board members, and faculty of eligible institutions with institutional responsibility for technology education.

Funding Information

• The amount available for the Distance Education Grants Program for Institutions of Higher Education in Insular Areas (DEG) in FY 2024 is approximately $800,000.
• Award Ceiling: $200,000
• Award Floor: $20,000

Project Types

• The DEG program will only accept Education/Teaching projects. For the purposes of this RFA, an education or teaching activity is defined as formal classroom instruction, field and laboratory instruction, and practicum experience in the food and agricultural sciences supporting faculty development, student recruitment and services, curriculum development, instructional materials and equipment, and innovative teaching methodologies.
• DEG projects must focus on one or more of the Need Areas:
  • Curricula Design, Materials Development, and Library Resources. To promote the development of distance education courses of study and degree programs, new and improved curricula, and instructional materials and technology.
  • Faculty Preparation and Enhancement for Teaching. To advance faculty development in the areas of teaching competency and leadership, subject matter expertise, or student recruitment and advising skills.
  • Instruction Delivery Systems. The purpose of this initiative is to encourage the use of alternative methods of delivering instruction to enhance the quality, effectiveness, and cost efficiency of teaching programs.
  • Student Experiential Learning. To develop scientific and professional competencies that provide students with opportunities to solve complex problems in the context of real-world situations using distance education.
  • Student Recruitment, Retention, and Educational Equity. To enhance educational equity for under-represented students and strengthen student recruitment and retention programs in the food and agricultural sciences in programs utilizing distance education.
  • Additional Information. The use of students for only routine office, laboratory, or fieldwork is not considered education for the purposes of this program.

Eligibility Criteria

• Individual Institutions. For the purposes of the DEG grant program, an eligible institution is an institution of higher education, as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1995 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)), that is located in an insular area and that has a demonstrable capacity to carry out teaching and extension programs in the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences. All public or non-profit 2-year and 4-year accredited institutions of higher education that offer certificate/degree programs in food and agricultural sciences are eligible. Individual land-grant colleges and universities, and other institutions that have secured land-grant status through Federal legislation, and which are located in insular areas are automatically eligible for awards under the DEG grant program as direct individual applicants.
  • The eight insular areas are as:
    • American Samoa
    • The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
    • The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
    • The Federated States of Micronesia
    • Guam
    • The Republic of the Marshall Islands
    • The Republic of Palau
    • The United States Virgin Islands
• Branch Institutions of a State System. Individual branches of a state university system or public system of higher education that are separately accredited as degree-granting institutions are treated as separate, individual institutions eligible to apply for and receive awards, provided they otherwise satisfy the definition of “eligible institution”.
• Independent Branch Campuses. Independent branch campuses of individual institutions may apply for and receive grant awards under this program if they satisfy the definition of “eligible institution”. An “independent branch campus” is a unit of a 2-year or 4-year institution of higher education that is geographically apart from the main campus, is permanent in nature, offers courses for credit and programs leading to an associate or bachelor’s degree, and is autonomous to the extent that it has its own faculty and administrative or supervisory organization and its own budgetary and hiring authority.
• Certification of Eligibility. At the time of application, each primary applicant will be required to demonstrate or certify that it is an eligible institution. A non-land-grant institution must submit a letter signed by the institution’s Authorized Representative (AR) certifying that it meets the requirements of an “eligible institution”. The AR must also certify that the institution, or parent institution in the case of an independent branch campus:
• Admits as regular students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate.
• Is legally authorized by the Insular Area in which it is located to provide a program of education beyond secondary education.
• Provides an educational program for which the institution awards a bachelor’s degree or provides not less than a two-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree.
• Is a public or other nonprofit institution; and is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association, or if not so accredited, is an institution that has been granted pre-accreditation status by such an agency or association that has been recognized by the Secretary for the granting of pre-accreditation status, and the Secretary has determined that there is satisfactory assurance that the institution will meet the accreditation standards of such an agency or association within a reasonable time.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.