Program Office: Institutional Service

CFDA Number: 84.031B
Program Type: Discretionary Grants
Also Known As: HBCUs and HBGIs

This program provides financial assistance to Historically Black Graduate Institutions(HBGIs) to establish or strengthen their physical plants, financial management, academic resources, and endowment-building capacity. Activities may include:

• Student services; educational equipment acquisition; facility renovation and construction; faculty and staff development; the establishment of a program of teacher education designed to qualify students to teach in public schools;
• The establishment of community outreach programs that will encourage elementary and secondary school students to develop the academic skills and the interest to pursue postsecondary education;
• The acquisition of real property in connection with the construction, renovation, or addition to or improvement of campus facilities;
• Families, especially with regard to student indebtedness and student assistance programs under Title IV; and
• Services necessary for the implementation of projects or activities that are described in the grant application and that are approved, in advance, by the Department, except that not more than two percent of the grant amount may be used for this purpose.

Funds may be used for the purchase, rental, or lease of scientific or laboratory equipment. Also supported are the construction, maintenance, renovation, and improvement of instruction facilities. Funds support faculty exchanges and the development of academic instruction in disciplines in which black Americans are underrepresented. Projects may support the purchase of library materials as well as tutoring, counseling, and student service programs. Also supported are: funds and administrative management; joint use of facilities; establishment or improvement of development offices; establishment or enhancement of programs of teacher education; establishment of outreach programs; and other activities that a grantee proposes in its application that contribute to carrying out the purposes of the program and are approved by the Secretary as part of the review and acceptance of the grant application.

The Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions Program provides grants to the institutions listed under Eligibility to assist these institutions in establishing and strengthening their endowment funds, academic resources and student services so that they may continue to participate in fulfilling the goal of equality of educational opportunity in graduate education.

Funds may be used for the:

1. purchase, rental or lease of scientific or laboratory equipment for educational purposes, including instructional and research purposes;
2. construction, maintenance, renovation and improvement in classroom, library, laboratory and other instructional facilities, including purchase or rental of telecommunications technology equipment or services;
3. purchase of library books, periodicals, technical and other scientific journals, microfilm, microfiche, and other educational materials, including telecommunications program materials;
4. scholarships, fellowships, and other financial assistance for needy graduate and professional students to permit the enrollment of all the students in and completion of the doctoral degree in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, law and the doctorate degree in the physical or natural sciences, engineering, mathematics, or other scientific disciplines in which African Americans are underrepresented;
5. establish or improve a development office to strengthen and increase contributions from alumni and the private sector;
6. assist in the establishment or maintenance of an institutional endowment to facilitate financial independence pursuant to section 331; and
7. funds and administrative management, and the acquisition of equipment, including software, for use in strengthening funds management and management information systems.

Program Map of Participating Institutions -- This Google map shows the 24 institutions eligible to apply for and receive discretionary grants awarded under this section by Institutional Service (IS), U.S. Department of Education. Institutions receiving awards under the Strengthening Historically Black Graduate Institutions (HBGI) Program only were awarded in FY 2007. Institutions awarded grants under both the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and HBGI Programs were awarded their HBGI grant award in FY 2009. HBGI grants, regardless of when awarded, were awarded for a period of five years.