Program Office: Institutional Service

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

This program provides financial assistance to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) 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; education or financial information designed to improve the financial literacy and economic literacy of students;
• 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.

Program Map Of Participating Institutions -- This Google map shows the 96 institutions eligible to apply for and receive discretionary grants awarded under this section by Institutional Service (IS), U.S. Department of Education. Grants under Title III, Part B were awarded in FY 2007 for a period of five years.

Additional funds were appropriated in FYs 2008 and 2010 under Title III, Part F (Section 371 of the HEA, as amended). Additional grant awards were made to all 96 institutions as part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) in FY 2008, and as part of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA) in FY 2010.