Tribal College Research Area of Expertise | USDA NIFA TCRGP 006634

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA TCRGP 006634

The Tribal College Research Area of Expertise (TCRAE) grant opportunity is a competitive federal funding program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA). For fiscal year 2018, its central purpose is to strengthen research capacity at Tribal Colleges and Universities that hold 1994 Land-Grant Institution status. The program is designed to support applied research projects that are practical and community-facing, meaning projects should not just generate knowledge, but also directly respond to student educational needs and help solve real problems affecting Tribal communities, reservations, or surrounding regions. The opportunity is grounded in the intent of the 1994 Research Grants program under the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994, which created a pathway for Tribal Colleges to be recognized as land-grant institutions and to receive support comparable in spirit to other land-grant systems.

Eligibility is tightly limited. Only Tribal Colleges or Universities officially designated as 1994 institutions under the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301, as amended) are allowed to submit applications. The official eligible list is referenced in the opportunity materials (notably in the eligibility attachments in Grants.gov). The notice also makes clear that eligibility is enforced strictly: if an applicant does not meet the required criteria by the application deadline, the proposal can be removed from consideration entirely, or even if it is reviewed, the agency may still be unable to issue an award. In other words, meeting the 1994 status requirement is non-negotiable for an award to be made.

While only eligible 1994 Tribal institutions can apply as the primary applicant, the program does allow awardees to subcontract parts of the work to outside organizations that are not themselves eligible to apply, as long as those partners are necessary to carry out the proposed project. This structure gives Tribal Colleges flexibility to bring in specialized expertise, services, or technical capacity (for example, lab analyses, evaluation support, or collaborative field work) without losing the focus on Tribal-led research capacity building.

From an administrative standpoint, the funding opportunity is categorized as a discretionary program and uses a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument, which typically implies substantial involvement by the federal agency during the project period compared with a standard grant. The activity category is listed as agriculture under CFDA number 10.227, signaling that the program sits within USDA's research and education mission and likely expects projects that connect to food, agriculture, natural resources, human sciences, or related community development issues that align with USDA priorities and Tribal community needs.

Key dates and funding parameters included in the notice show it was created on June 26, 2018, with an original application closing date of August 30, 2018. The award ceiling is listed as $500,000. The listing notes "ExpectedAwards:" but does not provide a number in the supplied text, so the precise count of awards anticipated is not specified here. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted capacity-building investment: it funds applied research led by 1994 Tribal Colleges, with a strong expectation that the work will benefit students and produce tangible, locally relevant outcomes for Tribal communities and surrounding regions.

• The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Tribal College Research Area of Expertise" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.227.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2018-06-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-08-30. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA NIFA TCRGP 006634

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: