Additional Eligibility Information
A. Eligibility Requirements Eligibility is limited to the following institutions, as defined in 7 U.S.C. § 3103: 1. a College or University a. In general. The terms "college" and "university" mean an educational institution in any State, the District of Columbia, and any insular area which, (i) 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, (ii) is legally authorized within such State to provide a program of education beyond secondary education, (iii) provides an educational program for which a bachelor's degree or any other higher degree is awarded, (iv) is a public or other nonprofit institution, and (v) is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association. b. Inclusions. The terms "college" and "university" include a research foundation maintained by a college or university described in subparagraph (A). 2. State Cooperative Institution including: a. 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions; b. State-certified Schools of Forestry as stipulated in accordance with 16 U.S.C.582a et seq. (the McIntire-Stennis Act of 1962); c. State Agricultural Experiment Stations located in the 50 States, the District of Columbia and the Insular Areas in accordance with 7 U.S. C. 361a et seq. (the Hatch Act of 1887); d. "Cooperative extension services" meaning the organizations established at the land-grant colleges and universities under the Smith-Lever Act of May 8, 1914 (38 Stat. 372–374, as amended; 7 U.S.C. 341–349), and section 209(b) of the Act of October 26, 1974 (88 Stat. 1428, as amended; D.C. Code, sec. 31–1719(b)); e. Accredited schools or colleges of veterinary medicine or State agricultural experiment stations that conduct animal health and disease research in accordance with section 1433(c) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977; f. Hispanic-serving institutions as defined in section 1101a of title 20; and g. Eligible institutions in insular areas including, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; Guam; American Samoa; the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; the Federated States of Micronesia; the Republic of the Marshall Islands; the Republic of Palau; and the Virgin Islands of the United States. Applicants for the EGP must meet all the requirements discussed in this RFA. Failure to meet the eligibility criteria by the application deadline may result in exclusion from consideration or preclude NIFA from making an award. For those new to Federal financial assistance, NIFA’s Grants Overview provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process. Applications that do not satisfy all the screening criteria will be returned without review. Returned applications may not be resubmitted (with or without revision) under this solicitation. The initial screening criteria are the following: 1. Application must be received by the due date and time from an eligible institution. 2. The application must meet the Content and Form of the Application requirements as described in this RFA. This includes page length requirements, all required forms, and all files in Portable Document Format (PDF). 3. The proposed budget request must fall within the dollar amounts identified in the RFA. 4. The application does not exceed the limit of no more than two applications submitted to this program from an eligible lead institution.
