RIIA and DEG are NIFA-administered competitive grants programs focused on improving formal, postsecondary agricultural sciences education in the following eight insular areas: 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.
Funded projects address the national challenge area of increasing the number and diversity of students entering agriculture related science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
Resident Instruction Grants
RIIA grants promote and strengthen the ability of insular area institutions to carry out teaching and education programs within a broadly defined arena of food and agricultural sciences-related disciplines. By strengthening institutional education capacities in instruction and curriculum, and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, this program will help insular area institutions meet their unique needs.
Distance Education Grants
DEGs strengthens 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. DEG is a NIFA-administered competitive grants program focused on improving formal, post-secondary agricultural sciences education.
Information on Eligibility
Eligible institutions include colleges and universities located in an Insular Area conducting teaching and extension programs in at least one discipline, or area, of food and agricultural sciences. Eligible public or state funded non-Land-Grant institutions must submit a letter signed by the institution's Authorized Representative certifying that it meets the requirements in the RFA. Land-Grant institutions and others that have secured Land-Grant status through federal legislation are automatically eligible.