USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has $800,000 in funding available to support the Distance Education Grants (DEG) program for institutions of higher education in insular areas. 

The DEG program’s purpose is to strengthen the capacity of institutions of higher education in insular areas to carry out resident instruction, curriculum, and teaching programs in the food, agriculture, natural resource and human (FANH) sciences through distance education technology. Funded project activities will support the creation, adaptation, and adoption of learning materials and teaching strategies to operationalize what we know about how students learn. 

Eligible applicants include institutions located in the eight insular areas (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Virgin Islands of the United States) that demonstrate a significant commitment to higher education programs in the FANH sciences and to each specific subject area for which grant funds are to be used. NIFA reviews all proposals accepted in NIFA’s competitive grant programs through an external peer review process in which a panel of experts from within the respective field in question takes part. Specific details on panel meetings, review formats, and evaluation criteria may vary among programs. 

The application deadline is April 6, 2018. See the funding opportunity for details.

Source: USDA NIFA