Applicants for the HSI Education Grants Program must meet all the requirements discussed in this NOFO. 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 About Grants provides highly recommended information about grants and other resources to help understand the Federal awards process. Applications may only be submitted by Hispanic-Serving Institutions. For the purpose of the HSI Education Grants Program, an HSI is an institution of higher education that is an eligible institution as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(2) and has a minimum of 25 percent undergraduate full-time Hispanic enrollment (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)). Certification of Eligibility. Eligibility documentation must be submitted with the application. At the time of application, each primary applicant will be required to demonstrate or certify that it is an eligible institution under the HSI Education Grants Program. Collaboration grant applicants must also provide documentation to certify their HSI collaborators. An institution must submit a letter, signed by the institution’s Authorized Representative (AR), certifying that it meets the requirements of an HSI as defined below. Data used for certification should be the most recently available but no older than the 2023-2024 academic year. Please indicate the timeframe that the relevant data is collected from in the letter. The AR must certify that: 1. The institution, or parent institution in the case of an independent branch campus, is legally authorized by the state in which it is located to provide an educational program for which it awards an associate or bachelor’s degree, or that it is a junior or community college. 2. The institution, or parent institution in the case of an independent branch campus, is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary of Education to be a reliable authority as to the quality of training offered or making reasonable progress toward such accreditation. 3. At least 50 percent of enrolled degree students are receiving need-based assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act, or that a substantial percentage of students are receiving Pell Grants in comparison with the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants at all similar institutions (institution of higher education, or junior or community college). 4. Unless waived by the Secretary of Education, the average educational and general expenditures per full-time equivalent undergraduate student are low in comparison with the average educational and general expenditures per full-time equivalent student at institutions that offer similar instruction; and 5. At the time of application, enrollment of undergraduate full-time students that is at least 25 percent Hispanic students Eligibility documentation should be submitted in Field 12: Other Attachments. See Part IV, B. Eligibility of undergraduate and graduate students supported by these grants through scholarship or fellowships is limited to citizens or nationals of the United States, or permanent residents. USDA will not accept competitive applications for grants and cooperative agreements for dangerous gain-of-function research, as defined in Section 8 of E.O. 14292. Duplicate Submissions – NIFA will not fund efforts that duplicate or overlap substantially with already funded efforts. The submission of duplicate or substantially similar applications to more than one program in the same funding cycle will result in the exclusion of the redundant application from NIFA consideration. Duplicate applications are not allowed for the same program and only one application will be accepted for peer review.

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