Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program
Grant Opportunity Analysis
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture is offering the Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program to strengthen eligible institutions’ ability to carry out education, applied research, and related community development programs in food, agricultural, natural resources, and human sciences. The program supports institution-defined educational needs through standard grants and collaboration grants, with work that may involve eligible institutions and, for collaborations, state government and private sector partners. Eligible applicants include Alaska Native-serving and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions, including independent branch campuses and certain collaborative arrangements, and NIFA will evaluate proposals on education impact, proposed approach, institutional capability, key personnel, and cost-effectiveness. For FY26, the program anticipates $9,577,000 in funding, with awards from $150,000 to $1,500,000 for 36 to 48 months; applications are due June 16, 2026, and application questions may be sent to grantapplicationquestions@usda.gov.
Eligible Applicants
Applicants for the ANNH 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. For the purpose of ANNH, an eligible institution means an individual public or private, nonprofit Alaska Native-serving and Native Hawaiian-serving institution of higher education that meets the definitions of an Alaska Native-serving institution or Native Hawaiian-serving institution established in Title III, Part A of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. 1059d). Table 3: ANNH Eligible Applicants Branch Institutions of a State System For the purpose of this program, the individual branches of a State university system or public system of higher education that are separately accredited as degree-granting institutions are treated as separate, individual institutions, eligible to apply for and receive awards, provided that they otherwise satisfy the definition of Alaska Native-serving institution or Native Hawaiian-serving institution as specified above. Independent Branch Campuses Independent branch campuses of individual institutions may apply for and receive grant awards under this program, provided that they otherwise satisfy the definition of Alaska Native-serving institution or Native Hawaiian-serving institution as specified above. An “independent branch campus” means a unit of a 2-year or 4-year institution of higher education that is geographically apart from the main campus, is permanent in nature, offers courses for credit and programs leading to an associate or bachelor’s degree, and is autonomous to the extent that it has its own faculty and administrative or supervisory organization and its own budgetary and hiring authority. Collaborative Arrangements Two or more eligible, individual institutions, independent branch campuses, or branch institutions of a State system may form a collaboration to carry out education, applied research, and Extension/outreach programs in FANH. In addition to the individual eligible institutions (or independent branch campuses, etc.), such a collaboration also may include units of State government and private sector entities. An existing collaboration consisting of at least two or more eligible, individual institutions, independent branch campuses, or branch institutions of a State system, which demonstrates its ability to carry out allowed activities and its commitment to the goals of the ANNH Grants Program, also may apply for and receive a Collaboration grant.