HBGI Program Activities

TITLE III B: 
STRENGTHENING HISTORICALLY BLACK GRADUATE INSTITUTIONS (HBGI)

GENERAL AUTHORIZATION

1. Subject to the availability of funds appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary shall award program grants to each of the postgraduate institutions listed in subsection (e) of this section that is determined by the Secretary to be making a substantial contribution to the legal, medical, dental, veterinary, or other graduate education opportunities in mathematics, engineering, or the physical or natural sciences for Black Americans.
2. No grant in excess of $1,000,000 may be made under this section unless the postgraduate institution provides assurances that 50 percent of the cost of the purposes for which the grant is made will be paid from non-Federal sources, except that no institution shall be required to match any portion of the first $1,000,000 of the institution’s award from the Secretary. After funds are made available to each eligible institution under the funding rules described in subsection (f) of this section, the Secretary shall distribute, on a pro rata basis, any amounts which were not so made available (by reason of the failure of an institution to comply with the matching requirements of this paragraph) among the institutions that have complied with such matching requirement.

DURATION

USES OF FUNDS

1. Purchase, rental or lease of scientific or laboratory equipment for educational purposes, including instructional and research purposes;
2. Construction, maintenance, renovation, and improvement in classroom, library, laboratory, and other instructional facilities, including purchase or rental of telecommunications technology equipment or services;
3. Purchase of library books, periodicals, technical and other scientific journals, microfilm, microfiche, and other educational materials, including telecommunications program materials;
4. Scholarships, fellowships, and other financial assistance for needy graduate and professional students to permit the enrollment of the students in and completion of the doctoral degree in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, law, and the doctorate degree in the physical or natural sciences, engineering, mathematics, or other scientific disciplines in which African Americans are underrepresented;
5. Establishing or improving a development office to strengthen and increase contributions from alumni and the private sector;
6. Assisting in the establishment or maintenance of an institutional endowment to facilitate financial independence pursuant to section 1065 of this title;
7. Funds and administrative management, and the acquisition of equipment, including software, for use in strengthening funds management and management information systems;
8. Acquisition of real property that is adjacent to the campus in connection with the construction, renovation, or addition to or improvement of campus facilities;
9. Education or financial information designed to improve the financial literacy and economic literacy of students or the students’ families, especially with regard to student indebtedness and student assistance programs under subchapter IV of this chapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of title 42;
10. Services necessary for the implementation of projects or activities that are described in the grant application and that are approved, in advance, by the Secretary, except that not more than two percent of the grant amount may be used for this purpose;
11. Tutoring, counseling, and student service programs designed to improve academic success; and
12. Other activities proposed in the application submitted under subsection (d) that:
    • contribute to carrying out the purposes of this part; and
    • are approved by the Secretary as part of the review and acceptance of such application.