Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom (10.226)
Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom (Assistance Listing 10.226) is run by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, part of the Department of Agriculture. It awarded $6.7 million in 41 grants from fiscal 2021 to 2025, about $163,148 per award on average. No funding opportunity is open on Grants.gov right now.
The typical award was $53,117. Half of the 41 awards fell between $49,720 and $150,000, and they ranged from $30,043 to $1.9 million.
- Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$6.7 million
- Grant awards41
- Typical award$53,117
- Awarded in FY 2025$1.1 million
- Size rank1579 of 1824
- Type of assistanceProject grants
Key findings
- Annual funding rose from $984,420 in fiscal 2021 to $1.1 million in fiscal 2025.
- It is the 1579th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
- The 20 largest recipients received 93% of the money.
- Awards went to recipients in 26 states and territories.
What the program funds
The Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants (SPECA) program seeks to: (a) promote and strengthen secondary education and two-year postsecondary education in the food and agriculture sciences in order to help ensure the existence of a workforce in the United States that's qualified to serve the food and agriculture sciences system; and (b) promote complementary and synergistic linkages among secondary, two-year postsecondary, and higher education programs in the food and agriculture sciences in order to advance excellence in education and encourage more young Americans to pursue and complete a baccalaureate or higher degree in the food and agriculture sciences.
Open opportunities
No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.
Rules from the program listing
Who can apply
(1) public secondary schools 20 U.S.C. 7801(45), (2) public or private nonprofit junior and community colleges, (3) institutions of higher education (20 U.S.C. 1001), or (4) nonprofit organizations
What the money can and cannot pay for
Funds may be used only in targeted areas, e.g., curricula design and materials development, promotion of teaching competencies, promotion of agriscience and agribusiness career information, instruction delivery systems, student experiential learning, and educational activities that increase the diversity of students pursuing degrees in agriscience and agribusiness. Grant funds must be used for allowable costs necessary to conduct approved fundamental and applied research, extension and education objectives to address food and agricultural sciences. Indirect Cost (IDC) is not to exceed 30 percent of the recipient’s Total Federal Funds Awarded (TFFA). 7 U.S.C. 3310 limits the recovery of IDC for the overall award to 30 percent of the TFFA under a research, education, or extension grant. Please refer to the RFA, Part III.E and F – Program Description – Funding Restrictions for specific details.;
Matching requirements
This program has no statutory formula. Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.
Award range and average, in the agency's words
If minimum or maximum amounts of funding per competitive and/or capacity project grant, or cooperative agreement are established, these amounts will be announced in the annual Competitive Request for Application (RFA). The most current RFA is available via: https://nifa.usda.gov/funding-opportunity/secondary-education-two-year-postsecondary-education-and-agriculture-k-12
Examples of funded projects
Fiscal Year2025: In FY25 the SPECA program funded the "AI Cultivate: Enhancing Plant Growth Education with Artificial Intelligence" project. This project aims to integrate AI-powered plant growth technologies into secondary agricultural education. The team will focus on developing teaching practices by providing educators with the skills to effectively utilize AI technology for plant growth.
Funding history and past recipients
From fiscal 2021 to 2025, Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom (10.226) awarded$6.7 million across 41 grant awards, an average of $163,148 per award.
Who usually wins
Nonprofits received 64% of the money, colleges and universities 36% and state and local governments 0.2%.
| Recipient type | Awards | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonprofits | 12 | $4.2 million | 64% |
| Colleges and universities | 27 | $2.4 million | 36% |
| State and local governments | 1 | $13,001 | 0.2% |
| Other | 1 | $15 | 0% |
By state
2 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards. They are Arkansas and Florida.
| State | Awards | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 3 | $2.2 million |
| Florida | 1 | $1.5 million |
| Oregon | 5 | $441,723 |
| Idaho | 2 | $293,839 |
| Colorado | 3 | $229,614 |
| California | 2 | $179,623 |
| District of Columbia | 1 | $150,000 |
| Georgia | 1 | $150,000 |
| Iowa | 1 | $150,000 |
| Missouri | 1 | $150,000 |
| North Dakota | 1 | $150,000 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | $150,000 |
| Michigan | 1 | $149,951 |
| Delaware | 1 | $149,911 |
| Texas | 3 | $148,836 |
| Kansas | 1 | $140,595 |
| Kentucky | 3 | $82,946 |
| Tennessee | 2 | $73,900 |
| Mississippi | 1 | $72,184 |
| Illinois | 1 | $53,117 |
| Hawaii | 1 | $50,000 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | $50,000 |
| Washington | 1 | $50,000 |
| Minnesota | 1 | $33,820 |
| West Virginia | 1 | $31,562 |
| New York | 1 | $6,788 |