Federal grant programs / Department of Education

Higher Education Institutional Aid (84.031)

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$5.8 billion
• Grant awards1,842
• Typical award$1.8 million
• Awarded in FY 2025$1.4 billion
• Size rank84 of 1824
• Type of assistanceProject grants

Key findings

• Annual funding rose from $984 million in fiscal 2021 to $1.4 billion in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 84th largest of 1,824 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 24% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 57 states and territories.

What the program funds

To help eligible colleges and universities to strengthen their management and fiscal operations and to assist such institutions to plan, develop, or implement activities including endowment building to strengthen the academic quality of their institutions.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

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

An institution of higher education (IHE) that qualifies as eligible using criteria as specified in the regulations. Under Part A, specific and basic requirements as stated in the program regulations must be met. Eligible applicants include institutions that have: (1) A low average per full-time equivalent (FTE) educational and general expenditures; (2) a substantial percentage of students having Pell Grants or other Federal need-based financial aid. However, a waiver of the low educational and general expenditure requirement and the needy student enrollment requirement may be granted to institutions meeting the criteria specified in the existing regulations. Under Part B HBCUs, historically Black institutions that were established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of African Americans are eligible. A listing of those institutions is published in program regulations; these HBCUs are also eligible under the Endowment Challenge Grant Program. Institutions eligible for PBI program grants are defined in Title III Section 318(b) of the HEA. Institutions eligible for HBGI program grants are specified in Title III Section 326(e)(1) of the HEA. Under the Title V programs, an HSI is defined as an institution that has an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent Hispanic as specified in Section 502 of the HEA.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Eligible institutions may apply under Part A, Part B or Part F of Title III of the HEA, or Title V of the HEA. Title III Part A includes Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP), American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving (ANNH) institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving Institutions (AANAPISI), Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). Title III Part B includes the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) program and the Historically Black Graduate Institutions (HBGIs) program. Title III Part A provides funds to eligible institutions to plan, develop, and implement activities for development of faculty, fund, and administrative management, and improvement of academic programs, acquisition of equipment for use in strengthening academic programs and institutional management, and joint use of facilities such as libraries, laboratories, and student services. Title III Part B provides funds to undergraduate HBCUs and graduate HBGIs.

Continue reading on SAM.gov

Matching requirements

Statutory Formula: Title Title III, Part B, Subpart section 326,Public Law 89-329.Funds are allocated to TCCUs, PBIs, HBCUs, and HBGIs based on a statutory formula. Title III, Part A, Section 316(d); Title III Part A, Section 320; Title III, Part B, Sections 324 and 326(f) of the HEA (P.L. 89-329).Under the SIP, TCCUs, ANNAPISIs, HBCUs, HBGIs, and HSIs, institutions of higher education may use no more than 20 percent of grant funds to establish or increase an institution's endowment fund. The endowment funds must be matched at a rate of one non-Federal dollar for each Federal dollar. Under the HBGIs program, eligible institutions that have project grants over $1,000,000 must match the entire Federal share on a dollar-for-dollar basis. NASNTI does not have an endowment component.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Oct 01, 2026 to Sep 30, 2027

Award range and average, in the agency's words

Varies by competition

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Colleges and universities received 79% of the money, state and local governments 12% and tribes 5.3%.

By state

53 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.