“A bill to establish the Federal Clearinghouse on Grant Opportunities for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section states congressional findings on the contributions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)—which enroll 8.5% of Black undergraduate students but produce 18% of Black STEM bachelor's degree recipients as of 2024—and their underrepresentation in federal research funding, including less than 1% of approximately $60 billion in expenditures at colleges and universities in FY2023 and only one HBCU (Howard University) with very high research activity status. The section further identifies historical underfunding barriers for HBCUs, recommends strategies such as funding flexibility and merit-review reforms, emphasizes the national security and economic benefits of expanding HBCU research diversity, and deems necessary a federal clearinghouse for grant opportunities and best practices along with coordinated agency accountability measures.
This section establishes a Federal Clearinghouse on Research Capacity and Grant Opportunities for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Clearinghouse) within the Department of Education, coordinated by the Secretary of Education with the Secretaries of Commerce, Energy, Defense, and Agriculture; the Director of the National Science Foundation; and the Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (Part B institutions under title III-B of the Higher Education Act are HBCUs.) The Clearinghouse serves as the primary federal resource to identify and provide comprehensive information on grant opportunities available to HBCUs generally or exclusively, distinguishing between the two categories, that support research and development and institutional research capacity building; includes best practices and recommendations for HBCUs to build research capacity and access such funding, drawing from federal, state, and local organizations and annual agency plans under 20 U.S.C. 1063d; is staffed by assigned Department personnel and detailees from the coordinating agencies; and is exempt from the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
This section directs the Secretary of Education to notify each part B institution—i.e., historically black college or university (HBCU) established prior to 1964 with a principal mission of educating Black Americans—and Congress upon publication of the Federal Clearinghouse on Grant Opportunities for HBCUs. The section further requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to Congress on the Clearinghouse's contents and to offer quarterly updates on those contents to part B institutions that opt in.
This section directs the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to each (1) review grant programs administered by their respective agency and identify any that may be used to implement best practices and recommendations of the Clearinghouse; (2) identify any Clearinghouse best practices and recommendations for which there is no suitable federal grant program, as applicable to the agency; and (3) annually report findings under (2) to the appropriate congressional committees.