WASHINGTON, January 17, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has unveiled a new e-application for the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program, which aims to encourage students at 1890s institutions to pursue food and agriculture career paths. For the first time, the new e-application for the USDA/1890 National Scholars Program allows young people around the country to complete and submit their applications online. The program is administered through USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement (OPPE).
“The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program is crucial to USDA’s efforts to provide career opportunities for the next generation of leaders in food and agriculture,” said Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement Director Lisa Ramirez. “It introduces young people to the vast array of current needs and priorities in food, agriculture and natural resources, at a time in their lives when they are making decisions about their future careers.”
The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program is a partnership between USDA and the country’s 19 historically Black land-grant universities that were established in 1890. USDA partners with these 1890 universities to provide scholarship recipients with full tuition, fees, books, room, and board. Scholarship recipients attend one of the 1890 land-grant universities, and pursue degrees in agriculture, food, natural resource sciences, or related academic disciplines. The scholarship also includes work experience at USDA.
USDA awarded 126 1890 scholarships in Fiscal Year 2022, the most in one year since the program began in 1992. The USDA/1890 National Scholar program helps to create a pipeline of skilled employees for USDA and the United States agriculture sector, which is a crucial part of USDA’s next generation efforts.
The USDA/1890 National Scholars Program is available to high school seniors entering their freshman year of college and rising college sophomores and juniors. Learn more and apply online at USDA/1890 National Scholars Program. The application deadline is Wednesday, March 15, 2023. For more information, contact 1890init@usda.gov.
USDA has a long history of investing in and supporting historically Black universities, especially the land-grant universities that were established under the Second Morrill Act of 1890. The 19 universities of the 1890 land-grant system are: Alabama A&M, Alcorn State University, Central State University, Delaware State University, Florida A&M University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Langston University, Lincoln University, North Carolina A&T State University, Prairie View A&M University, South Carolina State University, Southern University and A&M College, Tennessee State University, Tuskegee University, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Virginia State University and West Virginia State University.
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
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