Title: NSF Awards to HBCU Institutions to Stimulate Diversity Date: September 29, 1999 Media contact: September 29, 1999 Bill Noxon NSF PR 99-57 (703) 306-1070/wnoxon@nsf.gov Program contact: Victor Santiago (703) 306-1635/vsantiag@nsf.gov NSF AWARDS TO HBCU INSTITUTIONS TO STIMULATE DIVERSITY The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced that 14 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will receive more than $42 million over five years to promote diversity and increased participation of underrepresented groups in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. The 1999 awards were announced at a White House-sponsored annual conference on HBCUs in Washington, D.C. NSF's newest five-year cooperative agreements with these institutions represent an expansion beyond the traditional three- year agreements of previous years. NSF's $8-million undergraduate program in 1999 is about 25 percent higher than the previous year. The larger annual expenditures, increased numbers of participating undergraduate institutions and longer- running awards are designed to improve the quality of programs and to increase the numbers of underrepresented minority students enrolling in, and completing, bachelors' degrees. "This comes at a time when the nation is examining economic security issues as well as the role and scope of technology in developing a more diverse workforce in science, engineering and technology," said Roosevelt Calbert, Ph.D., who directs NSF's education-related human resource development programs. "We know that talents from many diverse sources are needed to guarantee the preservation of our world leadership in these fields." Calbert explained that the money from these cooperative agreements goes primarily toward curricular reform and improvements,faculty development, research experiences for undergraduates and instrumentation. The 14 new awards, worth about $3 million apiece, are going to Albany State (Ga.), Alcorn State (Miss.), Jackson State (Miss.) and North Carolina A & T Universities, also to Florida A & M, Prairie View A & M (Tex.), Hampton (Va.), Howard (D.C.), Tuskegee (Ala.) and Clark Atlanta (Ga.) Universities, the University of the Virgin Islands, as well as Bennett College (N.C.), and Miles and Oakwood Colleges in Alabama. -NSF-