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- More than 170 institutions applied for a National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program grant.
- The deadline to apply was Dec. 1, 2021. NTIA is still reviewing applications and will announce grant winners through November 2024.
- Through February 2023, NTIA has awarded $139.4 million of its $268 million to 49 schools.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program is working to transform historically Black college and universities (HBCUs), tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) through grants to expand broadband internet access.
HBCU Virginia State University (VSU) is one of the latest schools that will receive a grant from NTIA. The Petersburg, Virginia, university announced in January it would use the $2.2 million grant to boost high-speed internet on campus.
"Achieving digital equity and inclusion is one of the major social justice challenges of our time," said Dr. Dawit Haile, dean of VSU's college of engineering. "It is essential to economic development, educational advancement, job attainment, and general health and well-being. Since access inequality is correlated to income inequality, any successful broadband expansion effort will address both access and affordability."
Schools That Have Received Grants and How They Spend The Money
Last Updated: February 7, 2023 at 11:49 A.M. EST*Courtesy of National Telecommunications and Information Administration
AANAPISI: Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institution
HSI: Hispanic-serving institution
TCU: Tribal college and university
NASNTI: Native American-serving nontribal institution
HBCU: Historically Black college and university
PBI: Predominantly Black institution
ANNH: Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institution
Alabama | Alaska | American Samoa | Arizona | California | Florida | Georgia | Illinois | Kentucky | Marshall Islands | Louisiana | Maryland | Missouri | New Jersey | New Mexico | New York | North Carolina | Oklahoma | Ohio | Pennsylvania | South Carolina | Texas | Virginia
Alabama
J.F. Drake State Community and Technical College — $2.4 million
HBCU
H. Councill Trenholm State Community College — $2 million
HBCU
Stillman College — $2.7 million
HBCU
University of West Alabama — $1.6 million
- PBI
Alaska
University of Alaska, Fairbanks — $2.9 million
ANNH
American Samoa
American Samoa Community College — $2.9 million
AANAPISI
Arizona
Dine College — $2.9 million
TCU
Tohono O'odham Community College — $1.9 million
TCU
University of Arizona — $3 million
HSI
California
California State University, Sacramento — $2.9 million
HSI
Merced College — $2.9 million
HSI
California State University, Fresno — $2.4 million
AANAPISI
Mount Saint Mary's University — $747,000
AANAPISI
California State University, Dominguez Hills — $5.3 million
HSI
Long Beach City College — $3 million
AANAPISI
Southwestern College — $3 million
HSI
Florida
Broward College — $3 million
HSI
Georgia
Albany State University — $2.9 million
HBCU
Illinois
Dominican University — $2.6 million
HSI
Saint Augustine College — $2.7 million
HSI
Kentucky
Simmons College of Kentucky — $2.8 million
Marshall Islands
College of the Marshall Islands — $1.7 million
AANAPISI
Louisiana
Grambling State University — $2.4 million
HBCU
Southern University and A&M College — $6.4 million
HBCU
Southern University Law Center — $3 million
HBCU
Maryland
Coppin State University — $4 million
HBCU
University of Maryland, Eastern Shore — $2.9 million
HBCU
Maryland
Lincoln University — $2.9 million
HBCU
New Jersey
Rutgers University-Newark — $2.7 million
AANAPISI
New Mexico
New Mexico Highlands University — $2.9 million
HSI
New York
Dominican University New York — $1.9 million
HSI
Mercy College — $2.6 million
HSI
North Carolina
Bennett College — $754,500
HBCU
Elizabeth City State University — $2.1 million
HBCU
Fayetteville State University — $4.9 million
HBCU
Johnson C. Smith University — $5.7 million
HBCU
North Carolina Central University — $2.9 million
HBCU
Saint Augustine's University — $1.9 million
HBCU
Oklahoma
Northeastern State University — $3 million
NASNTI
Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology — $754,000
NASNTI
Ohio
Central State University — $3 million
HBCU
Pennsylvania
Community College of Philadelphia — $2.9 million
PBI
Eastern University — $2 million
HSI
Lincoln University — $3 million
HBCU
South Carolina
Benedict College — $2.8 million
HBCU
Texas
Our Lady of the Lake University — $2.2 million
HSI
Paul Quinn College — $2.9 million
HBCU
Sul Ross State University — $2.7 million
HSI
Virginia
Norfolk State University, Virginia — $3.8 million
HBCU
The Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program's mission is to expand internet broadband and technology access and hire and train information technology staff for HBCUs, TCUs, and MSIs.
Despite the Dec. 1, 2021, deadline to apply, the NTIA is still reviewing more than 170 applications and will announce grant winners as they progress through the program's end in November 2024.
The $268 million Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program grant has awarded $139.4 million (52%) to 49 schools as of February 2023.
Colleges may choose how to spend their grant money.
In December 2022, HBCU Lincoln University (LU) in Missouri used its grant of almost $3 million to create LU Connects, which will provide students with Chromebooks, USB drives, mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, and a full-time student technology coordinator. It will also help improve on-campus Wi-Fi access points and upgrade more than 40 classrooms for distance learning access.
BestColleges previously reported that the largest number of school programs to benefit from the award will focus on digital literacy skills and workforce training/economic growth.
"We need to recognize the role that persistent poverty plays in people's abilities to access and use the internet," Eldon Burton, VSU assistant vice president for government relations, said in a press release.
"At Virginia State University, 69% of students are designated as low-income and first-generation college students; therefore, student access to quality broadband is limited. This funding allows VSU, as an access and opportunity university, to continue to bridge the gap for our community and our students."
