UAPB to get USDA scholarship funding

Money for study in food, ag sciences

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff will receive $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture for scholarships in the 2020-21 academic year, officials announced Tuesday.

The total amount for four years is at least $2.25 million, said Doze Y. Butler, dean/director for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences.

“Roughly 193 students will receive scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 per academic year over the course of the four years,” she wrote in an email. “Recipients can be first-time freshmen or transfers with Associate degrees from 2-year schools. Departments have some flexibility in how many awards are given each year, but it is anticipated that more awards will be given in the earlier years of the scholarship program.”

Nationally, the National Institute of Food and Agriculture announced 19 grants totaling more than $14 million to provide scholarships at 1890 historically black land-grant colleges and universities.

The program provides scholarships to support recruiting, mentoring and training undergraduate students with the aim of encouraging students to pursue baccalaureate degrees in the food and agricultural sciences and related fields.

The scholarships were authorized under the 2018 farm bill that passed that year in Congress.

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., said in a news release that the scholarship program will allow UAPB students to access educational, mentorship and recruiting opportunities, opening career options after graduation.

At UAPB, students who intend to pursue careers in the food and agricultural sciences or other related disciplines (agricultural sciences, aquaculture and fisheries sciences or human sciences) will be eligible to receive scholarship funds, the university said. They will receive half the total amount of their scholarship each semester.