USDA Scholarships Unfrozen At HBCU In Response To Public Outrage

The USDA has continued funding of the 1890 Scholars Program, which funds students at historically Black land-grant universities, leaving students uncertain about their financial aid, including students attending Fort Valley State University, Tuskegee University and Alabama A&M University.

The week of Feb. 17 the Trump Administration paused the funding as part of its efforts to overhaul federal programs.

However, legislators and college presidents were quick to act as students were left in limbo.

“It is infuriating that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has suspended the 1890 Scholars Program ‘pending further review,’” said U.S. Rep. Alma S. Adams, Ph.D., (D- Charlotte, N.C.) senior member of the House Committee on Agriculture and Founding Chairwoman of the Bipartisan Historically Black Colleges and Universities Caucus. “This is a clear attack on an invaluable program that makes higher education accessible for everybody, and provides opportunities for students to work at USDA, especially in the critical fields of food safety, agriculture and natural resources that Americans rely on every single day.”

The Trump Administration reversed its course on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2025, posting that new applications were available and students can apply through March 15.

USDA’s Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement manages the 1890 National Scholars Program, which is aimed at increasing the number of students from rural and underserved communities who study food, agriculture, natural resource and other related sciences.

The renewable scholarship provides recipients with full tuition, fees, books, room and board. However, 0nce students completed their degree, they were eligible to convert their summer internship position into a permanent career with the USDA. 

“This program is a correction to a long history of racial discrimination within the land-grant system, not an example of it,” said Adams. “I demand USDA immediately rescind this targeted and mean-spirited suspension and reinstate the 1890 Scholars Program, for which the deadline for students to apply was originally March 1, 2025.”

The 1890 Scholars Program was established in 1992 under Republican President George H.W. Bush, as part of the partnership between USDA and the 1890 land-grant universities.

Scholars attend one of the 1890 land-grant universities and pursue degrees in agriculture, food, natural resource sciences, or related academic disciplines. The scholarship may also include work experience at USDA. The program is a crucial part of USDA’s Next Generation efforts.

USDA awarded 94 1890 scholarships in Fiscal Year 2024.

These are the 18 universities established under the Second Morrill Act of 1890 and Tuskegee University:

• Alabama A&M University
• Alcorn State University, Mississippi
• Central State University, Ohio
• Delaware State University
• Florida A&M University
• Fort Valley State University, Georgia
• Kentucky State University
• Langston University, Oklahoma
• Lincoln University, Missouri
• North Carolina A&T State University
• Prairie View A&M University, Texas
• South Carolina State University
• Southern University, Louisiana
• Tennessee State University
• Tuskegee University, Alabama
• University of Arkansas Pine Bluff
• University of Maryland Eastern Shore
• Virginia State University
• West Virginia State University

USDA 1890 National Scholars are required to study one of the following disciplines:

• Agriculture
• Agricultural Business/Management
• Agricultural Economics
• Agricultural Engineering/Mechanics
• Agricultural Production and Technology
• Agronomy or Crop Science
• Animal Sciences
• Botany
• Food Sciences/Technology
• Forestry and Related Sciences
• Home Economics/Nutrition
• Horticulture
• Natural Resources Management
• Soil Conservation/Soil Science
• Farm and Range Management
• Other related disciplines, (e.g. non-medical biological sciences, pre-veterinary medicine, computer science)