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Feb. 26 (UPI) -- After briefly suspending its 1890 National Scholars Program last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reopened it and is accepting applications for student participation through March 15. "The USDA 1890s National Scholars Program application period has been reopened, and applications will be accepted through March 15," the USDA's program webpage says.
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The USDA has scheduled a webinar at 6 p.m. EST Tuesday that will provide students and others with more information about the program, eligibility, fields of study and the selection process for participants.
Interested parties can register online for the event, which will include a Q&A session following the initial presentation.
The program supports students at 19 historically black land-grant colleges and universities plus Tuskegee University in Alabama and in 2024 supported 94 students at a cost of $19 million.
Florida A&M University in Tallahassee is among the HBCUs that participate in the 1890 National Scholars Program.
"We will continue collaborating with our supporters and corporate partners to ensure students have access to opportunities in agriculture and food science," Florida A&M College of Agriculture & Food Sciences Dean Garlen Dale Wesson told the Tallahassee Democrat.
The program was suspended for several days following President Donald Trump's recent executive order banning federal funding for diversity, equity and including programs while USDA officials examined it more closely.
Even while suspended, all 94 current scholarship recipients and 300 program participants in total continued to be fully funded until they complete their respective educational programs.
The program was established in 1992 to support students from underserved communities and who sought college educations in agriculture, animal science, botany, forestry and other agriculture-related fields.
