7 U.S.C. § 301: Land grant aid of colleges

There is granted to the several States, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned in this subchapter, an amount of public land, to be apportioned to each State a quantity equal to thirty thousand acres for each Senator and Representative in Congress to which the States are respectively entitled by the apportionment under the census of 1860: Provided , That no mineral lands shall be selected or purchased under the provisions of said sections. “This part may be cited as the ‘Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994’. Aaniiih Nakoda College. Bay Mills Community College. Blackfeet Community College. Cankdeska Cikana Community College. Chief Dull Knife College. College of Menominee Nation. College of the Muscogee Nation. D–Q University. Dine College. Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College. Fort Peck Community College. Haskell Indian Nations University. Ilisagvik College. Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development. Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College. Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College. Leech Lake Tribal College. Little Big Horn College. Little Priest Tribal College. Navajo Technical University. Nebraska Indian Community College. Northwest Indian College. Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College. Oglala Lakota College. Red Lake Nation College. Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College. Salish Kootenai College. Sinte Gleska University. Sisseton Wahpeton College. Sitting Bull College. Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute. Stone Child College. Tohono O’odham Community College. Turtle Mountain Community College. United Tribes Technical College. White Earth Tribal and Community College. Except as provided in paragraph (2), 1994 Institutions shall be considered land-grant colleges established for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts in accordance with the provisions of the Act of July 2, 1862 ( 12 Stat. 503 ; 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) (commonly known as the First Morrill Act). the Act of March 2, 1887 ( 24 Stat. 440 , chapter 314; 7 U.S.C. 361a et seq.); section 3(b)(3) of that Act ( 7 U.S.C. 343(b)(3) ); or the third sentence of section 3(d) of that Act ( 7 U.S.C. 343(d) ); or the Act of August 30, 1890 ( 26 Stat. 417 , chapter 841; 7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.) (commonly known as the Second Morrill Act). In lieu of receiving donations under the provisions of the Act of July 2, 1862 ( 12 Stat. 503 ; 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) (commonly known as the First Morrill Act), relating to the donations of public land or scrip for the endowment and maintenance of colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, 1994 Institutions shall receive funding pursuant to the authorization under subsection (b). is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to be a reliable authority regarding the quality of training offered; or is making progress toward the accreditation, as determined by the nationally recognized accrediting agency or association. There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 1996 through 2023. Amounts appropriated pursuant to this section shall be held and considered to have been granted to 1994 Institutions to establish an endowment pursuant to subsection (c). In accordance with this subsection, the Secretary of the Treasury shall establish a 1994 Institutions Endowment Fund (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the ‘endowment fund’). The Secretary may enter into such agreements as are necessary to carry out this subsection. amounts made available by appropriations pursuant to subsection (b) (hereafter in this subsection referred to as the ‘endowment fund corpus’); and interest earned on the endowment fund corpus. The Secretary shall invest the endowment fund corpus and income in interest-bearing obligations of the United States. 60 percent of the adjusted income shall be distributed among the 1994 Institutions on a pro rata basis. The proportionate share of the adjusted income received by a 1994 Institution under this subparagraph shall be based on the Indian student count (as defined in section 2(a) of the Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities Assistance Act of 1978 ( 25 U.S.C. 1801(a) )). 40 percent of the adjusted income shall be distributed in equal shares to the 1994 Institutions. Not later than January 6, 1997 , the Secretary shall develop and implement a formal memorandum of agreement with the 1994 Institutions to establish programs to ensure that tribally controlled colleges and Native American communities equitably participate in Department of Agriculture employment, programs, services, and resources. $100,000; multiplied by the number of 1994 Institutions. the total amount made available by appropriations pursuant to paragraph (1); divided by the number of 1994 Institutions. Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the amounts authorized to be appropriated under this subsection shall be used in the same manner as is prescribed for colleges under the Act of August 30, 1890 ( 26 Stat. 417 , chapter 841; 7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.) (commonly known as the Second Morrill Act), and, except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the requirements of such Act shall apply to 1994 Institutions. declines to accept funds under paragraph (2); or fails to meet the accreditation requirements under section 533(a)(3). The term ‘Federal share’ means, with respect to a grant awarded under subsection (b), the share of the grant that is provided from Federal funds. The term ‘non-Federal share’ means, with respect to a grant awarded under subsection (b), the matching funds paid with funds other than funds referred to in paragraph (1), as determined by the Secretary. The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Agriculture. For each of fiscal years 1996 through 2023, the Secretary shall make two or more institutional capacity building grants to assist 1994 Institutions with constructing, acquiring, and remodeling buildings, laboratories, and other capital facilities (including fixtures and equipment) necessary to conduct instructional activities more effectively in agriculture and sciences. on the basis of a competitive application process under which appropriate officials of 1994 Institutions may submit applications to the Secretary in such form and manner as the Secretary may prescribe; and in such manner as to ensure geographic diversity with respect to the 1994 Institutions that are the subject of the grants. The Secretary shall require, as part of an application for a grant under this subsection, a demonstration of need. The Secretary may only award a grant under this subsection to an applicant that demonstrates a failure to obtain funding for a project after making a reasonable effort to otherwise obtain the funding. A grant awarded under this subsection shall be made only if the recipient of the grant pays a non-Federal share in an amount specified by the Secretary. There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of Agriculture to carry out this section, such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2023. The Secretary of Agriculture may make grants under this section, on the basis of a competitive application process (and in accordance with such regulations as the Secretary may promulgate), to a 1994 Institution to assist the Institution to conduct agricultural research that addresses high priority concerns of tribal, national, or multistate significance. the Agricultural Research Service of the Department of Agriculture; or other land-grant college or university (exclusive of another 1994 Institution); non-land-grant college of agriculture (as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 ( 7 U.S.C. 3103 )); or cooperating forestry school (as defined in that section). There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 1999 through 2023. Amounts appropriated shall remain available until expended.” Any provision of any Act of Congress relating to the operation of or provision of assistance to a land grant college in the Virgin Islands or Guam shall apply to the land grant college in American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (other than the Northern Mariana Islands) in the same manner and to the same extent. Nothing in this section [amending section 326a of this title and provisions set out as a note below] shall be construed to interfere with or affect any of the provisions of the April 17, 1900 Treaty of Cession of Tutuila and Aunu’u Islands or the July 16, 1904 Treaty of Cession of the Manu’a Islands as ratified by the Act of February 20, 1929 ( 45 Stat. 1253 ) and the Act of May 22, 1929 ( 46 Stat. 4 ) [ 48 U.S.C. 1661 ].” The College of the Virgin Islands, the Community College of American Samoa, the College of Micronesia[,] the Northern Marianas College, and the University of Guam shall be considered land-grant colleges established for the benefit or agriculture and mechanic arts in accordance with the provisions of the Act of July 2, 1862 , as amended ( 12 Stat. 503 ; 7 U.S.C. 301–305 , 307, 308). In lieu of extending to the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Micronesia, and the Northern Mariana Islands those provisions of the Act of July 2, 1862 , as amended, relating to donations of public land or land scrip for the endowment and maintenance of colleges or the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, there is authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 to the Virgin Islands and $3,000,000 to Guam and an equal amount to American Samoa, Micronesia, and to the Northern Mariana Islands. Amounts appropriated pursuant to this section shall be held and considered to have been granted to the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Micronesia, and the Northern Mariana Islands subject to the provisions of that Act applicable to the proceeds from the sale of land or land scrip.” Any exchange authorized by the first section of this Act shall be made in accordance with the applicable provisions of section 7 of the Act of March 1, 1911 , commonly referred to as the Weeks Law (16 U.S.C., sec. 516), and the applicable provisions of the Act entitled ‘An Act to consolidate national forest lands’, approved March 20, 1922 (16 U.S.C., secs. 485 and 486). Any land conveyed to the State of Missouri under authority of this Act shall, upon acceptance of such conveyance by such State, be held and considered to be granted to such State subject to the provisions of the Act of July 2, 1862 , referred to in the first section of this Act.”