(a) General authorization

(1) Subject to the availability of funds appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary shall award program grants to each of the postgraduate institutions listed in subsection (e) that is determined by the Secretary to be making a substantial contribution to the legal, medical, dental, veterinary, or other graduate education opportunities in mathematics, engineering, or the physical or natural sciences for Black Americans.

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(2) No grant in excess of $1,000,000 may be made under this section unless the postgraduate institution provides assurances that 50 percent of the cost of the purposes for which the grant is made will be paid from non-Federal sources, except that no institution shall be required to match any portion of the first $1,000,000 of the institution’s award from the Secretary. After funds are made available to each eligible institution under the funding rules described in subsection (f), the Secretary shall distribute, on a pro rata basis, any amounts which were not so made available (by reason of the failure of an institution to comply with the matching requirements of this paragraph) among the institutions that have complied with such matching requirement.

(b) Duration

Grants shall be made for a period not to exceed 5 years. Any funds awarded for such five-year grant period that are obligated during such five-year period may be expended during the 10-year period beginning on the first day of such five-year period.

(c) Uses of funds

A grant under this section may be used for—

(1) purchase, rental or lease of scientific or laboratory equipment for educational purposes, including instructional and research purposes;

(2) construction, maintenance, renovation, and improvement in classroom, library, laboratory, and other instructional facilities, including purchase or rental of telecommunications technology equipment or services;

(3) purchase of library books, periodicals, technical and other scientific journals, microfilm, microfiche, and other educational materials, including telecommunications program materials;

(4) scholarships, fellowships, and other financial assistance for needy graduate and professional students to permit the enrollment of the students in and completion of the doctoral degree in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, law, and the doctorate degree in the physical or natural sciences, engineering, mathematics, or other scientific disciplines in which African Americans are underrepresented;

(5) establishing or improving a development office to strengthen and increase contributions from alumni and the private sector;

(6) assisting in the establishment or maintenance of an institutional endowment to facilitate financial independence pursuant to section 1065 of this title;

(7) funds and administrative management, and the acquisition of equipment, including software, for use in strengthening funds management and management information systems;

(8) acquisition of real property that is adjacent to the campus in connection with the construction, renovation, or addition to or improvement of campus facilities;

(9) education or financial information designed to improve the financial literacy and economic literacy of students or the students’ families, especially with regard to student indebtedness and student assistance programs under subchapter IV;

(10) services necessary for the implementation of projects or activities that are described in the grant application and that are approved, in advance, by the Secretary, except that not more than two percent of the grant amount may be used for this purpose;

(11) tutoring, counseling, and student service programs designed to improve academic success; and

(12) other activities proposed in the application submitted under subsection (d) that—

(A) contribute to carrying out the purposes of this part; and

(B) are approved by the Secretary as part of the review and acceptance of such application.

(d) Application

Any institution eligible for a grant under this section shall submit an application which—

(1) demonstrates how the grant funds will be used to improve graduate educational opportunities for Black and low-income students, and lead to greater financial independence; and

(2) provides, in the case of applications for grants in excess of $1,000,000, the assurances required by subsection (a)(2) and specifies the manner in which the eligible institution is going to pay the non-Federal share of the cost of the application.

(e) Eligibility

(1) In general

Independent professional or graduate institutions and programs eligible for grants under subsection (a) are the following:

(A) Morehouse School of Medicine;

(B) Meharry Medical School;

(C) Charles R. Drew Postgraduate Medical School;

(D) Clark-Atlanta University;

(E) Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine and other qualified graduate programs;

(F) Xavier University School of Pharmacy and other qualified graduate programs;

(G) Southern University School of Law and other qualified graduate programs;

(H) Texas Southern University School of Law and School of Pharmacy and other qualified graduate programs;

(I) Florida A&M University School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and other qualified graduate programs;

(J) North Carolina Central University School of Law and other qualified graduate programs;

(K) Morgan State University qualified graduate program;

(L) Hampton University qualified graduate program;

(M) Alabama A&M qualified graduate program;

(N) North Carolina A&T State University qualified graduate program;

(O) University of Maryland Eastern Shore qualified graduate program;

(P) Jackson State University qualified graduate program;

(Q) Norfolk State University qualified graduate programs;

(R) Tennessee State University qualified graduate programs;

(S) Alabama State University qualified graduate programs;

(T) Prairie View A&M University qualified graduate programs;

(U) Delaware State University qualified graduate programs;

(V) Langston University qualified graduate programs;

(W) Bowie State University qualified graduate programs; and

(X) University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law.

(2) Qualified graduate program

(A) For the purposes of this section, the term “qualified graduate program” means a graduate or professional program that provides a program of instruction in law or in the physical or natural sciences, engineering, mathematics, psychometrics, or other scientific discipline in which African Americans are underrepresented and has students enrolled in such program at the time of application for a grant under this section.

(B) Notwithstanding the enrollment requirement contained in subparagraph (A), an institution may use an amount equal to not more than 10 percent of the institution’s grant under this section for the development of a new qualified graduate program.

(3) Special rule

Institutions that were awarded grants under this section prior to October 1, 2008, shall continue to receive such grants, subject to the availability of appropriated funds, regardless of the eligibility of the institutions described in subparagraphs (S) through (X) of paragraph (1).

(4) One grant per institution

The Secretary shall not award more than 1 grant under this section in any fiscal year to any institution of higher education.

(5) Institutional choice

The president or chancellor of the institution may decide which graduate or professional school or qualified graduate program will receive funds under the grant in any 1 fiscal year, if the allocation of funds among the schools or programs is delineated in the application for funds submitted to the Secretary under this section.

(f) Funding rule

Subject to subsection (g), of the amount appropriated to carry out this section for any fiscal year—

(1) the first $56,900,000 (or any lesser amount appropriated) shall be available only for the purposes of making grants to institutions or programs described in subparagraphs (A) through (R) of subsection (e)(1);

(2) any amount in excess of $56,900,000, but not in excess of $62,900,000, shall be available for the purpose of making grants to institutions or programs described in subparagraphs (S) through (X) of subsection (e)(1); and

(3) any amount in excess of $62,900,000, shall be made available to each of the institutions or programs identified in subparagraphs (A) through (X) ¹ pursuant to a formula developed by the Secretary that uses the following elements:

(A) The ability of the institution to match Federal funds with non-Federal funds.

(B) The number of students enrolled in the programs for which the eligible institution received funding under this section in the previous year.

(C) The average cost of education per student, for all full-time graduate or professional students (or the equivalent) enrolled in the eligible professional or graduate school, or for doctoral students enrolled in the qualified graduate programs.

(D) The number of students in the previous year who received their first professional or doctoral degree from the programs for which the eligible institution received funding under this section in the previous year.

(E) The contribution, on a percent basis, of the programs for which the institution is eligible to receive funds under this section to the total number of African Americans receiving graduate or professional degrees in the professions or disciplines related to the programs for the previous year.

(g) Hold harmless rule

Notwithstanding paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (f), no institution or qualified program identified in subsection (e)(1) that received a grant for fiscal year 2008 and that is eligible to receive a grant in a subsequent fiscal year shall receive a grant amount in any such subsequent fiscal year that is less than the grant amount received for fiscal year 2008, unless the amount appropriated is not sufficient to provide such grant amounts to all such institutions and programs, or the institution cannot provide sufficient matching funds to meet the requirements of this section.

(h) Interaction with other grant programs

No institution that is eligible for and receives an award under section 1102a, 1136a, or 1136b of this title for a fiscal year shall be eligible to apply for a grant, or receive grant funds, under this section for the same fiscal year.