Two steps forward, one step back: shifting political policies cause uncertainty for students amidst 1890 scholarship suspension
By Jessica Schnur
Over the past week, the USDA’s Department of Agriculture website had posted a temporary suspension of the 1890 National Scholars Program until the evening of Feb. 24. The banner atop the scholarship’s overview detailed that the program had been “pending further review,” with no insight provided on the reasons for nor the timeline of the suspension. The suspension announcement circulated amid the recent federal freezes in research funding and rollbacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies under the Trump administration.
The 1890 National Scholars Program provides pathways to education for students in rural and underserved communities. The scholarship includes tuition, books, fees, and room and board for students of historically Black land-granted colleges and universities (HBCUs) looking to study agricultural and natural resource sciences.
Since the scholarship’s founding in 1992, its goals serve to support the USDA’s Next Generation program. A National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) initiative, in 2023 NextGen focused on fostering the future of the nation’s agricultural stability by extending greater investments for accessible and more diversified educational opportunities. In 2024, the 1890 program awarded 94 scholarships to students in these institutions.
In a press release on Feb. 20, Congresswoman Alma Adams (D-N.C.) of the 12th district of North Carolina condemned the initial suspension. “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,” said Congresswoman Adams. She continued, “This program is a correction to a long history of racial discrimination within the land-grant system, not an example of it. I demand USDA to 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 funding of HBCUs has been largely a bipartisan effort in the state of North Carolina in recent years, after Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) co-sponsored provisions to fund HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) back in 2019. This legislation allocated $255 million to these institutions across the country.
The reinstatement of the 1890 scholarship program was signaled through the restoration of the website’s large blue “Apply Today!” button on Feb. 24, and the application deadline extension to March 15 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Congresswoman Adams made a statement regarding the recent end to the suspension, saying, “I’m pleased the Secretary has lifted the suspension of and reopened the application for the USDA 1890 National Scholars Program. This program has been in place since 1992, and I hope we can work together to address the real challenges and real opportunities for our 1890s and our HBCUs.”
This small victory in ensuring the security of a vital resource for marginalized students serves as a testament to the uncertainties that legislation can enact for those living under its breadth. An overnight decision has demonstrated the power to dictate the future of not only the 19 universities with 1890 status, not only of the 94 and counting students who currently and prospectively rely upon the program to fund opportunities for their education, but for the future of the nation, as well.
