The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded the first five grants as part of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program (CMC). The grants total more than $10.6 million. They’ll be used to fund internet access, equipment, and to hire and train information technology personnel. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves announced the grants Monday at an event in New York with Mercy College, one of the first grant recipients.
The initial awardees include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Minority-Serving Institutions across the United States. Read more information about the awardees and grants at InternetForAll.Gov.
The CMC program is part of the administration’s Internet for All initiative that aims to connect everyone in America with affordable, reliable high-speed internet. This program specifically directs $268 million from the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 for expanding high-speed internet access and connectivity to eligible colleges and universities.
“America’s minority serving college and universities are bedrock learning centers that have too often been left behind when it comes to accessing affordable high-speed internet,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves. “The Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program enables these institutions to be a resource for access, digital skills training, and workforce development programs for students and the community to help level the economic playing field.”
NTIA continues to review the more than 200 applications received during the application window, which closed December 1, 2021. Additional awards will be announced on a rolling basis as they go through NTIA’s review process. The final allocation of the $268 million in grant funds will satisfy the requirements that at least 40 percent of funds are distributed to qualifying HBCUs and at least 20 percent is distributed to applicants that provide high-speed internet access service and/or eligible equipment to their students.
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