HBCU Research Capacity Act

Federal research clearinghouse for HBCUs

This bill would create a Federal Clearinghouse on Research Capacity and Grant Opportunities for Historically Black Colleges and Universities at the Department of Education. The Clearinghouse would list and distinguish federal grant opportunities that Part B institutions are eligible for or exclusively eligible for. It would collect and publish best practices and recommendations to help Part B institutions build research capacity, including material from Federal, State, and local organizations and HBCU PARTNERS Act agency plans. The Clearinghouse would work with Commerce, Energy, Defense, Agriculture, NSF, EPA, and NASA, could receive detailed staff from those agencies, and would be exempt from the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act for this work. The Clearinghouse would notify every Part B institution and Congress when it publishes content, offer quarterly updates to institutions that opt in, and require the listed agency heads to review grant programs and report to Congress annually. If enacted, these changes would take effect upon enactment.