Federal block grants are intended as non-competitive, formula grants mandated by the U.S. Congress that provide flexibility and increased capacity to state and local governments to provide services based on community need, including on such issues as social services and public health. It is unclear whether those resources are distributed in an equitable manner based on geography and other community characteristics. The population-based formulas that guide block grant distribution may make it difficult for sparsely populated states to distribute sufficient funds to less populated areas. Similarly, funding available through specific block grants may be insufficient to meet all community needs, placing rural communities at a disadvantage in resource prioritization. The purpose of the current study was to characterize distribution of five federal block grants to each of the 50 states based on state-level population and rurality. The study combined publicly available state-year-level data from 2018-2019 for all 50 states. Key data sources included funding amounts allocated to each state for selected block grant programs, American Community Survey data, and measures of rurality from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Block grants considered included: 1) Preventive Health and Health Services (PHHS) Block Grant; 2) Community Services Block Grant (CSBG); 3) Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG); 4) Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG); and 5) Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG). Analyses included descriptive statistics of distribution of block grants per 1,000 population and by three measures of state rurality. Mean funding amounts ranged from $614 per 1,000 to $5,562 per 1,000 people. Associations between measures of rurality and state block grant allocations were mixed in terms of direction and significance. For example, there was a significant positive relationship between percent of the population that lives in nonmetro counties and PHHS block grant allocations while there was a significant negative relationship between this measure of rurality and MHBG allocations. There was no significant relationship with the other three block grants. In contrast, there were significant positive associations between population density and allocation amounts for all block grants considered except for the CCDBG. Overall, our findings suggest that there are differences in how block grants are allocated to states based on their rurality both by the specific block grant and the measure of rurality considered. Importantly, these findings only assess state-level allocations based on state-level characteristics and do not directly measure amounts of funding that make it to rural communities within states. Findings provide insight on the implications of different block grant formulas and structures.

Pell Grant funding is without question foundational to the American community college mission – providing access to higher education to over 9 million students. Pell Grants are particularly important in the 2-year sector, where such a large number of students are from low-income socioeconomic areas. In December 2011, then-President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act (2012) which significantly changed the Pell Grant program for college students by making 3 major changes to the eligibility criteria for Pell Grants. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of these 3 changes at the national, state, and local level to estimate the impact felt by colleges and students across the United States. This quantative study utilized data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS) as well as from a mid-sized urban college located in the state of Minnesota. Both regression analysis and seasonal time decomposition techniques were conducted to determine the estimated number and amount of Pell Grant award post Act compared to actual. The findings of this study indicated a significant correlation between the model and the output when used with national and local data. Not all of the state models produced significant results.

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that most influence African Americans to enroll in agricultural science programs at 1890 and 1862 Land Grant universities. This study used a quantitative approach in researching the problem of identifying the factors that led minorities to enroll in agricultural science programs at 1862 and 1890 land-grant institutions. A survey instrument was designed which collected the factors, demographics, and attitudes that influenced minority enrollment in agricultural sciences at 1890 and 1862 universities. The setting for the data collection in this study is 1890 and 1862 land grant universities in the southern states of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. These states were chosen because their close proximity to Mississippi State University and their willingness to participate in this study. The population in this study consists of African American undergraduate students at 1890 and 1862 Land Grant universities. The students were selected from colleges within the university where the agriculture component is taught. The findings were based on the data collected from the 172 undergraduate African American students enrolled in agriculture majors at 1890 and 1862 land grant universities.

As universities enhance their civic engagement and build connections between campus and communities across the state, the county extension office and local staff have an opportunity to broker resources between the two entities. The question is not ‘if’ this needs to happen, but specifically what role Extension should play. County Extension Coordinators in Alabama have differing opinions about the role of their office and the value of specific engagement activities to the community. These differing opinions may make it difficult to achieve uniformity in what faculty can expect of a county extension office. Three different opinion groups were identified in this study. One group of County Extension Coordinators felt that engagement activities should focus on issues affecting local economic impact. Another group chose activities that would avoid potential problems due to interagency conflict and local politics. The third group saw the civic engagement of their land-grant university as an opportunity to make Extension look good in their county. Group membership could be explained by tenure of the County Extension Coordinator and their subject matter expertise. Given the results of this study and engagement scholarship, strategic areas for Extension to explore include (1) the activities of the county extension office as influenced by local advisory groups, opinions of the County Extension Coordinator, and needs of the Land-Grant University; (2) the role of the County Extension Coordinator in facilitating university-wide outreach; and (3) the need for County Extension Coordinators to have extensive networks and networking skills in order to embrace the breadth of opportunities to facilitate the civic engagement of a Land-Grant University.

This study examined the factors that influence minorities to enroll in agricultural science programs at Virginia Tech. Minorities have been and continue to be under-represented in most areas of the agricultural sciences. The presence of African-American and other minority students in the agricultural sciences is, therefore, very important. Enrollment numbers in programs across the country indicate that agriculture, does not appeal to many minority groups. Wardlow, Graham, & Scott (1995) noted that there is little doubt that minorities are underrepresented in academic departments at land-grant universities, professional roles in agricultural industries, and in governmental agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The data collection in this study was through a survey developed by the researcher. The population in this study consisted of minority undergraduate and graduate students in the Minority Academic Opportunities Program (MAOP) and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS) organization at Virginia Tech. The respondents in this study selected agricultural science as a major due to their personal decision, input form family members and friends, and the guidance form a high school or faculty member. They also noted there was opportunity for them in the agricultural sciences and felt that professors, administrators and students within the department were fair and supportive. Financial assistance was an important factor in the student's decision enrolling in the program, and the majority of the respondents were receiving financial assistance. However, the respondents noted that they would be enrolled if they were not receiving financial assistance and felt they had the opportunity to succeed in the agricultural sciences at Virginia Tech / Ph. D.

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Thesis ( M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2002. / The Department of Health And Welfare

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Foreing aid, since its comparatively recent inception, continually has been the subject of polemics. Though volumes have been written concerning its rationale, implementation, burden, impact, etc., only recently, with the concept of grants economics, have asessments of economic aid on a quantitative subsify basis been possible. These pioneering efforts have led the way toward a clearer understanding of foreign aid by identifying the real transfers involved. The object of the following analysis is to ferret out the grant component of official United States economic aid to less-developed countries from 1953 to 1969. The United States is chosen due to availabiity of data and because U.S. aid historically has contirbuted over fifty percent of net global foreign aid...

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