GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES FIRST HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION EDUCATION GRANTS
                                                               
                                            Release No. 0318.97
                                                               
                                    Tom Amontree (202) 720-4623
                                    Maria Bynum  (202) 720-5192                                                                  
                                                               
GLICKMAN ANNOUNCES FIRST HISPANIC-SERVING INSTITUTION EDUCATION GRANTS

           WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 1997--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
announced today  more than $1.4 million in grants has been awarded to 13
Hispanic-Serving Institutions to carry out programs needed to attract,
retain, and graduate students capable of enhancing the nation's food and
agricultural scientific and professional workforce.   

     "We are very pleased to be able to make this announcement today as we
observe the beginning of  Hispanic Heritage Month here at USDA," said
Glickman.  "These grants will help our Hispanic-Serving Institutions provide
trained scientific and technical personnel for the 21st Century."

     These awards are the first to be made under the new competitive grants
program designed to promote and strengthen Hispanic-Serving Institutions
established under the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act (FAIR)
of 1996 and administered by USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education,
and Extension Service.   

     "The awards will be used to support projects in various targeted areas
including faculty preparation, curricula design, library resources, student
programs for on the job and/or field experience, and the use of 
technologies like videoconferencing to enhance learning," said I. Miley
Gonzalez, USDA's Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics. 
"The USDA funds go even further because most of the colleges are also
providing funds and resources while generating financial support from state
and local governments and private industry."

     Institutions and amounts of awards are as follows:

Central Arizona College                            $98,100
California State University, Los Angeles                      89,935
California State University, Bakersfield                      89,937
Porterville College, California                          29,215
Rancho Santiago College, California                               179,980
Trinidad State Junior College, Colorado                  89,995
Miami-Dade Community College, Florida                    89,996
Albuquerque Technical Vocational
  Institute, New Mexico                                  178,683
University of New Mexico                            90,000
Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community
   College, New York                                    150,000
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico                       89,919
Southwest Texas Junior College                                88,895
Texas A&M University, Kingsville                        180,000

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