Minority-serving institutions (MSIs) are institutions of higher education that serve high concentrations of minority students who, historically, have been underrepresented in higher education. MSIs tend to have relatively low educational and general expenditures and high enrollments of needy students. Generally, many such institutions have faced challenges in obtaining access to financial support, thus affecting their ability to enhance their academic offerings and institutional capabilities and ultimately serve their students. Federal higher education policy recognizes th e importance of such institutions in improving access for and increasing completion of underrepresented minorities and targets financial resources to them. Funding for MSIs is channeled through numerous federal agencies, and several of these funding sources are available to MSIs through grant programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA; P.L. 89-329). Over the years, HEA support of MSI programs has expanded to include a wider variety of underrepresented groups, and in FY2016, MSI programs under the HEA were appropriated approximately $817 million, which helped fund more than 929 grants. For purposes of this report, MSIs include, but are not limited to, American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs); Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-serving institutions (ANNHs); predominantly Black institutions (PBIs); Native American-serving, nontribal institutions (NASNTIs); Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions (ANNAPISIs), historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs). This report describes the several programs devoted to financially assisting MSIs under the HEA. This report does not attempt to describe all HEA programs for which an MSI may be eligible; rather, it aims to describe those programs that are directed specifically toward one or more types of MSIs. MSIs are eligible for other federal programs for which IHEs and nonprofit organizations are eligible if they meet the program eligibility criteria. This report first discusses how the various HEA MSI programs are funded. It then provides a description of each program, organized by the type of MSI to which the program is available. Included in each program description is a discussion of eligibility criteria for program participation; a description of authorized uses of financial awards; and administrative procedures, including a description of how funds are allocated among multiple institutions either via a competitive award process or a formula-based grant. Appendix A provides a list of acronyms used in this report. Appendix B details mandatory and discretionary appropriations for selected MSI programs authorized under the HEA. All programs discussed in this report are administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Typically, many of the MSI programs authorized under the HEA are funded through annual discretionary appropriations. However, in recent years, mandatory appropriations have been provided to many of the programs, which were in addition to discretionary appropriations, in some cases. In 2007, with the College Cost Reduction and Access Act ( P.L. 110-84 ), Congress established the Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority-Serving Institutions programs. The act created some new MSI programs and provided mandatory appropriations for both the newly authorized and the preexisting Title III-A and III-B MSIs programs for FY2008 and FY2009. The programs receiving the mandatory appropriations were strengthening TCCUs; strengthening ANNHs; strengthening PBIs; strengthening NASNTIs; strengthening ANNAPISIs; strengthening HBCUs; and HSI STEM. The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA; P.L. 110-315 ) redesignated the Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Other Minority-Serving Institutions programs under Title III, Part F of the HEA. The HEOA also authorized additional annual mandatory appropriations for Masters Degree Programs at HBCUs and PBIs and the Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic American programs for each of fiscal years FY2009 through FY2014, programs that typically receive discretionary appropriations. Finally, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), as part of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act ( P.L. 111-152 ) extended the Title III-F mandatory appropriations for Title III-A, III-B, and HSI STEM programs through FY2019. Appendix B details mandatory and discretionary appropriations for each of these programs from FY2013 to FY2017. The Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) provides grants to institutions of higher education that serve a high percentage of low-income students and that have low educational and general expenditures. It is the foundational program upon which many other HEA programs designed to aid minority-serving institutions (MSIs) are based. Since the HEA's inception in 1965, Congress has authorized grant programs to strengthen and support postsecondary institutions that, because of financial limitations, were struggling to survive. The original HEA Title III-A program was not specifically directed at MSIs, and in the 1986 reauthorization of the HEA, Congress found that the original program "did not always meet the specific development needs of historically Black colleges and universities and other institutions with large concentrations of minority, low-income students." Congress then amended the program to make institutions with high minority and low-income student concentrations eligible. In subsequent reauthorizations, Congress established several additional Title III-A programs with separate appropriations, each targeting different institutions serving specific types of minority students. Today, SIP grants are available to institutions that serve low-income students, regardless of minority enrollment, while separate Title III-A program grants are available to institutions that serve high concentrations of Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Black, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander, and Hispanic students. This section of the report discusses the Strengthening Institutions Program. SIP's provisions and definitions also apply to several of the MSI-specific Title III-A programs. The Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) was authorized at the HEA's inception. Its purpose is to improve the academic quality and institutional management and increase the self-sufficiency of institutions with a high percentage of needy students and with low expenditures (financial limitations). The program provides competitive grants to eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs). SIP is funded through discretionary appropriations and receives the largest appropriation of the Title III-A programs. This section describes the basic eligibility criteria for institutions participating in SIP, authorized uses of grant monies, and SIP administration. Descriptions in this section are presented in greater detail than in each section for MSI-specific programs, as generally, unless otherwise noted in this report, other Title III-A and III-F program requirements and provisions mirror those of SIP. The eligibility requirements for SIP are the basic eligibility criteria for several of the other Title III-A and III-F programs and are found in Section 312(b) of the HEA. In general, an institution meets SIP eligibility criteria (hereinafter referred to as HEA Section 312(b) requirements) if it has low educational and general expenditures (E&G); has a requisite enrollment of needy students; is legally authorized within its respective state to award bachelor's degrees, is a junior or community college, or is specified in Section 312(b); is accredited or pre-accredited by a Department of Education (ED)-recognized national or state accrediting agency; and is located within one of the 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, or the outlying areas. An institution has low E&G if the total amount expended by the institution for instruction and operation per full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate student is low, as compared to the average E&G per FTE at institutions that offer similar instruction. The Secretary has defined similar instruction as institutions within the same institutional sector (e.g., public four-year institutions). An institution meets the enrollment of needy students criterion if (1) at least 50% of its degree-, certificate-, or credential-seeking students receive need-based assistance under Title IV of the HEA (e.g., Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Work Study, and Federal Perkins Loan, but not Subsidized Stafford Loans) in the second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is being made or (2) the percentage of its undergraduate degree-, certificate-, or credential-seeking students who were enrolled at least half-time and received Federal Pell Grants exceeded the median percentage for similar institutions. Branch campuses of institutions of higher education are eligible for SIP if the institution as a whole meets the eligibility requirements, even if the branch campus does not meet the state authorization or accreditation requirements. Branch campuses must, however, individually meet the needy student enrollment and low E&G requirements. SIP grants are intended to assist institutions in improving "academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability ... in order to increase their self-sufficiency and strengthen their capacity to make a substantial contribution to the higher education resources of the Nation." To that end, Section 311(c) of the HEA lists several authorized activities for which grants can be awarded.