Administration of the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP) Local Competition at Designated Institutions of Higher Education | 693JJ322NF5202 2022

Opportunity Information: Apply for 693JJ322NF5202 2022

This grant opportunity, titled "Administration of the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP) Local Competition at Designated Institutions of Higher Education," is a discretionary grant offered by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration, under CFDA 20.215. The program is designed to expand and diversify the transportation talent pipeline by encouraging students at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and community colleges to explore transportation careers through education and research. In practical terms, the funding supports a locally run fellowship competition at eligible colleges and universities, with the goal of increasing student participation in transportation-related academic programs and helping more students move into the transportation workforce across the United States.

The central purpose of the DDETFP Local Competition is to stimulate student interest in transportation and strengthen the breadth and diversity of expertise within the national transportation community. The program targets students enrolled at an eligible Institution of Higher Education (IHE), specifically MSIs and community colleges, because these institutions serve student populations that are often underrepresented in many transportation fields. By supporting research experiences and degree completion, the program aims to build long-term capacity in transportation disciplines and produce graduates prepared for jobs in public agencies, private industry, consulting, research organizations, and academia.

A key feature of this opportunity is that it is not simply a scholarship program run directly by the federal government for individual students. Instead, MSIs and community colleges are encouraged to apply for funding to administer the DDETFP Local Competition on their own campuses. That means the institution plays an active role in organizing the competition, selecting student fellowship recipients in line with program expectations, and managing the awarded funds responsibly. The institution must be accredited by a federally recognized accrediting agency, and it must be located within the United States or U.S. territories, which ensures the program supports legitimate, recognized higher education providers serving U.S.-based students.

The fellowship funding itself is intended to help students pursue transportation-related degrees at multiple academic levels, including associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs. The opportunity explicitly supports transportation-related disciplines across all modes of transportation, which may include highways, transit, rail, aviation, maritime, freight and logistics, multimodal planning, and emerging areas such as safety, intelligent transportation systems, electrification, and resilient infrastructure. The broad eligibility across degree levels and transportation modes is meant to meet workforce needs at many entry points, from technician and technologist pathways at the associate level to advanced research and specialized professional preparation at the graduate level.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, the opportunity is structured as a grant with an award ceiling of $50,000 per award and an expectation of approximately 50 awards. The funding opportunity number is 693JJ322NF5202 (2022). The announcement was created on June 9, 2022, and the original closing date for applications was July 11, 2022. While the listing indicates "Eligible Applicants: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification)," the description makes clear that the intended applicants are MSIs and community colleges that will administer the local fellowship competition at their institution, rather than individual students applying directly to DOT through this particular competition administration grant.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a capacity-building and workforce development investment. It provides modest but meaningful federal support to MSIs and community colleges so they can identify promising students, fund their transportation-focused academic progress and research engagement, and strengthen connections between education and transportation careers. The larger national outcome DOT is seeking is a stronger, more inclusive transportation workforce and research community, with more students from diverse backgrounds completing transportation-related degrees and entering transportation professions.

• The Department of Transportation, DOT Federal Highway Administration in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Administration of the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP) Local Competition at Designated Institutions of Higher Education" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 20.215.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 09, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 11, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $50,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 50 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 693JJ322NF5202 2022

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