Laredo, Texas— Today, U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) announced that TAMIU has been awarded $3,500,857 in Department of Education and National Science Foundation (NSF) grants.

The Department of Education grant is from the agency’s Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program and will provide $2,999,955 over five years. Funding will be used to improve student wellness, retention, and degree completion rates. Specifically, TAMIU will implement a program that enhances student counseling and wellness outreach, improves learning outcomes for students in STEM courses, and develops a transfer program between Laredo College and TAMIU for computer-related fields, among other initiatives.

“This funding will create critical opportunities for Hispanic students in STEM and work to increase student wellness and retention at TAMIU,” said Congressman Cuellar, a senior member on the House Appropriations Committee. “The research opportunities and programs are extremely valuable to our students' professional and educational development. Giving every student a chance to succeed and grow is one of my top priorities and I am excited to see what these young people accomplish.”

“We are truly appreciative of the leadership and partnership provided by Congressman Cuellar in helping secure these.  We know that our students have tremendous capacity to succeed in all fields, and especially STEM fields. These grants provide them with innovative research and lab training opportunities and also provide them with support activities and resources that can help them to earn their degrees and drive a brighter future for them, our community, state and country,” said Dr. Pablo Arenaz.

As a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, Congressman Cuellar secured $182,854,000 in funding for the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program in the fiscal year 2022 government spending bill. This was an increase of $34 million over the previous year.

The NSF grant, totaling $500,902, will fund a research project led by microbiology professor Dr. Ruvini Pathirana into disease-causing fungal growth. The grant also provides TAMIU students a rare opportunity to be involved in training in biochemistry, bioinformatics, genetics and molecular microbiology.

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