BUILD Act Offers Colleges Up to $50 Million to Revitalize Low-Income Local Communities

The Boosting University Investments in Low-Income Districts Act, or the BUILD Act, sets up a new grant program run by the Department of Commerce to turn colleges into engines for local economic recovery. The idea is simple: give substantial federal cash to institutions of higher education located in economically struggling areas so they can fund large-scale community development projects. These grants are massive, ranging from $25 million to $50 million for implementation over five years, but first, colleges have to prove they are in a "distressed community" and then submit a detailed plan.

Figuring Out Who Gets the Keys to the Cash

Before any college can apply, the Secretary of Commerce has to identify which institutions are in a “distressed community.” This isn’t based on gut feeling; it’s based strictly on median income compared to state and national averages. For example, if a college is in a state with a high median income, its ZIP code must have a median income at least 25% lower than the state's median income to qualify. This focus on income data ensures the money targets areas with genuine economic need, but it also creates a strict barrier: if a college is located in a slightly wealthier part of town but serves a very poor surrounding area, it might not qualify under the law’s precise definition (SEC. 2).

Colleges that qualify enter a two-stage process. First, they get a planning grant of up to $100,000 per year for up to two years. This money isn't for building; it’s for brainstorming and hiring experts to develop a solid implementation plan detailing exactly how they will revitalize the local economy. Once that plan is approved by the Secretary, they move on to the massive implementation grant phase.

What $50 Million Can Actually Buy

The implementation grants are where the real-world impact hits. The bill defines eligible projects broadly, focusing on spurring local economic development. Think about your community: this money could pay for infrastructure like building and maintaining municipal broadband networks for both the college and the surrounding neighborhood. It could fund public health clinics near campus, which must also include programs to train local residents as healthcare workers. For local entrepreneurs, the college could use the funds to set up programs that provide seed money to brand-new, early-stage local businesses (SEC. 2).

If you’re a parent, you might see the college partnering with local school districts, providing graduate student support or access to college facilities for K-12 schools. Essentially, the college becomes a publicly funded community developer, tackling everything from housing and infrastructure to job training and small business incubation. This is a huge shift, linking the fate of the institution directly to the economic success of its neighbors.

The Catch: Who’s Left Out of the Program?

While the BUILD Act is designed to inject capital into struggling areas, it explicitly excludes several major categories of universities (SEC. 2). If you attend or work at a highly research-intensive university (those with high research activity status under the Carnegie Classification), or a land-grant university established under the Morrill Act of 1862, your institution is not eligible for this funding. The same goes for military service academies and institutions where more than 50% of courses are correspondence-based.

This exclusion is important because it limits the pool of applicants. By barring the largest, most research-heavy institutions—which often have the most experience managing massive federal grants and executing complex projects—the bill ensures that the money goes to smaller, less established institutions. While this democratizes the funding, it places a significant burden on those smaller colleges to execute multi-million dollar, five-year infrastructure and development plans, requiring meticulous planning during that two-year initial phase.