Bennett College in Greensboro, N.C., received a five-year, $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to help increase the number of minority graduates in the science and technology fields. The money will be used to improve Bennett's on-campus technology, to train faculty to make better use of technology and to review and modifying curriculum.

Mississippi State University received a $1.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to improve teacher preparation programs under a partnership with Alcorn State University.

The University of Alaska at Anchorage received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education for a teacher preparation program largely aimed at Native Alaskan students. Four local school districts will partner with the university.

Xavier University of Louisiana received a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to study, along with Tulane University, how substances in the environment can alter genes and stress the heart.

Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., received a $1 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to study the effects of the petroleum-related chemical butadiene on DNA damage and repair. The college will partner with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston for the study.

The College Board in New York received a two-year, $650,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to study whether its "Equity 2000" program affects the college-going rates of participating students.

Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., received a $582,678 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support a partnership with local public schools, Hinds Community College, the Mississippi Association of Educators and the Mississippi Teacher Center to foster teacher improvement.