---
kind: "section"
citation: "51 U.S.C. § 40310"
title: "51"
title_heading: "National and Commercial Space Programs"
number: "40310"
heading: "Designation or award to be on competitive basis"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/51/40310"
units:
  - "Subtitle IV — Aeronautics and Space Research and Education"
  - "Chapter 403 — National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program"
---

# §40310. Designation or award to be on competitive basis


The [Administrator](/usc/51/10101.md?p=2) shall not under this chapter designate any [space grant college](/usc/51/40302.md?p=6) or [space grant regional consortium](/usc/51/40302.md?p=8) or award any fellowship, grant, or contract unless such designation or award is made in accordance with the competitive, merit-based review process employed by the [Administration](/usc/51/10101.md?p=1) on October 30, 1987.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 111–314, § 3, Dec. 18, 2010, 124 Stat. 3388.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 40310 | 42 U.S.C. 2486k. | Pub. L. 100–147, title II, § 213, Oct. 30, 1987, 101 Stat. 875. |

The date “October 30, 1987” is substituted for “the date of enactment of this Act” to reflect the date of enactment of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Act, which is title II of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 1988 (Public Law 100–147, 101 Stat. 860).