The Secretary is authorized to provide fellowships for the graduate training of professional city planning, management, and housing specialists, and other persons who wish to develop a general capacity in urban affairs and problems as herein provided. Persons shall be selected for such fellowships solely on the basis of ability and upon the recommendation of the Urban Studies Fellowship Advisory Board established pursuant to subsection (b). Fellowships shall be solely for training in public and private nonprofit institutions of higher education having programs of graduate study in the field of city planning or in related fields (including architecture, civil engineering, economics, municipal finance, public administration, urban affairs, and sociology) which programs are oriented to training for careers in city and regional planning, housing, urban renewal, and community development.

There is hereby established the Urban Studies Fellowship Advisory Board (hereinafter referred to as the “Board”), which shall consist of nine members to be appointed by the Secretary as follows: Three from public institutions of higher learning and three from private nonprofit institutions of higher education, who are the heads of departments which provide academic courses appropriately related to the fields referred to in subsection (a), and three from national organizations which are directly concerned with problems relating to urban, regional, and community development. The Board shall meet upon the request of the Secretary and shall make recommendations to him with respect to persons to be selected for fellowships under this section. Members of the Board shall be entitled to receive transportation expenses and a per diem in lieu of subsistence as authorized for members of advisory committees created pursuant to section 1701h of title 12.