[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 14, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5908-5909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-3320]




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Part VII





Department of Education





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Inviting Applications for Designation as an Eligible Institution for 
Fiscal Year 1996 for the Strengthening Institutions, Hispanic-serving 
Institutions, and Endowment Challenge Grant Programs; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 31 / Wednesday, February 14, 1996 / 
Notices   

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.031A, CFDA No. 84.031G]


Notice Inviting Applications for Designation as an Eligible 
Institution for Fiscal Year 1996 for the Strengthening Institutions, 
Hispanic-serving Institutions (HSIs), and Endowment Challenge Grant 
Programs

    Purpose: Institutions of higher education must meet specific 
statutory and regulatory requirements to be designated eligible to 
receive funds under the Strengthening Institutions, HSI, and Endowment 
Challenge Grant Programs, authorized, respectively, under Part A, 
Section 316, and Part C of Title III of the Higher Education Act of 
1965, as amended (HEA).
    Beginning in Fiscal Year 1995, the Department of Education 
(Department) instituted biennial grant award competitions under both 
the Strengthening Institutions and HSI Programs. Under the biennial 
grant award competition system, an institution applied in Fiscal Year 
1995 to be considered for either a Fiscal Year 1995 or Fiscal Year 1996 
grant award. As part of that system, no new grant award applications 
would be accepted for Fiscal Year 1996 grant awards under either 
program. (See the Federal Register of March 7, 1995, 60 FR 12543, for 
the Strengthening Institutions Program Fiscal Year 1995 closing date 
notice and the Federal Register of March 23, 1995, 60 FR 15448, for the 
HSI Program Fiscal Year 1995 closing date notice.)
    Under the biennial grant award competition system, field readers 
evaluated and ranked all applications for both the Strengthening 
Institutions and HSI Programs. An application not selected for funding 
under the Fiscal Year 1995 grant award competition would be selected 
for funding under the Fiscal Year 1996 grant award competition based 
upon the rank order score it received in the field reader evaluation 
and ranking, and available funds.
    The biennial grant award competition system has the following 
institutional eligibility implications. To receive a new grant in 
Fiscal Year 1996 under either the Strengthening Institutions or HSI 
Program, an institution must submit a Title III eligibility application 
to the Department by the deadline dates set forth in this notice and 
must qualify as an eligible institution under this notice. However, 
interested institutions are advised that as of the date of this notice, 
Congress has not appropriated sufficient funds in Fiscal Year 1996 to 
fund new grants under either program.
    The Endowment Challenge Grant Program is not under the biennial 
grant award system. Thus, if an institution of higher education wishes 
to apply for a new grant under a Fiscal Year 1996 funding competition, 
unless it is an Historically Black College or University, it must 
submit a Title III eligibility application to the Department by the 
deadline dates set forth in this notice and must qualify as an eligible 
institution under this notice. However, interested institutions are 
advised that as of the date of this notice, Congress has not 
appropriated any Endowment Challenge Grant Program funds for Fiscal 
Year 1996.
    Additionally, institutions that wish to be considered for waivers 
of certain non-Federal share requirements under the Federal Work-Study 
(FWS) or Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) 
Programs authorized under Title IV of the HEA must submit a Title III 
eligibility application to the Department by the deadline dates set 
forth in this notice and must qualify as an eligible institution under 
this notice. Qualified institutions may receive these waivers even if 
they are not recipients of grants funds under Title III.
    Notwithstanding the absence of funding for new awards in Fiscal 
Year 1996, if an institution is interested in obtaining eligibility for 
purposes of receiving a new grant under the Strengthening Institutions 
or HSI Programs, applying for a new grant under the Endowment Challenge 
Grant Program, or receiving a waiver of the non-federal share under FWS 
or FSEOG Programs, it must submit its Title III eligibility application 
to the Department by June 3, 1996. However, if an institution submits 
its application by April 30, 1996, the Department will notify the 
applicants of its eligibility status by May 31, 1996. An applicant that 
believes it failed to be designated as an eligible institution because 
of errors in its application or insufficient information in its waiver 
request may submit an amended application to the Department no later 
than June 21, 1996.
    If an applicant submits its initial application after April 30, 
1996 but on or before June, 1996, the Department does not guarantee 
that it can review this delayed application and notify the applicant in 
time to allow revisions to the application by the June 21, 1996 
deadline date for amended applications.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 30, 1996 for early 
applications, June 3, 1996 for all initial applications, and June 21, 
1996 for amended applications.
    Applications Available: March 15, 1996.
    Eligibility Information: To qualify as an eligible institution 
under the Strengthening Institutions and Endowment Challenge Grant 
Programs, an applicant must (1) be accredited or preaccredited by a 
nationally recognized accrediting agency; (2) be legally authorized by 
the State in which it is located to be a junior or community college or 
to provide a bachelor's degree program; and (3) have a high enrollment 
of needy students. In addition, its educational and general (E&G) 
expenditures per full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate student must 
be low in comparison with the average E&G expenditures per FTE 
undergraduate student of institutions that offer similar instruction. 
The complete eligibility requirements are found in the Strengthening 
Institutions Program regulations, 34 CFR Secs. 607.2-607.5, as revised 
in the Federal Register on August 15, 1994 (59 FR 41914, 41922).
    Enrollment of Needy Students: Under 34 CFR Sec. 607.3(a), an 
institution is considered to have a high enrollment of needy students 
if--(1) at least 50 percent of its degree students received financial 
assistance under one or more of the following programs: Pell Grant, 
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, College Work Study, or 
Perkins Loan Program; or (2) the percentage of its undergraduate degree 
students who were enrolled on at least a half-time basis and received 
Pell Grants exceeded the median percentage of undergraduate degree 
students who were enrolled on at least a half-time basis and received 
Pell Grants at comparable institutions that offer similar instruction. 
To qualify under this latter criterion, an institution's Pell Grant 
percentage for base year 1993-94 must be more than the median for its 
category of comparable institutions provided on the table in this 
notice.
    E&G Expenditures Per FTE Student: An institution should compare its 
average E&G expenditure/FTE student to the average E&G expenditure/FTE 
student for its category of comparable institutions contained in the 
table in this notice. If the institution's average E&G expenditure for 
the 1993-94 base year is less than the average for its category of 
comparable institutions, it meets this eligibility requirement.
    The institution's E&G expenditures are the total amount it expended 
during the base year for instruction, research, public service, 
academic support, student services, institutional support, operation 
and maintenance, 

[[Page 5909]]
scholarships and fellowships, and mandatory transfers.
    The following table identifies the relevant median Pell Grant 
percentages and the average E&G expenditures per FTE student for the 
1993-94 base year for the four categories of comparable institutions:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                 Average
                                                      Median     E&G per
                                                    Pell grant     FTE  
                                                    percentage   student
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-year Public Institutions........................      31.58     $6,044
2-year Non-Profit Private Institutions............      30.76     $8,839
4-year Public Institutions........................      28.87    $14,716
4-year Non-Profit Private Institutions............      29.00    $21,012
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Waiver Information: Institutions of higher education that are 
unable to meet the needy student enrollment requirement or the E&G 
expenditure requirement may apply to the Secretary for waivers of these 
requirements, as described in 34 CFR Secs. 607.3(b) and 607.4(c) and 
(d). As discussed in the preamble to the final regulations published in 
the Federal Register on August 15, 1994 (59 FR 41914-41917), the 
Secretary has developed a set of more specific instructions relating to 
the waiver provisions for institutions unable to meet the needy student 
enrollment requirement. Institutions requesting a waiver of this 
requirement must include detailed information as set forth in the 
instructions for completing the application.
    Under the waiver authority provided in 34 CFR Sec. 607.3(b)(2), an 
institution must demonstrate that at least 30 percent of the students 
it served in base year 1993-94 were from low-income families. The 
regulations define ``low-income'' as an amount that does not exceed 150 
percent of the amount equal to the poverty level as established by the 
U.S. Bureau of the Census, 34 CFR Sec. 607.3(c). For the purposes of 
this waiver provision, the following table sets forth the low-income 
levels for the various sizes of families:

                       Base Year Low-Income Levels                      
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Contiguous 48                    
                                        States, the                     
                                        District of                     
         Size of family unit           Columbia, and   Alaska    Hawaii 
                                          outlying                      
                                       jurisdictions                    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1....................................       $6,970      $8,700    $8,040
2....................................        9,430      11,780    10,860
3....................................       11,890      14,860    13,680
4....................................       14,350      17,940    16,500
5....................................       16,810      21,020    19,230
6....................................       19,270      24,100    22,140
7....................................       21,730      27,180    24,960
8....................................       24,190      30,260    27,780
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For family units with more than eight members add the following 
amount for each additional family member: $2,460 for the contiguous 48 
states, the District of Columbia and outlying jurisdictions; $3,080 for 
Alaska; and $2,820 for Hawaii.
    The figures shown as low-income levels represent amounts equal to 
150 percent of the family income levels established by the U.S. Bureau 
of the Census for determining poverty status. The Census levels were 
published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the 
Federal Register on February 12, 1993 (58 FR 8287-8289). In reference 
to the waiver option specified in Sec. 607.3(b)(4) of the regulations, 
information about ``metropolitan statistical areas'' may be obtained by 
requesting the Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 1993, order number PB93-
192664, from the National Technical Information Services, Document 
Sales, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22161, telephone 
number (703) 487-4650. There is a charge for this publication. For 
general information about ``metropolitan statistical areas,'' 
institutions of higher education may contact the Strengthening 
Institutions Program Branch.
    Applicable Regulations: Regulations applicable to the eligibility 
process include: (a) The Strengthening Institutions Program Regulations 
in 34 CFR Part 607, as revised in the Federal Register on August 15, 
1994 (59 FR 41914); (b) the Endowment Challenge Grant Program 
Regulations in 34 CFR Part 628; and (c) the Education Department 
General Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR Parts 74, 75, 77, 82, 85, 
and 86.
    For Applications or Information Contact: Strengthening Institutions 
Program Branch, Division of Institutional Development, U.S. Department 
of Education, 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., (Suite 600-C, Portals 
Building), Washington, D.C. 20202-5335. Telephone: (202) 708-8839. 
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
    Information about the Department's funding opportunities, including 
copies of application notices for discretionary grant competitions, can 
be viewed on the Department's electronic bulletin board (ED Board), 
telephone (202) 260-9950; or on the Internet Gopher Server at 
GOPHER.ED.GOV (under Announcements, Bulletins and Press Releases). 
However, the official application notice for a discretionary grant 
competition is the notice published in the Federal Register.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1057, 1059c and 1065a.

    Dated: February 9, 1996.
David A. Longanecker,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 96-3320 Filed 2-13-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P