[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7636-7637]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-3762]


      

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Part VIII





Department of Education





_______________________________________________________________________



Office of Elementary and Secondary Education



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Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program; Notice Inviting Applications 
for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1998; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 30 / Friday, February 13, 1998 / 
Notices  

[[Page 7636]]



DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.330]
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education


Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program; Notice Inviting 
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1998

Summary

    The Secretary invites applications for new awards for FY 1998 under 
the Advanced Placement Fee Payment discretionary grant program and 
announces deadline dates for the transmittal of applications for 
funding under the program.

Purpose of Program

    The primary purpose of the Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program 
is to enable States to reimburse part or all of the cost of advanced 
placement test fees for low-income individuals who (1) are enrolled in 
an advanced placement class; and (2) plan to take an advanced placement 
test. This program is authorized by section 1545 of the Higher 
Education Amendments of 1992, 20 U.S.C. 1070a-11, note.

Who May Apply

    State educational agencies (SEAs) in any State, including the 
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin 
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the 
former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 20, 1998.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 10, 1998. The 60-day 
period for intergovernmental review has been waived.
    Applications Available: February 13, 1998.
    Available Funds: $3,000,000.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $1,000 to $400,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $50,000.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 57.

    *Note: These estimates are projections for the guidance of 
potential applicants. The Department is not bound by any estimates 
in this notice.

Project Period

    Up to 15 months. States receiving grants under this program may use 
the funds to reimburse eligible individuals for advanced placement 
tests taken in FY 1998, FY 1999, or both.

Requirements for Approval of Applications

    In order to receive funding under this program, an SEA must submit 
to the Department an application that contains the following:
    (a) A description of the advanced placement test fees the State 
will pay on behalf of individual students, including the approximate 
number of students on whose behalf the State will pay these fees and 
the approximate date the State expects each student to take the 
advanced placement exam;
    (b) A description of the method by which eligible low-income 
individuals will be identified, and the steps the State will take to 
ensure that any students receiving payments under this program are 
eligible for such payments;
    (c) A description of the State's plan to disseminate information on 
the availability of test fee payments to eligible individuals through 
secondary school teachers and guidance counselors;
    (d) A description of the State's plan to evaluate the effectiveness 
of the program;
    (e) An assurance that any funds received under this program will 
only be used to pay advanced placement test fees for qualifying low-
income individuals;
    (f) An assurance that the State will document the eligibility of 
each individual on whose behalf the State pays part or all of an 
advanced placement test fee in accordance with section 402A(e) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965; and
    (g) An assurance that funds provided under this program will be 
used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, local, or 
private funds available to assist low-income individuals in paying for 
advanced placement testing.

Allowable Activities

    States receiving grants under this program may use the grant funds 
only to pay advanced placement test fees. The Department encourages 
States to undertake activities to increase the participation of low-
income students in advanced placement classes and testing, but grant 
funds may not be used for this purpose.

Allocation of Funds

    The Department intends to fund all applications meeting the 
requirements for approval of applications previously described in this 
notice. In determining the amount of grant funds to be allocated to 
each State, the Department will rely on the U.S. Census Bureau count of 
poor children ages 5-17 that is used for allocations under Title I, 
Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 
U.S.C. 6311-6338. The Department will also consider the State's 
description of the advanced placement test fees it intends to pay, and 
whether those fees are reasonable and allowable. The application 
package will provide each State with an estimate of the approximate 
amount of grant funds it can expect to receive if all States 
participate in the program. In the event that all States do not 
participate in the program, the Department will reallocate the funds 
that would have been awarded to the non-participating States to States 
whose applications have been approved.

Waiver of Rulemaking

    Because the Department intends to fund all applications meeting the 
requirements for approval of applications described in this notice, 
Department regulations governing the selection of new discretionary 
grant projects, codified at 34 CFR 75.200-75.222, will not apply to 
this program. While it is generally the practice of the Secretary to 
offer interested parties the opportunity to comment on such a 
regulation before it is implemented, section 437(d) of the General 
Education Provisions Act exempts from formal rulemaking requirements 
regulations governing the first grant competition under a new or 
substantially revised program authority (20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1)). In 
order to make awards on a timely basis, the Secretary has decided to 
publish this regulation in final under the authority of section 437(d).

Applicable Statute and Regulations

    Title XV, Part G, of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, 20 
U.S.C. 1070a-11, note. The Education Department General Administrative 
Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR Parts 75 (except 75.200-75.222), 76, 77, 
79, 80, 81, 82, 85, and 86.
    The following definitions and other provisions are taken from the 
Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program statute, in Title XV, Part G, of 
the Higher Education Amendments of 1992. They are repeated in this 
application notice for the convenience of the applicant.

Definitions

    As used in this section:
    (a) The term advanced placement test includes only an advanced 
placement test approved by the Secretary of Education for the purposes 
of this section.
    (b) The term ``low-income individual'' has the meaning given the 
term in

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section 402A(g)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

    *Note: Under section 402A(g)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965, the term low-income individual means an individual from a 
family whose taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed 
150 percent of an amount equal to the poverty level determined by 
using criteria of poverty established by the Bureau of the Census 
(20 U.S.C. 1070a-11(g)(2)).

Information Dissemination

    The SEA shall disseminate information on the availability of test 
fee payments under this program to eligible individuals through 
secondary school teachers and guidance counselors.

Supplementation of Funding

    Funds provided under this program must be used to supplement and 
not supplant other Federal, State, and local or private funds available 
to assist low-income individuals in paying for advanced placement 
testing.
    For Applications or Information Contact: Frank B. Robinson, U.S. 
Department of Education, School Improvement Programs, Portals Building, 
Room 4500, Washington, D.C. 20202-6140. Telephone (202) 260-2669. 
Internet address: [email protected]. 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.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) upon request to the contact person listed in the preceding 
paragraph. Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the 
application package in an alternate format, also, by contacting that 
person. However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an 
alternate format the standard forms included in the application 
package.

Electronic Access to This Document

    Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or 
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the 
following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
To use the pdf, you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with 
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you 
have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing 
Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498.
    Anyone may also view these documents in text copy only on an 
electronic bulletin board of the Department. Telephone: (202) 219-1511 
or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922. The documents are located under Option 
G--Files/Announcements, Bulletins, and Press Releases.

    Note: The official version of a document is the document 
published in the Federal Register.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070a-11, note.

    Dated: February 10, 1998.
Gerald N. Tirozzi,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 98-3762 Filed 2-12-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P