[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 130 (Thursday, July 8, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36862-36863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-17245]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No: 84.200]


Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) Inviting 
Applications for new Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2000

    Purpose of Program: This program provides fellowships in areas of 
national need through academic departments and programs of institutions 
of higher education to assist graduate students with excellent records 
who demonstrate financial need and plan to pursue the highest degree 
available in their course of study.
    Eligible Applicants: Academic departments and programs of 
institutions of higher education that meet the requirements in 34 CFR 
648.2.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: October 4, 1999.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: December 3, 1999.
    Applications Available: July 16, 1999.
    Available Funds: $18,054,000. The estimated amount of funds 
available for new awards is based on the Administration's request for 
this program for FY 2000. The actual level of funding, if any, is 
contingent on final congressional action.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $126,875--$750,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $138,000 per year.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 130.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice.

    Project Period: Up to 36 months.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 82, 
85, and 86; and (b) The regulations in 34 CFR part 648.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Stipend Level: The Secretary has determined that the maximum 
fellowship stipend for academic year 1999-2000 is $15,000, which is 
equal to that provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) 
graduate fellowships. Should the NSF increase its graduate fellowship 
stipends for the academic year 2000-2001, we will make a parallel 
increase in GAANN fellowship stipends.
    Institutional Payment: The Secretary estimates that the 
institutional payment for academic year 1999-2000 is $10,375. The 
Secretary will adjust the institutional payment prior to the issuance 
of grant awards based on the Department of Labor's projection in 
December 1999 of the Consumer Price Index for the year 2000.

Priorities

    Absolute Priority--Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) and 34 CFR 648.33, the 
Secretary gives an absolute preference to applications that meet the 
following priority. The Secretary funds under this competition only 
applications that meet this absolute priority:
    A project funded under this priority must propose to provide 
fellowships in one or more of the following areas of national need: 
Biology, Chemistry, Computer and Information Sciences, Engineering, 
Geological and Related Sciences, Mathematics, and Physics.
    Invitational Priorities: Within the absolute priority specified in 
this notice, the Secretary is particularly interested in applications 
that meet the following invitational priorities. However, under 34 CFR 
75.105(c)(1) an application that meets these invitational priorities 
does not receive competitive or absolute preference over other 
applications.
    Invitational Priority 1--Applications from interdisciplinary 
programs for projects designed to involve academic fields in two or 
more of the designated areas of need.
    Invitational Priority 2--Applications from geological science 
programs for projects that will train Ph.D. students for careers in the 
field of computational earth science.

FOR APPLICATIONS OR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cosette H. Ryan, 
Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need Program, U.S. Department 
of Education, International Education and Graduate Program Service, 400 
Maryland Avenue, SW., Suite 600-B, Portals Building, Washington, DC 
20202-5247. Telephone: (202) 260-3608. The e-mail address for Ms. Ryan 
is [email protected]. Individuals who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-888-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternate format, (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on 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

    You may view this document, as well as all other Department of 
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe 
Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet 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

[[Page 36863]]

U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or 
in the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://
www.access.gpo.gov/nara/index.html.

    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1135-1135ee.

    Dated: July 1, 1999.
Claudio R. Prieto,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 99-17245 Filed 7-7-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U