[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 5, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5272-5274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-2703]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA Nos. 84.031A, 84.031N, 84.031W]


Office of Postsecondary Education; Strengthening Institutions, 
and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Programs; 
Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002

    Purpose of Programs: The Strengthening Institutions, and Alaska 
Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Programs are authorized 
under Title III, Part A of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended 
(HEA). These programs will be referred to collectively in this notice 
as the ``Title III, Part A Programs.'' The FY 2002 competition for new 
planning, development, and construction grants under another Title III, 
Part A Program, the American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and 
Universities Program, will be announced in a separate Federal Register 
notice. Each Title III, Part A Program provides grants to eligible 
institutions of higher education to enable them to improve their 
academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability, and 
increase their self-sufficiency. The grants thereby support the 
elements of the National Education Goals that are relevant to these 
institutions' unique missions.
    Eligible Applicants: To qualify as an eligible institution under 
either of the programs included in this notice, an accredited or 
preaccredited institution must, among other requirements, have a high 
enrollment of needy students, and 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 34 CFR 607.2-607.5. 
The regulations may also be accessed by visiting the following 
Department of Education Web site http://www.gov.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.

    Note 1: A grantee under the Developing Hispanic-Serving 
Institutions (HSI) Program, authorized under Title V of the HEA, may 
not receive a grant under any Title III, Part A

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Program. Further, an HSI Program grantee may not give up that grant 
in order to receive a grant under any Title III, Part A Program. 
Therefore, a current HSI Program grantee may not apply for a grant 
under any Title III, Part A Program in FY 2002.


    Note 2: An institution that does not fall within the limitation 
described in NOTE 1 may apply for a FY 2002 grant under all Title 
III, Part A Programs for which it is eligible, as well as under the 
HSI Program. An applicant may receive only one grant.

    Applications Available: February 6, 2002.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 22, 2002.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 21, 2002.
    Estimated Available Funds: Congress has appropriated $73.625 
million for the Strengthening Institutions Program, and $6.5 million 
for the Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Program 
for FY 2002.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $330,000--$365,000 per year for 5-year 
development grants under the Strengthening Institutions Program; and 
$30,000--$35,000 for 1-year planning grants under the Title III, Part A 
Programs.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $350,000 per year for 5-year 
development grants under the Strengthening Institutions Program; and 
$32,500 for 1-year planning grants under the Title III, Part A 
Programs.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 14 planning grants under the Title III, 
Part A programs; 16 development grants under the Strengthening 
Institutions Program; and two development grants under the Alaska 
Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Program.
    Project Period: 60 months for development grants and 12 months for 
planning grants.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice. Applicants should periodically check the Title III, Part A 
Web site for further information on these programs. The address is 
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/HEP/idues/title3a.html.

    Page Limit: We have established mandatory page limits for the 
individual development grant, the cooperative arrangement development 
grant, and the planning grant applications. You must limit the 
narrative application to the equivalent of no more than 100 pages for 
the individual development grant, 140 pages for the cooperative 
arrangement development grant and 30 pages for the planning grant, 
using the following standards:
     A ``page'' is 8.5'' x 11'', on one side only, with 1'' 
margins top, bottom, right and left.
     Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) 
all text in the application narrative, including titles and headings. 
However, you may single space footnotes, quotations, references, 
captions, charts, forms, tables, figures and graphs.
     Use a font that is either 12-point or larger or no smaller 
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
    The page limit does not apply to the application cover sheet (ED 
424) or the assurances and certifications. However, the page limitation 
applies to all other parts of the application.
    We will reject your application if--
     You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
     You apply other standards and exceed the equivalent of the 
page limit.
    Special Funding Considerations: In tie-breaking situations 
described in 34 CFR 607.23 of the governing regulations, we award one 
additional point to an applicant institution that has an endowment fund 
for which the 1998-1999 market value per full-time equivalent (FTE) 
student was less than the comparable average per FTE student at similar 
type institutions. We also award one additional point to an applicant 
institution that had 1998-1999 expenditures for library materials per 
FTE student that were less than the comparable average per FTE student 
at similar type institutions.
    For the purpose of these funding considerations, an applicant must 
demonstrate that the market value of its endowment fund per FTE 
student, and library expenditures per FTE student, were less than the 
national averages for the year 1998-1999.
    If a tie remains, after applying the additional point or points, we 
will determine the ranking of applicants based on the lowest combined 
library expenditures per FTE student and endowment values per FTE 
student.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 82, 
85, 86, 97, 98, and 99; and, (b) The regulations for this program in 34 
CFR part 607.
    Applicability of Executive Order 13202: Applicants that apply for 
construction funds under these programs must comply with the Executive 
order 13202 signed by President Bush on February 17, 2001 and amended 
on April 26, 2001. This Executive order provides that recipients of 
Federal construction funds may not ``require or prohibit bidders, 
offerors, contractors, or subcontractors to enter into or adhere to 
agreements with one or more labor organizations, on the same or other 
construction project(s)'' or ``otherwise discriminate against bidders, 
offerors, contractors, or subcontractors for becoming or refusing to 
become or remain signatories or otherwise adhere to agreements with one 
or more labor organizations, on the same or other construction 
project(s).'' However, the Executive order does not prohibit 
contractors or subcontractors from voluntarily entering into these 
agreements.
    Projects funded under this program that include construction 
activity will be provided a copy of this Executive order and will be 
asked to certify that they will adhere to it.

Application Procedures

    Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for 
transmitting applications differ from those in the EDGAR (34 CFR 
75.102). Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553) the 
Department generally offers interested parties the opportunity to 
comment on proposed regulations. However, these amendments make 
procedural changes only and do not establish new substantive policy. 
Therefore, under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(A), the Secretary has determined 
that proposed rulemaking is not required.

Pilot Project for Electronic Submission of Applications

    In Fiscal Year 2002, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing 
to expand its pilot project of electronic submission of applications to 
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary 
grant competitions. The Title III, Part A Programs (CFDA Nos. 84.031A, 
84.031N, and 84.031W) are included in the pilot project. If you are an 
applicant under the Title III, Part A Program, you may submit your 
application to us in either electronic or paper format.
    The pilot project involves the use of the Electronic Grant 
Application System (e-APPLICATION, formerly e-GAPS) portion of the 
Grant Administration and Payment System (GAPS). We request your 
participation in this pilot project. We shall continue to evaluate its 
success and solicit suggestions for improvement.
    If you participate in this e-APPLICATION pilot, please note the 
following:
     Your participation is strictly voluntary.
     You will not receive any additional point value or penalty 
because you submit a grant application in electronic or paper format.
     You can submit all grant documents electronically 
including the Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424), Budget 
Information--Non-Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary 
assurances and certifications.
     Within three working days of submitting your electronic 
application

[[Page 5274]]

fax a signed copy of the Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424) to 
the Application Control Center after following these steps:
    1. Print ED 424 from the 
e-APPLICATION system.
    2. Make sure that the institution's Authorizing Representative 
signs this form.
    3. Before faxing this form, submit your electronic application via 
the e-APPLICATION system. You will receive an automatic 
acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award number (an identifying 
number unique to your application).
    4. Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of ED 
424.
    5. Fax ED 424 to the Application Control Center at (202) 260-1349.
     We may request that you give us original signatures on all 
other forms at a later date.
    You may access the electronic grant application for the Title III, 
Part A programs at http://e-grants.ed.gov.
    We have included additional information about the e-APPLICATION 
pilot project (see Parity Guidelines between Paper and Electronic 
Applications) in the application package.
    For Applications or Further Information Contact: Darlene B. 
Collins, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW, 6th Floor, 
Washington, DC 20202-8513. Telephone: (202) 502-7777 or via Internet 
[email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an 
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed under For 
Applications or Further Information Contact.
    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format by contacting that person. However, 
the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative 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 the following Web 
site www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
    To use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the 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. 1057-1059d.

    Dated: January 30, 2002.
Kenneth W. Tolo,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, Planning and Innovation, 
Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 02-2703 Filed 2-4-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P