[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5006-5008]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-2347]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA Nos: 84.031A, 84.031T, 84.031N and 84.031W]


Office of Postsecondary Education; Strengthening Institutions 
(SIP), American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities 
(TCCU), and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions 
(ANNH) Programs; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal 
Year (FY) 2003

    Purpose of Programs: The SIP, TCCU, and ANNH Programs are all 
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.'' Each provides grants 
to eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs) to enable them to 
improve their academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal 
stability, and increase their self-sufficiency.
    Eligible Applicants: To qualify as an eligible institution under 
any 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 IHEs 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.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister

    Notes: 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 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 
grantee may not apply for a grant under any Title III, Part A 
Program in FY 2003.
    2. An IHE that does not fall within the limitation described in 
NOTE 1 may apply for a FY 2003 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: January 31, 2003.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 5, 2003.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: May 5, 2003.
    Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested $76.275

[[Page 5007]]

million for the SIP, $18.130 million for the TCCU Program, and $6.734 
million for the ANNH Program for FY 2003. The actual level of funding, 
if any, depends on final congressional action. However, we are inviting 
applications to allow enough time to complete the grant process if 
Congress appropriates funds for these programs.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $330,000-$365,000 per year for 5-year 
development grants under SIP; $30,000-$35,000 for 1-year planning 
grants under the Title III, Part A Programs; $800,000-$1,200,000 for 1-
year construction and renovation grants and $347,000-$395,000 per year 
for 5-year development grants under the TCCU Program; and $300,000-
$350,000 per year for 5 year development grants under the ANNH Program.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $362,000 per year for 5-year 
development grants under SIP; $32,667 for 1-year planning grants under 
the Title III, Part A Programs; $1,182,000 per grant for 1-year 
construction and renovation grants and $380,000 per year for 5-year 
development grants under the TCCU Program; and $328,000 per year for 5-
year development grants under the ANNH Program. Development grants 
monies may be used for a variety of allowable activities. Construction 
funds may be used solely for construction, maintenance, renovation and 
improvement in classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and other 
instructional facilities, including purchase or rental of 
telecommunications technology equipment or services. We will refer to 
grants to carry out construction as construction grants.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 15 planning grants under the Title III, 
Part A Programs; 58 development grants under the SIP; 7 construction 
and renovation grants and 1 development grant under the TCCU Program; 
and 4 development grants under the ANNH Program.

    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

    Project Period: 60 months for development grants, 12 months for 
planning grants and 12 months for construction grants.
    Page Limit: The application narrative is where you, the applicant, 
address the selection criteria that reviewers use to evaluate your 
application. You must limit your narrative 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:
    [sbull] A ``page'' is 8.5'' x 11'', on one side only, with 1'' 
margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
    [sbull] Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) 
all text in the application narrative, including titles and headings. 
You may single space footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, 
as well as all text in charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
    [sbull] 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), the one-page abstract, the assurances and certification forms, 
and the Cooperative Arrangement Form (ED-851A-1). The page limit does, 
however, apply to all remaining parts of the application.
    We will reject your application if--
    [sbull] You apply these standards and exceed the page limit; or
    [sbull] 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, the Title III, Part A Program regulations 
require that we award one additional point to an application from an 
IHE that has an endowment fund for which the 1999-2000 market value per 
FTE student was less than the comparable average per FTE student at a 
similar type IHE. We also award one additional point to an application 
from an IHE that had expenditures for library materials in 1999-2000 
per FTE student that were less than the comparable average per FTE 
student at a similar type IHE.
    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 average 
expenditure per FTE student when calculated using the data submitted by 
applicants for the year 1999-2000.
    If a tie remains, after applying the additional point(s) 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 6, 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.

Priority

Invitational Priority

    We are particularly interested in applications that meet the 
following priority.
    Academic programs designed to improve and enhance opportunities for 
low-income students in the workforce and meet local community workforce 
needs.
    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application that meets 
the priority a competitive or absolute preference over other 
applications.

Application Procedures

    Note: Some of the procedures in these instructions for 
transmitting applications differ from those in the Education 
Department General Administrative Regulations (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 FY 2003, the U.S. Department of Education is continuing to 
expand its pilot project for electronic submission of applications to 
include additional formula grant programs and additional discretionary 
grant competitions. The Title III, Part A Programs--84.031A, 84.031N, 
84.031T, and 84.031W are

[[Page 5008]]

included in the pilot project. If you are an applicant under the Title 
III, Part A Programs, 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) portion of the Grant Administration 
and Payment System (GAPS). Users of e-Application will be entering data 
on-line while completing their applications. You may not e-mail a grant 
application to us. If you participate in this voluntary pilot project 
by submitting an application electronically, the data you enter on-line 
will be saved into a database. We request your participation in e-
Application. We shall continue to evaluate its success and solicit 
suggestions for improvement.
    If you participate in e-Application, please note the following:
    [sbull] Your participation is voluntary.
    [sbull] You will not receive any additional point value because you 
submit a grant application in electronic format, nor will we penalize 
you if you submit an application in paper format. When you enter the e-
Application system, you will find information about its hours of 
operation.
    [sbull] You may submit all documents electronically, including the 
Application for Federal Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and 
certifications.
    [sbull] After you electronically submit your application, you will 
receive an automatic acknowledgement, which will include a PR/Award 
number (an identifying number unique to your application).
    [sbull] Within three working days after submitting your electronic 
application, 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) The institution's Authorizing Representative must sign this 
form.
    (3) Place the PR/Award number in the upper right hand corner of the 
hard copy signature page of the ED 424.
    (4) Fax the signed ED 424 to the Application Control Center at 
(202) 260-1349.
    [sbull] We may request that you give us original signatures on all 
other forms at a later date.
    [sbull] Closing Date Extension in Case of System Unavailability: If 
you elect to participate in the e-Application pilot for the Title III, 
Part A Programs and you are prevented from submitting your application 
on the closing date because the e-Application system is unavailable, we 
will grant you an extension of one business day in order to transmit 
your application electronically, by mail, or by hand delivery. For us 
to grant this extension--
    (1) You must be a registered user of e-Application, and have 
initiated an e-Application for this competition; and
    (2)(a) The e-Application system must be unavailable for 60 minutes 
or more between the hours of 8:30 and 3:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the deadline date; or
    (b) The e-Application system must be unavailable for any period of 
time during the last hour of operation (that is, for any period of time 
between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time) on the deadline date. 
The Department must acknowledge and confirm these periods of 
unavailability before granting you an extension. To request this 
extension you must contact either (1) the person listed elsewhere in 
this notice under For Applications and Further Information Contact or 
(2) the e-GRANTS help desk at 1-888-336-8930.
    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 and Further Information Contact: Darlene B. 
Collins, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW, 6th Floor, 
Washington, DC 20006-8513. 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 and 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 site: 
http://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 28, 2003.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 03-2347 Filed 1-30-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P