[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 95 (Friday, May 16, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26956-26957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-12285]



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Part IX





Department of Education





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Office of Innovation and Improvement--Advance Placement (AP) Test Fee 
Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 
(FY) 2003; Notice

  Federal Register / Vol. 68 , No. 95 / Friday, May 16, 2003 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.330B]
RIN 1855-ZA01


Office of Innovation and Improvement--Advanced Placement (AP) 
Test Fee Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for 
Fiscal Year (FY) 2003

    Purpose of Program: The AP Test Fee program provides grants to 
States to enable them to pay advanced placement test fees on behalf of 
eligible low-income students who (1) are enrolled in an advanced 
placement course; and (2) plan to take an advanced placement exam. The 
program is designed to increase the number of low-income students who 
take advanced placement tests and receive scores for which college 
academic credit is awarded. Through participation in this program, low-
income students will achieve to higher standards in English, 
mathematics, science, and other core subjects. The program also seeks 
to increase the number of low-income students who achieve a 
baccalaureate or advanced degree.
    The AP Test Fee program provides resources that State Educational 
agencies (SEAs) and other eligible applicants can use in pursuit of the 
objectives of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 which aims for all 
elementary and secondary students to achieve to high standards. In 
particular, this program provides an opportunity for eligible entities 
to support advanced placement programs in schools identified for 
improvement, corrective action, or restructuring under Title I, Part A 
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.
    Eligible Applicants: SEAs in any State, including the District of 
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, and the freely associated states of the Republic of the 
Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic 
of Palau.

    Note: For purposes of this program, the Bureau of Indian Affairs 
is treated as an SEA.

    Applications Available: 5-16-03.
    Notification of Intent to Apply for Funding: The Department will be 
able to develop a more efficient process for reviewing grant 
applications if it has a better understanding of the number of entities 
that intend to apply for funding under this competition. Therefore, the 
Secretary strongly encourages each potential applicant for the AP Test 
Fee program to notify the Department by e-mail that it intends to 
submit an application for funding. The notification of intent to apply 
for funding should be sent no later than June 16, 2003 to the following 
Internet address: [email protected].
    Applicants who fail to provide this e-mail notification may still 
apply for funding.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: 6-30-03.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: 8-30-03.
    Estimated Available Funds: Approximately $3 million.

    Note: The Department expects to award a total of approximately 
$3 million in grants to States under the AP Test Fee program but, in 
accordance with statutory requirements, will make more funds 
available from the Advanced Placement Incentive program (CFDA No. 
84.330C) if necessary.

    Estimated Range of Awards: $50,000 to $500,000 per year.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $275,000 per year.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 4-50.

    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 36 months.
    Applicable Regulations and Statute: (a) Regulations. Education 
Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 
75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99. (b) Statute. Title I, 
Part G of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as 
amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), 20 U.S.C. 6531-
6537.

Test Fee Funding Rule

    In accordance with statutory requirements, the Department gives 
priority to funding proposals to use grant funds to pay advanced 
placement test fees on behalf of eligible low-income individuals. The 
Department intends to fund, at some level, all applications that meet 
the minimum Requirements for Approval of Applications as described in 
the application package.

Allowable Activities

    States receiving grants under this program may use the grant funds 
to pay 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.

Award Basis

    In determining grant award amounts, the Department will consider, 
among other things, the number of children in the State eligible to be 
counted under section 1124(c) of Title I of the ESEA in relation to the 
number of such children counted in all the States that apply for 
funding. Complete budget data must be submitted for each year of 
funding requested.

Definitions

    The following definitions and other provisions are taken from the 
Advanced Placement Programs authorizing statute, in Title I, Part G of 
the ESEA. They are repeated in this application notice for the 
convenience of the applicant.
    As used in this section:
    (a) The term advanced placement test means an advanced placement 
test administered by the College Board or approved by the Secretary of 
Education.

    Note: In addition to advanced placement tests administered by 
the College Board, the Department has approved advanced placement 
tests administered by the International Baccalaureate Organization. 
As part of the grant application process, applicants may request 
approval of tests from other educational entities that provide 
comparable programs of rigorous academic courses and testing through 
which students may earn college credit.

    (b) The term low-income individual means an individual who is 
determined by an SEA or local educational agency to be a child from a 
low-income family on the basis of data used by the Secretary to 
determine allocations under section 1124 of Title I of the ESEA, data 
on children in families receiving assistance under part A of title IV 
of the Social Security Act, or data on children eligible to receive 
medical assistance under the Medicaid program under title XIX of the 
Social Security Act, or through an alternate method that combines or 
extrapolates from those data.

Information Dissemination

    An SEA awarded a grant under the AP Test Fee program must 
disseminate information regarding the availability of advanced 
placement test fee payments under this program to eligible individuals 
through secondary school teachers and guidance counselors.

Supplement, Not Supplant, Rule

    Funds provided under this program may be used only to supplement, 
and not supplant, other non-Federal funds that are available to assist 
low-income individuals in paying advanced placement test fees.

Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking

    In accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C.

[[Page 26957]]

553), it is the practice of the Secretary to offer interested parties 
the opportunity to comment on proposed rules that are not taken 
directly from the statute. Ordinarily, this practice would have applied 
to the rules in this notice. Section 437(d)(2) of the General Education 
Provisions Act (GEPA), however, exempts from this rulemaking 
requirement those rules where the Secretary determines it would cause 
extreme hardship to the intended beneficiaries of the program affected 
by the regulations. The Secretary, in accordance with section 437(d)(2) 
of GEPA, has decided to forego public comment with respect to the rules 
in this grant competition in order to ensure timely and high-quality 
awards. These rules will apply only to the FY 2003 grant competition.
    For Applications Contact: Education Publications Center (ED Pubs), 
P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone (toll free): 1-877-433-
7827. FAX: (301) 470-1244. If you use a telecommunications device for 
the deaf (TDD) you may call (toll free): 1-877-576-7734.
    You may also contact ED Pubs at its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pbs/edpubs.html.
    Or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address: 
[email protected].
    If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify 
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.330B.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Madeline E. Baggett, U.S. Department 
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-6140. 
Telephone: (202) 260-2502 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 
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. 6531-6537.

    Dated: May 12, 2003.
Nina Rees,
Deputy Under Secretary for Innovation and Improvement.
[FR Doc. 03-12285 Filed 5-15-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P