[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37469-37470]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15933]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

RIN 1840-ZA03


Upward Bound Program Participant Expansion Initiative

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education

ACTION: Notice of proposed priority.

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SUMMARY: Using fiscal year (FY) 2003 funds, the Secretary of Education 
proposes to establish an absolute priority to provide supplemental 
funds of up to $100,000 to selected Upward Bound Program projects. 
Those eligible to receive funds under this absolute priority must have 
received supplemental funds in FY 2000 and serve at least one target 
high school in which at least 50 percent of the students were eligible 
for free lunch under the National School Lunch Act during the 2001-2002 
school year. Applicants not eligible for the absolute priority are 
invited to apply and will be funded, subject to availability of funds, 
as described in the funding order below. The selected projects must use 
the supplemental funds to provide services to eligible project 
participants with the greatest need for those services.
    The Secretary further proposes that projects that receive 
supplemental funds under this priority are required to select otherwise 
eligible participants who attend a target high school in which at least 
50 percent of the students were eligible for free lunch under the 
National School Lunch Act during the 2001-2002 school year and who have 
the greatest need for Upward Bound services. Otherwise, eligible 
students having the greatest need for Upward Bound services are those 
who:
    1. Have not met the State academic achievement standard for grade 
eight in reading/language arts;
    2. Have not met the State academic achievement standard for grade 
eight in math; or
    3. Have a grade point average of 2.5 or less (on a 4.0 scale) for 
the most recent school year for which grade point averages are 
available.
    By using State academic achievement assessments to determine 
student eligibility for services, schools can align this initiative 
with the requirements and activities supported by the No Child Left 
Behind Act of 2001.

DATES: We must receive your comments on or before July 24, 2003.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about this proposed priority to Larry 
Oxendine, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., Room 7044, 
Washington, DC 20006-8510. If you prefer to send your comments through 
the Internet, use the following address: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Margarita Benitez, Sheryl Wilson, or 
Gaby Watts, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., Room 
7020, Washington, DC 20006-8510. Telephone (202) 502-7600.
    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 contact persons listed in the preceding 
paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation To Comment

    We invite you to submit comments regarding this proposed priority. 
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public 
comments about this priority in room 7039, 1990 K Street, NW., 
Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern time, 
Monday through Friday of each week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing the Rulemaking 
Record

    On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or 
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs 
assistance to review the comments or other documents in the public 
rulemaking record for this proposed priority. If you want to schedule 
an appointment for

[[Page 37470]]

this type of aid, you may call (202) 502-7600. If you use a TDD, you 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-
8339.

Background

    In FY 2003, the Congress appropriated more funds than the 
Administration requested for the Federal TRIO Programs. In examining 
the options available to the Secretary for allocating these additional 
funds, the Secretary determined that a portion of the funds should be 
used to increase support to the Upward Bound Program. The Upward Bound 
Program, authorized under section 402C of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 as amended (HEA), 20 U.S.C. 1070a-13, helps low-income, potential 
first-generation, college students acquire the skills and motivation 
necessary for success in education beyond secondary school.
    The purpose of this proposed supplement is to help the Upward Bound 
Program achieve one of its key performance goals: increasing the 
college enrollment rate of low-income, first generation college 
students. A recent evaluation of the Upward Bound Program found it has 
not been effective in increasing college preparation and enrollment of 
its program participants. The evaluation did find that the program has 
significant effects on higher risk students, but that the program was 
inadequately targeted to these students.
    Under the absolute priority, the Upward Bound Program will increase 
the number of eligible students with the greatest need who are served 
by the Upward Bound Program. The students with the greatest need are 
generally those from the lowest income levels who have potential for 
college but are not performing successfully in high school. The 
Secretary believes that limiting supplemental funds to projects that 
serve the above described target schools is a good way to ensure that 
projects serve the lowest income students because the free lunch is 
limited to students from families with the lowest family income. An 
estimated 150 current Upward Bound projects could receive supplemental 
funds to serve at least twenty (20) additional students.

Proposed Absolute Priority

    Under 34 CFR 75.105(c), the Secretary proposes to give an absolute 
preference to applications that meet the following absolute priority.
    The Secretary will provide supplemental funds of up to $100,000 to 
regular Upward Bound Program projects that:
    1. Are selected for funding under the FY 2003 Upward Bound Program 
funding competition;
    2. Serve a target high school in which at least 50 percent of the 
students were eligible to receive free lunch under the National School 
Lunch Act during the 2001-2002 school year;
    3. Received supplemental funds in FY 2000 under the Notice of Final 
Priority dated July 24, 2000 (65 FR 45698-45699); and
    4. Agree to select at least 20 students who attend a target high 
school in which at least 50 percent of the students were eligible to 
receive free lunches under the National School Lunch Act during the 
2001-2002 school year and have the greatest need for project services. 
Students who have the greatest need for project services are those 
students who:
    a. Have not met the State academic achievement standard for grade 
eight in reading/language arts;
    b. Have not met the State academic achievement standard for grade 
eight in math; or
    c. Have a grade point average of 2.5 or less (on a 4.0 scale) for 
the most recent school year for which grade point averages are 
available.
    Veteran Upward Bound projects and Upward Bound Math/Science 
projects are not eligible to participate in this initiative.
    The Secretary proposes to fund applications in the following order:
    1. Applications that meet the absolute priority.
    2. All other applications.
    If funds are available after funding all applications that meet the 
absolute priority, the Secretary will select from among the remaining 
applicants based upon the highest scores received (including prior 
experience points) in the Upward Bound FY 2003 Funding Competition.
    Upward Bound projects that wish to receive supplemental funds will 
be required to submit:
    [sbull] The identity of the target schools to be served by the 
project.
    [sbull] The number of students who were eligible for free lunch 
under the National School Lunch Act at each of the target high schools 
to be served by the project in the 2001-2002 school year and the total 
number of students enrolled at those target schools in that year,
    [sbull] The number of additional students, not less than 20, that 
the project plans to serve,
    [sbull] A revised budget; and
    [sbull] A narrative describing how the supplemental funds will be 
used to address each participant's greatest need.
    Performance Measures: The effectiveness of the Upward Bound Program 
Participant Expansion Initiative will be measured by the college 
enrollment rate of higher-risk low-income first generation college 
students who are program participants. All grantees will be expected to 
provide documentation of educational outcomes of participating students 
for the purposes of assessing the effectiveness of individual projects 
and the initiative overall.

Intergovernmental Review

    This program is subject to Executive Order 12372 and the 
regulations in 34 CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the Executive 
order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a strengthened 
federalism. The Executive order relies on processes developed by State 
and local governments for coordination and review of proposed Federal 
financial assistance.
    This document provides early notification of our specific plans and 
action for this program.
    Applicable Program Regulations: 34 CFR part 645.

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 site: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.html.
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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. 1070.

    Dated: June 19, 2003.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 03-15933 Filed 6-23-03; 8:45 am]
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