[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69589-69592]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-3375]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.031H]


Office of Postsecondary Education; Strengthening Institutions 
(SIP), American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities 
(TCCU), Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions (ANNH) 
and Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Programs; Notice 
Inviting Applications for Designation as Eligible Institutions for 
Fiscal Year (FY) 2005

    Purpose of Programs: Under the SIP, TCCU, and ANNH Programs, (Title 
III Part A programs) authorized under Part A of Title III of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), institutions of higher 
education are eligible to apply for grants if they meet specific 
statutory and regulatory eligibility requirements. Similarly, 
institutions of higher education are eligible to apply for grants under 
the HSI Program, authorized under Title V of the HEA, if they meet 
specific statutory and regulatory requirements. In addition, an 
institution that is designated as an eligible institution under those 
programs may also receive a waiver of certain non-Federal share 
requirements under the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity 
Grant (FSEOG), the Federal Work Study (FWS), the Student Support 
Services (SSS) and the Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign 
Language (UISFL) Programs. The FSEOG, FWS and SSS Programs are 
authorized under Title IV of the HEA; the UISFL Program is authorized 
under Title VI of the HEA.
    Qualified institutions may receive these waivers even if they are 
not recipients of grant funds under the Title III, Part A Programs or 
the HSI Program.
    Special Note: To qualify as an eligible institution under the Title 
III, Part A Programs or the HSI Program, your institution must satisfy 
several criteria,

[[Page 69590]]

including one related to needy student enrollment and one related to 
average Educational and General (E&G) expenditures for a particular 
base year. The most recent data available for E&G expenditures is for 
base year 2001-2002. In order to award FY 2005 grants in a timely 
manner, we will use the most recent data available. Therefore, we will 
use E&G expenditure threshold data from the base year 2001-2002. In 
completing your eligibility application, please use E&G expenditure 
data from the base year 2001-2002.
    Eligible Applicants: To qualify as an eligible institution under 
the Title III, Part A Programs or the HSI Program, an accredited 
institution must, among other requirements, have an enrollment of needy 
students, and its average 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. To be an eligible Hispanic Serving 
Institution, an institution must--
    (1) Be accredited or preaccredited by a nationally recognized 
accrediting agency or association that the Secretary has determined to 
be a reliable authority as to the quality of education or training 
offered;
    (2) Be legally authorized by the State in which it is located to be 
a junior college or to provide an educational program for which it 
awards a bachelor's degree;
    (3) Have an enrollment of needy students as described in the 
Enrollment Of Needy Students section of this notice;
    (4) Have low average educational and general expenditures per full-
time equivalent undergraduate student as described in the Educational 
And General Expenditures Per Full-Time Equivalent Student section of 
this notice and the application booklet;
    (5) Have, at the time of application, an enrollment of 
undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent 
Hispanic students; and
    (6) Provide assurances that not less than 50 percent of its 
Hispanic students are low-income individuals.

    Note: Numbers five and six above are required at the time of 
submission of the grant application.

    The complete eligibility requirements for the Title III, Part A 
Programs are found in 34 CFR 607.2 through 607.5. These regulations may 
be accessed by visiting the following Department of Education Web site: 
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_02/34cfr607_02.html. The 
complete eligibility requirements for the HSI Program are found in 34 
CFR 606.2 through 34 CFR 606.5. These regulations may be accessed by 
visiting the following Department of Education Web site: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_01/34cfr606_01.html.
    Enrollment of Needy Students: Under 34 CFR 606.3(a) and 607.3(a), 
an institution is considered to have an enrollment of needy students if 
(1) at least 50 percent of its degree students received financial 
assistance under one or more of the following programs: Federal Pell 
Grant, FSEOG, FWS, and Federal Perkins Loan Programs; or (2) the 
percentage of its undergraduate degree students who were enrolled on at 
least a half-time basis and received Federal Pell Grants exceeded the 
median percentage of undergraduate degree students who were enrolled on 
at least a half-time basis and received Federal Pell Grants at 
comparable institutions that offered similar instruction.
    To qualify under this latter criterion, an institution's Federal 
Pell Grant percentage for base year 2002-2003 must be more than the 
median for its category of comparable institutions provided in the 
table in this notice.
    Educational And General Expenditures Per Full-Time Equivalent 
Student: An institution should compare its 2001-2002 average E&G 
expenditures per FTE student to the average E&G expenditure per FTE 
student for its category of comparable institutions contained in the 
table in this notice. If the institution's average E&G expenditures for 
the 2001-2002 base year are less than the average for its category of 
comparable institutions, it meets this eligibility requirement.
    An institution's average E&G expenditures are the total amount it 
expended during the base year for instruction, research, public 
service, academic support, student services, institutional support 
including library expenditures, operation and maintenance, scholarships 
and fellowships, and mandatory transfers.
    The following table identifies the relevant median Federal Pell 
Grant percentages for the base year 2002-2003 and the relevant average 
E&G expenditures per FTE student for the base year 2001-2002 for the 
four categories of comparable institutions:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 2002-2003
                                                Median Pell   2001-2002
             Type of  institution                  grant     Average E&G
                                                 percentage    per FTE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-year Public Institutions....................         24.6       $8,738
2-year Non-Profit Private Institutions........         40.6       22,452
4-year Public Institutions....................         20.9       21,037
4-year Non-Profit Private Institutions........         21.7       33,509
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Waiver Information: Institutions of higher education that are 
unable to meet the needy student enrollment requirement or the average 
E&G expenditures requirement may apply to the Secretary for waivers of 
these requirements, as described in 34 CFR 606.3(b), 606.4(c) and (d), 
607.3(b) and 607.4(c) and (d). Institutions requesting a waiver of the 
needy student enrollment requirement or the average E&G expenditures 
requirement must include in their application detailed information 
supporting the waiver request, as described in the instructions for 
completing the application.
    The regulations governing the Secretary's authority to waive the 
needy student requirement waiver, 34 CFR 606.3(b)(2) and (3) and 
607.3(b)(2) and (3) refers to ``low-income'' students or families. The 
regulations define ''low-income'' as an amount that does not exceed 150 
percent of the amount equal to the poverty level, as established by the 
U.S. Bureau of the Census, 34 CFR 606.3(c) and 607.3(c).
    For the purposes of this waiver provision, the following table sets 
forth the low-income levels for the various sizes of families:

                                          2004 Annual Low-Income Levels
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Contiguous 48
                                                            states, the
                  Size of family unit                       District of           Alaska             Hawaii
                                                            Columbia and
                                                              outlying
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1......................................................            $13,965            $17,445            $16,050

[[Page 69591]]

 
2......................................................             18,735             23,415             21,540
3......................................................             23,505             29,385             27,030
4......................................................             28,275             35,355             32,520
5......................................................             33,045             41,325             38,010
6......................................................             37,815             47,295             43,500
7......................................................             42,585             53,265             48,990
8......................................................             47,355             59,235             54,480
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For family units with more than eight members, add the following 
amount for each additional family member: $4,770 for the contiguous 48 
states, the District of Columbia and outlying jurisdictions; $5,970 for 
Alaska; and $5,490 for Hawaii.
    The figures shown under family income represent amounts equal to 
150 percent of the family income levels established by the U.S. Bureau 
of the Census for determining poverty status. The poverty guidelines 
were published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 
the Federal Register on February 13, 2004 (69 FR 7336-7338).
    The information about ``metropolitan statistical areas'' referenced 
in 34 CFR 606.3(b)(4) and 607.3(b)(4) may be obtained by requesting the 
Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 1999 publication, order number PB99-
501538, from the National Technical Information Service, Document 
Sales, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia 22161, telephone 
number 1-800-553-6847. There is a charge for this publication.
    Applications Available: November 30, 2004.
    Deadline For Transmittal Of Applications: January 13, 2005, for an 
applicant institution that wishes to apply for a FY 2005 new grant 
under the Title III, Part A Programs or the HSI Program; April 28, 
2005, for an institution that wishes to apply only for cost-sharing 
waivers under the FSEOG, FWS, SSS or UISFL Programs; and, January 13, 
2005, for an institution that wishes to apply for both a grant under 
the Title III, Part A Programs or the HSI Program and a waiver of the 
non-Federal share requirement.
    Electronic Submission Of Applications: We are requiring that 
applications for institutional eligibility for FY 2005 under Request 
for Designation as an Eligible Institution be submitted electronically 
at the following Web site: http://webprod.cbmiweb.com/Title3and5/index.html.
    If you are unable to submit an application electronically you may 
submit a written request for a waiver of the electronic submission 
requirement. In the request, you should explain the reason or reasons 
that prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application. 
The request should be addressed to: Dr. Maria Carrington, U.S. 
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6033, Washington, DC 
20202-8513. Please submit your request no later than two weeks before 
the application deadline date.
    If, within two weeks of the application deadline date, you are 
unable to submit an application electronically, you must submit a paper 
application by the application deadline date in accordance with the 
transmittal instructions in the application package. The paper 
application must include a written request for a waiver documenting the 
reasons that prevented the applicant from using the Internet to submit 
the application.
    To enter the Web site, you must use your institution's unique 8-
digit identifier, i.e., your Office of Postsecondary Education 
Identification Number (OPE ID number). If you receive a hard copy of 
the eligibility application and instructions from us in the mail, look 
for the OPE ID number on the address label. Otherwise, your business 
office or student financial aid office should have the OPE ID number. 
If your business office or student financial aid office does not have 
the OPE ID number, contact the Department, using the e-mail addresses 
of the contact persons listed in this notice under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.
    You will find detailed instructions for completing the application 
form electronically under the ``eligibility 2005'' link at either of 
the following Web sites: http://www.ed.gov/programs/iduestitle3a.index.html; or http://www.ed.gov/his.
    For institutions of higher education that are unable to meet the 
needy student enrollment requirement or the average E&G expenditure 
requirement and wish to request a waiver of one or both of those 
requirements, you must complete your designation application form 
electronically and transmit your waiver request narrative document from 
the following Web site: http://webprod.cbmiweb.com/Title3and5/index.html.
    If your institution is unable to electronically submit your 
narrative waiver request, print the electronic application form and 
mail it along with the waiver request narrative to Dr. Maria 
Carrington, Team Leader, Institutional Development and Undergraduate 
Education Service, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., 
room 6033, Request for Eligibility Designation, Washington, DC 20202-
8513.
    Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General 
Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 82, 84, 85, 
86, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The regulations for the Title III, Part A 
Programs in 34 CFR part 607, and for the HSI Program in 34 CFR part 
606.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Imogene Byers, Don Crews, Ellen M. 
Sealey, Kelley Harris, Sophia McArdle or Carnisia Proctor, 
Institutional Development and Undergraduate Education Service, U.S. 
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6033, Request for 
Eligibility Designation, Washington, DC 20202-8513. They may be 
contacted at the following e-mail addresses or phone numbers: 
[email protected], 202-502-7672; [email protected], 202-502-7574; 
[email protected], 202-502-7580; [email protected], 202-219-7083; 
[email protected], 202-219-7078; [email protected], 202-502-
7606.
    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, audio tape, or computer 
diskette) on request to the contact persons listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT.

[[Page 69592]]

    Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format by contacting those persons.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/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.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1057-1059d, 1101-1103g.

    Dated: November 24, 2004.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
 [FR Doc. E4-3375 Filed 11-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P