[Federal Register: April 2, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 62)]
[Notices]
[Page 15668-15672]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02ap07-32]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Overview
Information; High School Equivalency Program (HEP); Notice Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.141A
Dates:
Applications Available: April 2, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 17, 2007.
Eligible Applicants: Institutions of higher education (IHEs) or
private non-profit organizations (including faith-based organizations)
that plan their projects in cooperation with an IHE and propose to
operate some aspects of the project with the facilities of the IHE.
Estimated Available Funds: $1,693,807.
Estimated Range of Awards: $150,000-$475,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $423,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 4.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $475,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education may change
the maximum amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purpose of HEP is to help migrant and
seasonal farmworkers and their children obtain a general education
diploma (GED) that meets the guidelines for high school equivalency
established by the State in which the HEP project is conducted, and to
gain employment or be placed in an IHE or other postsecondary education
or training.
Priorities: This competition includes two competitive preference
priorities and one invitational priority. In accordance with 34 CFR
75.105(b)(2)(ii) the competitive preference priority for ``novice
applicant'' is from the Education Department General Administrative
Regulations (EDGAR) (34 CFR 75.225). In accordance with 34 CFR
75.105(b)(2)(iv) of EDGAR, the competitive preference priority for
``prior experience of service delivery'' is from Section 418A(e) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1070d-2(e)).
Competitive Preference Priorities: For FY 2007 these priorities are
competitive preference priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i) we
award an additional five points to an application meeting the ``novice
applicant'' competitive preference priority, and up to a maximum of 15
additional points to an application meeting the ``prior experience of
service delivery'' competitive preference priority.
These priorities are:
Novice Applicant
The applicant must be a ``novice applicant'' as defined in 34 CFR
75.225(a).
Prior Experience of Service Delivery
With respect to applicants with an expiring HEP project, the
Secretary will consider the applicant's prior experience in
implementing its expiring HEP project based on information
[[Page 15669]]
contained in documents previously provided to the Department, such as
annual performance reports, project evaluation reports, site visit
reports, and the previously approved HEP application.
Under this competition, we are particularly interested in
applications that address the following priority.
Invitational Priority: For FY 2007 this priority is an invitational
priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1), we do not give an application that
meets this invitational priority a competitive or absolute preference
over other applications.
This priority is:
Applications that propose to engage faith-based and community
organizations in the delivery of services under this program.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070d-2.
Applicable Regulations: (a) EDGAR in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79,
82, 84, 85, 86, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The regulations in 34 CFR part 206.
(c) The definition of a migratory agricultural worker in 34 CFR 200.81.
(d) The regulations in 20 CFR 669.110 and 669.320.
Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 apply to IHEs only.
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: $1,693,807.
Estimated Range of Awards: $150,000-$475,000.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $423,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 4.
Maximum Award: We will reject any application that proposes a
budget exceeding $475,000 for a single budget period of 12 months. The
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education may change
the maximum amount through a notice published in the Federal Register.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 60 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: IHEs or private non-profit organizations
(including faith-based organizations) that plan their projects in
cooperation with an IHE and propose to operate some aspects of the
project with the facilities of the IHE.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This competition does not involve cost
sharing or matching.
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: Applications for grants
under this competition must be submitted electronically through the
Grants.gov Apply site (http://www.Grants.gov). However, if you would
like a paper copy of the application to review, you may request one by
contacting David De Soto, U.S. Department of Education, Office of
Migrant Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E344, Washington, DC
20202-6135. Telephone: (202) 260-8103 or by e-mail:
david.de.soto@ed.gov.
The application package also can be obtained electronically at the
following address: http://www.ed.gov/programs/hep/applicant.html.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact
person listed in this section.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you
must submit, are in the application package for this competition. Page
Limit: The application narrative (Part III of the application) is where
you, the applicant, address the selection criteria that reviewers use
to evaluate your application. You must limit Part III to the equivalent
of no more than 25 pages, using the following standards:
A ``page'' is 8.5'' x 11'', on one side only, with 1''
margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative (Part III), including titles,
headings, footnotes, quotations, references, and captions. However, you
may single space all text in charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
Charts, tables, figures, and graphs presented in the application
narrative count toward the page limit.
Use a font that is either 12 point or larger or no smaller
than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
Appendices must be limited to 15 pages and may include the
following: Resumes, job descriptions, letters of support, and
bibliography.
The page limit does not apply to Part I, the cover sheet; Part II,
the budget section, including the narrative budget justification; Part
IV, the assurances and certifications; or the one-page abstract.
However, you must include all of the application narrative in Part III.
Our reviewers will not read any pages of your application that--
Exceed the page limit if you apply these standards; or
Exceed the equivalent of the page limit if you apply other
standards.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: April 2, 2007.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: May 17, 2007.
Applications for grants under this competition must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your
application electronically, or by mail or hand delivery if you qualify
for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, please refer
to section IV. 6. Other Submission Requirements in this notice.
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
deadline requirements.
Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact
the person listed under For Further Information Contact.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This competition is subject to
Executive Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 part 79. Information
about Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive
Order 12372 is in the application package for this competition.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under
this competition must be submitted electronically unless you qualify
for an exception to this requirement in accordance with the
instructions in this section.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
Applications for grants under the High School Equivalency Program,
CFDA Number 84.141A must be submitted electronically using the
Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at http://www.Grants.gov. Through
this site, you will be able to download a copy of the application
package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit your
application. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant
application to us.
We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written
[[Page 15670]]
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant application for High School
Equivalency Program at http://www.Grants.gov. You must search for the
downloadable application package for this program or competition by the
CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha suffix in your
search (e.g., search for 84.141, not 84.141A).
Please note the following:
When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find
information about submitting an application electronically through the
site, as well as the hours of operation.
Applications received by Grants.gov are date and time
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and
must be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than
4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date.
Except as otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your
application if it is date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system
later than 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline
date. When we retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify
you if we are rejecting your application because it was date and time
stamped by the Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date.
The amount of time it can take to upload an application
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
You should review and follow the Education Submission
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are
included in the application package for this program [competition] to
ensure that you submit your application in a timely manner to the
Grants.gov system. You can also find the Education Submission
Procedures pertaining to Grants.gov at http://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf
.
To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must
complete all steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp
). These steps include (1)
Registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes
registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (2)
registering yourself as an Authorized Organization Representative
(AOR); and (3) getting authorized as an AOR by your organization.
Details on these steps are outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step
Registration Guide (see http://www.grants.gov/section910/Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf
). You also must provide on your
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please
note that the registration process may take five or more business days
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to
allow you to submit successfully an application via Grants.gov. In
addition you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual
basis. This may take three or more business days to complete.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your
application in paper format.
You must submit all documents electronically, including
all information you typically provide on the following forms:
Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the Department of
Education Supplemental Information for SF 424, Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and
certifications. Please note that two of these forms--the SF 424 and the
Department of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424--have
replaced the ED 424 (Application for Federal Education Assistance).
You must attach any narrative sections of your application
as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable
Document) format. If you upload a file type other than the three file
types specified in this paragraph or submit a password-protected file,
we will not review that material.
Your electronic application must comply with any page-
limit requirements described in this notice.
After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The
Department then will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send
a second notification to you by e-mail. This second notification
indicates that the Department has received your application and has
assigned your application a PR/Award number (an ED-specified
identifying number unique to your application).
We may request that you provide us original signatures on
forms at a later date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues
with the Grants.gov System: If you are experiencing problems submitting
your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov
Support Desk at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a Grants.gov Support
Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it.
If you are prevented from electronically submitting your
application on the application deadline date because of technical
problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension
until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to
enable you to transmit your application electronically or by hand
delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing
instructions described elsewhere in this notice.
If you submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date, please contact the person listed
elsewhere in this notice under For Further Information Contact and
provide an explanation of the technical problem you experienced with
Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number. We will
accept your application if we can confirm that a technical problem
occurred with the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your
ability to submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date. The Department will contact you after
a determination is made on whether your application will be accepted.
Note: The extensions to which we refer in this section apply
only to the unavailability of, or technical problems with, the
Grants.gov system. We will not grant you an extension if you failed
to fully register to submit your application to Grants.gov before
the application deadline date and time or if the technical problem
you experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov system.
Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application
through the Grants.gov system because--
You do not have access to the Internet; or
[[Page 15671]]
You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to
the Grants.gov system; and
No later than two weeks before the application deadline
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application.
If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be
postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline
date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must
receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the
application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your statement to: David De Soto, 400
Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3E344, Washington, DC 20202-6135. Telephone
(202) 260-8103. Fax: (202) 205-0089.
Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail. If you qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, you may mail
(through the U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier) your
application to the Department. You must mail the original and two
copies of your application, on or before the application deadline date,
to the Department at the applicable following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.141A), Washington, DC 20202-4260. or
By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.141A), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.
Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
(2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the
U.S. Postal Service.
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial
carrier.
(4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Education.
If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark.
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after the application deadline
date, we will not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your
local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper
application to the Department by hand. You must deliver the original
and two copies of your application by hand, on or before the
application deadline date, to the Department at the following address:
U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Attention:
(CFDA Number 84.141A), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center
Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays,
Sundays, and Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you
mail or hand deliver your application to the Department--
(1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by
the Department--in Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number, including
suffix letter, if any, of the competition under which you are
submitting your application; and
(2) The Application Control Center will mail to you a
notification of receipt of your grant application. If you do not
receive this notification within 15 business days from the
application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of
Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.
V. Application Review Information
Selection Criteria: The selection criteria for this competition are
from 34 CFR 75.210 of EDGAR and are listed in the application package.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award Notice
(GAN). We may also notify you informally.
If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding,
we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy requirements in the application
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a
final performance report, including financial information, as directed
by the Secretary. If you receive a multi-year award, you must submit an
annual performance report that provides the most current performance
and financial expenditure information as specified by the Secretary in
34 CFR 75.118.
4. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance and
Results Act (GPRA), the Department developed the following performance
measures to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the HEP: (1) The
percentage of HEP participants receiving a GED diploma, and (2) the
percentage of HEP GED recipients who enter postsecondary education
programs, career positions, or the military.
We strongly encourage applicants to demonstrate a sound capacity to
provide reliable data on these measures in their responses to selection
criteria ``Quality of Project Design'' and ``Quality of the Project
Evaluation.''
All grantees will be required to submit, as part of their annual
performance report, information with respect to these performance
measures.
VII. Agency Contact
For Further Information Contact: David De Soto, U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Migrant Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room
3E344, Washington, DC 20202-6135. Telephone Number: (202) 260-8103, or
by e-mail: david.de.soto@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) 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 person listed in this section.
VIII. Other Information
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
[[Page 15672]]
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
.
Dated: March 28, 2007.
Kerri L. Briggs,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. E7-6092 Filed 3-30-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P