[Federal Register: November 13, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 219)]
[Notices]
[Page 60987-60989]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13no97-130]
[[Page 60987]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part VI
Department of Education
_______________________________________________________________________
Notice Inviting Application for Designation as an Eligible Institution
for Fiscal Year 1998 for the Strengthening Institutions Program; Notice
[[Page 60988]]
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.031A, CFDA No. 84.031G]
Notice Inviting Applications for Designation as an Eligible
Institution for Fiscal Year 1998 for the Strengthening Institutions
Program
Purpose
The Secretary announces closing dates for applications from
institutions that wish to be designated as an eligible institution
under the Strengthening Institutions Program authorized under Title
III, part A of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). If
an institution qualifies as an eligible institution under that program,
it is eligible to receive program funds if it submits a successful
grant application. It is also eligible to have certain of its matching
requirements waived under the Federal Supplemental Educational Grant
(FSEOG) and Federal Work Study (FWS) Programs. Moreover, the
institution is eligible for a waiver even if it does not apply for a
grant under the Strengthening Institutions Program. (The FSEOG and FWS
programs are student financial assistance programs authorized under
Title IV of the HEA.)
The Department will hold a Fiscal Year 1998 funding competition for
new awards under the Strengthening Institutions Program and will
publish a closing date notice in a future Federal Register. (There will
be no competition for new awards under the Hispanic-Serving
Institutions and Endowment Challenge Grant Programs because no funds
were appropriated for those awards.)
An institution that wishes to be designated as an eligible
institution under the Strengthening Institutions Program for any
purpose must submit its application to the Department by February 2,
1998.
If an institution submits its application by December 29, 1997, the
Department will notify the applicant of its eligibility status by
February 2, 1998. If an applicant believes it failed to be designated
as an eligible institution because of errors in its application or
insufficient information in its waiver request, it may submit an
amended application to the Department no later than March 20, 1998.
If an applicant submits its initial application after December 29,
1997, but on or before February 2, 1998, the Department does not
guarantee that it will be able to review the application and notify the
applicant in time for the applicant to submit an amended application by
March 20, 1998, the deadline date for amended applications.
An applicant will not be designated as an eligible institution if
the applicant misses the February 2, 1998 deadline for initial
applications or the March 20,1998 deadline for amended applications.
The Department strongly recommends that applicants apply by December
29,1997 to take advantage of the opportunity to amend unapproved
applications.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications
December 29, 1997 for early applications, February 2, 1998 for all
initial applications, and March 20, 1998 for amended applications.
These deadlines apply to institutions of higher education that
anticipate competing for new awards under the Strengthening
Institutions Program, and for institutions that plan to obtain a waiver
of certain non-Federal share requirements under the FSEOG and FWS
Programs.
Applications Available
November 20, 1997.
Eligibility Information
To qualify as an eligible institution an applicant must (1) be
accredited or preaccredited by a nationally recognized accrediting
agency; (2) be legally authorized by the State in which it is located
to be a junior or community college or to provide a bachelor's degree
program; and (3) have a high enrollment of needy students. In addition,
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 institutions that
offer similar instruction. The complete eligibility requirements are
found in the Strengthening Institutions Program regulations, 34 CFR
607.2-607.5.
Enrollment of Needy Students
Under 34 CFR Sec. 607.3(a), an institution is considered to have a
high 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 1995-96 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 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 expenditure for the 1995-1996 base year
is less than the average for its category of comparable institutions,
it meets this eligibility requirement.
An institution's E&G expenditures are the total amount it expended
during the base year for instruction, research, public service,
academic support, student services, institutional support, operation
and maintenance, scholarships and fellowships, and mandatory transfers.
The following table identifies the relevant median Federal Pell
Grant percentages and the average E&G expenditures per FTE student for
the 1995-96 base year for the four categories of comparable
institutions:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Median Average E&G
Federal expenditure
Pell Grant per FTE
percentage student
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-year Public Institutions..................... 30.16 $7,114
2-year Non-Profit Private Institutions......... 31.57 11,704
4-year Public Institutions..................... 28.00 16,594
4-year Non-Profit Private Institutions......... 28.53 22,479
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Waiver Information
Institutions of higher education that are unable to meet the needy
student enrollment requirement or the E&G expenditure requirement may
apply to the Secretary for waivers of these requirements, as described
in 34 CFR 607.3(b) and 607.4(c) and (d). Institutions requesting a
waiver of the needy student requirement must include the detailed
information as set forth in the instructions for completing the
application.
The waiver authority provided in 34 CFR 607.3(b)(2) and (3), refers
to ``low-income'' students and families. The regulations define ``low-
income'' as an amount that does not exceed 150 percent of the amount
equal to the poverty level in 1995-97 base year as established by the
U.S. Bureau of the
[[Page 60989]]
Census, 34 CFR 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:
1995-96 Base Year Low-Income Levels
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contiguous 48
States, the
District of
Size of family unit Columbia, and Alaska Hawaii
outlying
jurisdictions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.................................. $11,205 $14,010 $12,915
2.................................. 15,045 18,810 17,325
3.................................. 18,885 23,610 21,735
4.................................. 22,725 28,410 26,145
5.................................. 26,565 33,210 30,555
6.................................. 30,405 38,010 34,965
7.................................. 34,245 42,810 39,375
8.................................. 38,085 47,610 43,710
------------------------------------------------------------------------
For family units with more than eight members, add the following
amount for each additional family member: $3,840 for the contiguous 48
states, the District of Columbia and outlying jurisdictions; $4,800 for
Alaska; and $4,410 for Hawaii.
The figures shown as low-income levels 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 Census levels were
published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the
Federal Register on February 9, 1995 (Volume 60, Number 27, pages 7772-
7774).
In reference to the waiver option specified in Sec. 607.3(b)(4) of
the regulations, information about ``metropolitan statistical areas''
may be obtained by requesting the Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 1993,
order number PB 93-192664, from the National Technical Information
Services, Document Sales, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, Virginia
22161, telephone number (703) 487-4650. There is a charge for this
publication.
Applicable Regulations
Regulations applicable to the eligibility process include the
Strengthening Institutions Program Regulations in 34 CFR part 607, and
the Education Department General Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR
parts 74, 75, 77, 82, 85, and 86.
For Applications or Information Contact
Blanca Westgate or Jane Wrenn, Institutional Development and
Undergraduate Education Service, U.S. Department of Education, 600
Independence Avenue, S.W., (Portals CY-80) Washington, D.C. 20202-5335.
Telephone: (202) 708-8866, 708-9926 and 708-8839. Individuals who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8
p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print, audio tape, or computer
diskette) on request to the contact person listed in the preceding
paragraph.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternate format, also, by contacting that person.
However, the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternate format
the standard forms included in the application package.
Electronic Access to This Document
Anyone may view this document, as well as all other Department of
Education documents published in the Federal Register, in text or
portable document format (pdf) on the World Wide Web at either of the
following sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg/htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
To use the pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with
Search, which is available free at either of the previous sites. If you
have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government Printing
Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1057, 1059c and 1065a.
Dated: November 5, 1997.
David A. Longanecker,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 97-29796 Filed 11-12-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P