Publication Date: May 2, 2006

DCL ID: GEN-06-06

SUBJECT:  National SMART Grant – Announcement of Eligible Majors

SUMMARY:  This letter provides the list of academic majors eligible for the National SMART Grants for the 2006-07 award year.

Posted on 05-02-2006

Dear Colleague:

In Dear Colleague Letter GEN-06-04, we provided information about the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) Program and the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant) Program. These new programs were authorized by the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA).

Beginning with the 2006-07 award year, the National SMART Grant Program will provide $4,000 for each of the third and fourth years of study to needy students who are pursuing a four-year degree with a major in one of the physical or life sciences, computer science, engineering, mathematics, technology, or a critical foreign language. (The amount of the National SMART Grant could be ratably reduced if the amount available for the program is insufficient.)

This letter provides the list of the instructional programs that qualify as eligible majors, including critical foreign language majors, for the National SMART Grant Program. These fields of study qualify as eligible majors for the National SMART Grant Program to the extent a student is enrolled in a bachelor's degree or a graduate degree program that includes at least 3 academic years of undergraduate education. Additional information about the National SMART Grant Program will be provided in a subsequent Dear Colleague Letter.

We appreciate your cooperation as we work to implement these statutory changes. In the coming weeks, we will provide further guidance on implementing the changes made by the HERA, including operational guidance and the promulgation of regulations. If you have any questions on the matters discussed in this letter, please contact Jacquelyn Butler at (202) 502-7890 or Sophia McArdle at (202) 219-7078.

Sincerely,

Attachments/Enclosures:

GEN-06-06: National SMART Grant - Announcement of Eligible Majors in PDF Format, 73KB, 1 pages

National SMART Grant Program -- Fields of Study in PDF Format, 26KB, 13 pages