[Federal Register: November 16, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 222)]
[Notices]
[Page 69291-69293]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16no00-32]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA NO.: 84.031H]
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) 2001
Purpose of Programs: Under the Strengthening Institutions, American
Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, and Alaska Native
and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions 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, HSIs 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), Federal Work Study (FWS), and
Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Programs
(UISFLP). These first two programs are student financial assistance
programs authorized under Title IV of the HEA; the third 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 or Title V programs.
Special Note: To become eligible, your institution must satisfy
a criterion related to needy student enrollment and one related to
Educational and General (E&G) expenditures for a particular base
year. Because we changed the collection processes for determining
the thresholds for these criteria, we do not have base year data
beyond 1997-98. In order to award FY 2001 grants in a timely manner,
we will use threshold data from base year 1997-98 rather than a
later base year. In completing your eligibility application,
therefore, you are to use data from the base year 1997-98.
Eligible Applicants: To qualify as an eligible institution under
any of the programs included in this notice, an accredited institution
must, among other requirements, have a high enrollment of needy
students, and its 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 for the HSI
Program are found in 34 CFR 606.2-606.5, which was published in the
Federal Register of December 15, 1999 (64 FR 70146-70153). The complete
eligibility requirements for the remaining programs are found in 34 CFR
607.2-607.5, a portion of which was also amended in the Federal
Register of December 15, 1999 (64 FR 70146, 70153-70155). The
regulations may also be accessed by visiting the following Department
of Education web site on the World Wide Web:
http:/www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/finrule/1999-4/121599a.html
Enrollment of Needy Students: Under 34 CFR 606.3(a) and 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
[[Page 69292]]
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 1997-1998 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 1997-1998 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 applicant institution's E&G expenditures
for the 1997-1998 base year are 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 relevant average E&G expenditures per FTE
student for the base year, 1997-98, for the four categories of
comparable institutions:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Median Pell
Type of institution Grant Average E&G
percentage FTE
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2-year Public Institutions.............. 18.0% $7,092
2-year Non-Profit Private Institutions.. 29.9 20,392
4-year Public Institutions.............. 24.8 17,715
4-year Non-Profit Private Institutions.. 24.5 23,162
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Waiver Information: Institutions of higher education that are
unable to meet the needy student enrollment requirement or the 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 or the E&G expenditures requirement must include the
detailed information as set forth in the instructions for completing
the application.
The needy student requirement waiver authority, provided in 34 CFR
606.3(b)(2) and (3) and 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 the 1997-1998 base year 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:
Annual Low-Income Levels for 1997-98
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Contiguous 48
States, the
Size of family unit District of Alaska Hawaii
Columbia and
Outlying
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1...................................................... $11,835 $14,805 $13,605
2...................................................... 15,915 19,905 18,300
3...................................................... 19,995 25,005 22,995
4...................................................... 24,075 30,105 27,690
5...................................................... 28,155 35,205 32,385
6...................................................... 32,235 40,305 37,080
7...................................................... 36,315 45,405 41,775
8...................................................... 40,395 50,505 46,470
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For family units with more than eight members, add the following
amount for each additional family member: $4,080 for the contiguous 48
states, the District of Columbia and outlying jurisdictions; $5,100 for
Alaska; and $4,695 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 March 10, 1997 (62 FR 10856-10859).
In reference to the waiver option specified in 606.3(b)(4) and
607.3(b)(4) of the regulations, information about ``metropolitan
statistical areas'' may be obtained by requesting the Metropolitan
Statistical Areas, 1999, order number PB99-501538, from the National
Technical Information Services, 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, 2000.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications:
February 2, 2001 for applicant institutions that wish to
apply for fiscal year 2001 grants under the Strengthening Institutions,
American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities, Alaska
Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, or the HSI Programs.
May 25, 2001 for applicant institutions that wish to apply
only for cost-sharing waivers under the FSEOG, FWS, or UISFLP Programs.
February 2, 2001 for applicant institutions that wish to
apply for both a grant and a waiver of the cost-sharing requirements.
Electronic Submission of Applications: For FY 2001, we are again
offering applicant institutions the option of submitting their
Designation of Eligibility application in hard copy or sending it
electronically to our eligibility web site:
http://webprod.cbmiweb.com/title3and5/index.html
[[Page 69293]]
To enter the web site, you must use your institution's unique 8-
digit identifier, i.e. your OPE ID number. 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 that OPE
ID number, contact a Department of Education staff member using the e-
mail address located at the end of the Web page or the contact persons'
telephone numbers or e-mail addresses included in this notice.
You may find more detailed instructions for completing the form
electronically under the ``eligibility 2001'' link at either of the
following web sites:
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/HEP/idues/title3a.html
http://www.ed.gov/hsi
We encourage applicants to complete their form electronically and
to complete it as soon as possible. For institutions of higher
education that are unable to meet the needy student enrollment
requirement or the E&G expenditure requirement and wish to request a
waiver of one or both of those requirements, you may complete your
designation application form on-line, print the form, and attach your
narrative waiver request(s) to the printed form and mail both to the
address in the next paragraph.
Mail your Designation of Eligibility application request to: U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW, Request for Eligibility
Designation, Washington, DC 20006-8513.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 82, 85, 86, 97,
98 and 99 and (b) The regulations for the SIP in 34 CFR part 607, and
the HSI Program in 34 CFR part 606.
For Applications and Further Information Contact: Thomas M. Keyes
or Margaret A. Wheeler, Institutional Development and Undergraduate
Education Service, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW.,
Request for Eligibility Designation, Washington, DC 20006-8513. Mr.
Keyes' telephone number is (202) 502-7577. Ms. Wheeler's telephone
number is (202) 502-7583. Mr. Keyes and Ms. Wheeler may be reached by
e-mail at:
thomas_keyes@ed.gov
margaret_wheeler@ed.gov
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 program contact persons listed under FOR
APPLICATIONS AND FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting those persons. However,
the Department is not able to reproduce in an alternative format the
standard forms included in the application package.
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 sites:
http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm
http://www.ed.gov/news.html
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available
free at either of the previous sites. 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) 572-1530.
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. 1057, 1059c, and 1065a.
Dated: November 9, 2000.
A. Lee Fritschler,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. 00-29302 Filed 11-15-00; 8:45 am]
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