Under this program the U.S. Department of Education awards one grant to a national nonprofit educational organization that has as its primary purpose the improvement of students' understanding of personal finance and economics. The overall purpose of the funded project is to promote economic and financial literacy among all students in kindergarten through grade 12.

The objectives of this program are:

1. To increase students' knowledge of, and achievement in, economics to enable them to become more productive and informed citizens;
2. To strengthen teachers' understanding of, and competency in, economics to enable the teachers to increase student mastery of economic principles and the practical application of those principles;
3. To encourage economic education research and development, to disseminate effective instructional materials, and to promote replication of best practices and exemplary programs that foster economic literacy;
4. To assist States in measuring the impact of education in economics; and
5. To leverage and expand private and public support for economic education partnerships at the national, State, and local levels.

The announcement of the grant competition was published in the Federal Register on January 28, 2005. The application package was available at Grants.gov beginning on January 31, 2005.

The closing date is March 23, 2005. Applications must be received electronically (see the Federal Register notice for complete details) or, if you receive an exemption from the requirement to submit an application electronically (see below), it must be postmarked by this date.

Applications for grants under this competition must be submitted electronically using the Grants.gov site. You may not e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application directly to the Department. We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format unless, as described in the Federal Register notice, 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 statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these exceptions.

The Department of Education no longer allows for any last-minute requests for waivers of the electronic application requirement, which is a change from the previous policy. Consequently, we strongly encourage you to review the registration and submission procedures for the Grants.gov website right away. The registration process can take up to five days to complete.

If you qualify for an exemption you must submit your written request at least 14 days before the deadline date (either by fax or mail) to: Carolyn J. Warren, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 4W209, Washington, DC 20202-5930. FAX: (202) 205-5631. Please review the Federal Register notice for the specific requirements.

For detailed information on the electronic submission requirement for this competition, including the process to request a waiver, please refer to the Federal Register notice.

A panel of experts who are not employees of the U.S. Department of Education will evaluate each eligible application and score it using the selection criteria printed in the Federal Register notice.

The review process lasts for approximately 8 weeks after the application deadline date.