FR Doc E4-3375
[Federal Register: November 30, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 229)]
[Notices]
[Page 69589-69592]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30no04-43]
Download: 
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[CFDA No. 84.031H]
Office of Postsecondary Education; 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) 2005
Purpose of Programs: Under the SIP, TCCU, and ANNH Programs, (Title
III Part A 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,
institutions of higher education 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), the Federal Work Study (FWS), the Student Support
Services (SSS) and the Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign
Language (UISFL) Programs. The FSEOG, FWS and SSS Programs are
authorized under Title IV of the HEA; the UISFL 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 Programs or
the HSI Program.
Special Note: To qualify as an eligible institution under the Title
III, Part A Programs or the HSI Program, your institution must satisfy
several criteria,
[[Page 69590]]
including one related to needy student enrollment and one related to
average Educational and General (E&G) expenditures for a particular
base year. The most recent data available for E&G expenditures is for
base year 2001-2002. In order to award FY 2005 grants in a timely
manner, we will use the most recent data available. Therefore, we will
use E&G expenditure threshold data from the base year 2001-2002. In
completing your eligibility application, please use E&G expenditure
data from the base year 2001-2002.
Eligible Applicants: To qualify as an eligible institution under
the Title III, Part A Programs or the HSI Program, an accredited
institution must, among other requirements, have an enrollment of needy
students, and its average 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. To be an eligible Hispanic Serving
Institution, an institution must--
(1) Be accredited or preaccredited by a nationally recognized
accrediting agency or association that the Secretary has determined to
be a reliable authority as to the quality of education or training
offered;
(2) Be legally authorized by the State in which it is located to be
a junior college or to provide an educational program for which it
awards a bachelor's degree;
(3) Have an enrollment of needy students as described in the
Enrollment Of Needy Students section of this notice;
(4) Have low average educational and general expenditures per full-
time equivalent undergraduate student as described in the Educational
And General Expenditures Per Full-Time Equivalent Student section of
this notice and the application booklet;
(5) Have, at the time of application, an enrollment of
undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent
Hispanic students; and
(6) Provide assurances that not less than 50 percent of its
Hispanic students are low-income individuals.
Note: Numbers five and six above are required at the time of
submission of the grant application.
The complete eligibility requirements for the Title III, Part A
Programs are found in 34 CFR 607.2 through 607.5. These regulations may
be accessed by visiting the following Department of Education Web site:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_02/34cfr607_02.html.
The complete eligibility requirements for the HSI Program are found in 34
CFR 606.2 through 34 CFR 606.5. These regulations may be accessed by
visiting the following Department of Education Web site:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_01/34cfr606_01.html.
Enrollment of Needy Students: Under 34 CFR 606.3(a) and 607.3(a),
an institution is considered to have an 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 2002-2003 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 2001-2002 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 expenditures for
the 2001-2002 base year are less than the average for its category of
comparable institutions, it meets this eligibility requirement.
An institution's average E&G expenditures are the total amount it
expended during the base year for instruction, research, public
service, academic support, student services, institutional support
including library expenditures, operation and maintenance, scholarships
and fellowships, and mandatory transfers.
The following table identifies the relevant median Federal Pell
Grant percentages for the base year 2002-2003 and the relevant average
E&G expenditures per FTE student for the base year 2001-2002 for the
four categories of comparable institutions:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2002-2003
Median Pell 2001-2002
Type of institution grant Average E&G
percentage per FTE
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2-year Public Institutions.................... 24.6 $8,738
2-year Non-Profit Private Institutions........ 40.6 22,452
4-year Public Institutions.................... 20.9 21,037
4-year Non-Profit Private Institutions........ 21.7 33,509
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Waiver Information: Institutions of higher education that are
unable to meet the needy student enrollment requirement or the average
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 enrollment requirement or the average E&G expenditures
requirement must include in their application detailed information
supporting the waiver request, as described in the instructions for
completing the application.
The regulations governing the Secretary's authority to waive the
needy student requirement waiver, 34 CFR 606.3(b)(2) and (3) and
607.3(b)(2) and (3) refers to ``low-income'' students or families. The
regulations define ''low-income'' as an amount that does not exceed 150
percent of the amount equal to the poverty level, 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:
2004 Annual Low-Income Levels
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contiguous 48
states, the
Size of family unit District of Alaska Hawaii
Columbia and
outlying
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1...................................................... $13,965 $17,445 $16,050
[[Page 69591]]
2...................................................... 18,735 23,415 21,540
3...................................................... 23,505 29,385 27,030
4...................................................... 28,275 35,355 32,520
5...................................................... 33,045 41,325 38,010
6...................................................... 37,815 47,295 43,500
7...................................................... 42,585 53,265 48,990
8...................................................... 47,355 59,235 54,480
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For family units with more than eight members, add the following
amount for each additional family member: $4,770 for the contiguous 48
states, the District of Columbia and outlying jurisdictions; $5,970 for
Alaska; and $5,490 for Hawaii.
The figures shown under family income 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 poverty guidelines
were published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in
the Federal Register on February 13, 2004 (69 FR 7336-7338).
The information about ``metropolitan statistical areas'' referenced
in 34 CFR 606.3(b)(4) and 607.3(b)(4) may be obtained by requesting the
Metropolitan Statistical Areas, 1999 publication, order number PB99-
501538, from the National Technical Information Service, 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, 2004.
Deadline For Transmittal Of Applications: January 13, 2005, for an
applicant institution that wishes to apply for a FY 2005 new grant
under the Title III, Part A Programs or the HSI Program; April 28,
2005, for an institution that wishes to apply only for cost-sharing
waivers under the FSEOG, FWS, SSS or UISFL Programs; and, January 13,
2005, for an institution that wishes to apply for both a grant under
the Title III, Part A Programs or the HSI Program and a waiver of the
non-Federal share requirement.
Electronic Submission Of Applications: We are requiring that
applications for institutional eligibility for FY 2005 under Request
for Designation as an Eligible Institution be submitted electronically
at the following Web site:
http://webprod.cbmiweb.com/Title3and5/index.html.
If you are unable to submit an application electronically you may
submit a written request for a waiver of the electronic submission
requirement. In the request, you should explain the reason or reasons
that prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application.
The request should be addressed to: Dr. Maria Carrington, U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6033, Washington, DC
20202-8513. Please submit your request no later than two weeks before
the application deadline date.
If, within two weeks of the application deadline date, you are
unable to submit an application electronically, you must submit a paper
application by the application deadline date in accordance with the
transmittal instructions in the application package. The paper
application must include a written request for a waiver documenting the
reasons that prevented the applicant from using the Internet to submit
the application.
To enter the Web site, you must use your institution's unique 8-
digit identifier, i.e., your Office of Postsecondary Education
Identification Number (OPE ID number). If you receive a hard copy of
the eligibility application and instructions from us in the mail, look
for the OPE ID number on the address label. Otherwise, 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
the OPE ID number, contact the Department, using the e-mail addresses
of the contact persons listed in this notice under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
You will find detailed instructions for completing the application
form electronically under the ``eligibility 2005'' link at either of
the following Web sites:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/iduestitle3a.index.html; or http://www.ed.gov/his.
For institutions of higher education that are unable to meet the
needy student enrollment requirement or the average E&G expenditure
requirement and wish to request a waiver of one or both of those
requirements, you must complete your designation application form
electronically and transmit your waiver request narrative document from
the following Web site: http://webprod.cbmiweb.com/Title3and5/index.html
.
If your institution is unable to electronically submit your
narrative waiver request, print the electronic application form and
mail it along with the waiver request narrative to Dr. Maria
Carrington, Team Leader, Institutional Development and Undergraduate
Education Service, U.S. Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW.,
room 6033, Request for Eligibility Designation, Washington, DC 20202-
8513.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 82, 84, 85,
86, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The regulations for the Title III, Part A
Programs in 34 CFR part 607, and for the HSI Program in 34 CFR part
606.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Imogene Byers, Don Crews, Ellen M.
Sealey, Kelley Harris, Sophia McArdle or Carnisia Proctor,
Institutional Development and Undergraduate Education Service, U.S.
Department of Education, 1990 K Street, NW., room 6033, Request for
Eligibility Designation, Washington, DC 20202-8513. They may be
contacted at the following e-mail addresses or phone numbers:
Imogene.Byers@ed.gov, 202-502-7672; Don.Crews@ed.gov, 202-502-7574;
Ellen.Sealey@ed.gov, 202-502-7580; Kelley.Harris@ed.gov, 202-219-7083;
Sophia.McArdle@ed.gov, 202-219-7078; Carnisia.Proctor@ed.gov, 202-502-
7606.
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 contact persons listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT.
[[Page 69592]]
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format by contacting those persons.
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 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
.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1057-1059d, 1101-1103g.
Dated: November 24, 2004.
Sally L. Stroup,
Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education.
[FR Doc. E4-3375 Filed 11-29-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P