There are three grant competitions under the GEAR UP Program.

• GEAR UP Program -- State Grants and Partnership Grants
• GEAR UP College Savings Account Research Demonstration Project

GEAR UP Program -- State Grants and Partnership Grants
Applicant Information

Timeline

Last competition: FY 2011
Application deadline: July 14, 2011

• Partnership Grants -- Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 (dated June 14, 2011) | PDF
• State Grants -- Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 (dated June 14, 2011) | PDF

Current Application

The archived FY 2011 applications below should be used for reference only.

Below are the "Application Instructions" documents that were published on Grants.gov for the FY 2011 competition. Only the program-specific forms required to complete this package are available in this document. Other necessary standard forms are only available on Grants.gov while an application is available for submission. For your reference, the Department has provided a forms library. Some of the forms referenced in this document may be found in the forms library.

FY 2011 Applications (archived)

• Partnership Grants MS Word (533K) | PDF (553K)
• State Grants MS Word (539K) | PDF (555K)

Frequently Asked Questions about the FY 2011 grant competition

Review Process

Peer Reviewers Needed

If you are interested in serving as a peer reviewer for the next GEAR UP competition, please complete the electronic application at the following Web site:

• http://opeweb.ed.gov/frs

Application Contact

Sariane Leigh
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs
U.S. Department of Education
1990 K Street, N.W., 7th Floor
Washington, DC 20006-8524
Telephone: (202) 502-7806
E-mail: sariane.leigh@ed.gov

Express Mail Delivery* Only
Name of Contact
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
OPE, Student Service, GEARUP Program
K Street Location, 7th Floor
Washington DC 20202-8524
Telephone: (202) 502-7802

* Effective April 8, 2011 all express mail packages must be sent to a central U. S. Department of Education location for security screening and tracking before transfer to other headquarters buildings. Please direct express mail packages being delivered to program by UPS, FedEx, DHL, and similar carriers to the express mail address indicated.

GEAR UP College Savings Account Research Demonstration Project -- Applicant Information

Timeline

Current competition: FY 2013
Applications available: January 23, 2013
Application deadline: March 11, 2013

• College Savings Account Research Demonstration Project - Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for FY 2013 (dated January 23, 2013) | PDF
• College Savings Account Research Demonstration Project -- Notice of Final Priorities (dated January 23, 2013) | PDF
• College Savings Account Research Demonstration Project—Request for Comments on the Notice of Proposed Priorities for FY 2012 (dated June 1, 2012) | PDF. Comments due July 2, 2012.
• Overview MS Word (38K)

Current Application

All applicants are required to submit an application online through Grants.gov. Grants.gov is a single access point for over 1,000 grant programs offered by federal and other grant-making agencies.

It is strongly recommended that potential applicants familiarize themselves with the Grants.gov Web site and complete the required registration well before the closing date. You can begin the registration process before the application is published on Grants.gov or while you are filling out the application. However, registration must be completed before you can submit your completed package. Please note that the registration process for organizations may take three to five days to complete. The site offers users extensive customer support options and resources for applicants.

Application packages in Grants.gov consist of two downloadable files: application instructions and the application package. To view the package, including required forms, the free Adobe Reader or compatible Acrobat Professional software must be installed on your computer.

Accessing the Application Package

1. Start at the Grants.gov home page: http://www.grants.gov/.
2. Go to the Apply for Grants page: http://www.grants.gov/applicants/apply_for_grants.jsp.
3. Click on Step 1: Download a Grant Application Package: https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/forms_apps_idx.html.
4. Enter the CFDA number for the program(s): (84.334) and click "Download Package."
   Note that alpha suffixes to the CFDA number cannot be included in the search criteria. If there is more than one program sharing the numeric CFDA you will be able to select specific programs under that number using the program title after the numeric CFDA search.
5. Click "Download" to access the application package and instructions.

Applicants who are unable to submit an application through the Grants.gov system may submit a written request for a waiver of the electronic submission requirement. Requests for waivers are due at least two weeks before the application deadline date. See the Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for additional details on requesting a waiver.

Page limits and acceptable fonts for grant applications. Please refer to the Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for page limits and font types an applicant may use when submitting grant applications for this competition.

Tips for submitting applications electronically through Grants.gov:

• Begin the Grants.gov registration process as soon as possible. Register early: preferably at least five days before the deadline.
• Download and review the application instructions from Grants.gov.
• Complete the application package according to the application instructions.
• Review and verify all program assurances and certifications.
• Verify on Grants.gov that registration is complete and that your Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) status is approved if you are the submitter.
• Submit your application early, ensuring sufficient time for the Grants.gov validation process.
• Verify your submission through the Grants.gov Web site.

Tips and Assistance

FY 2013 Pre-Application Technical Assistance Workshop
To assist applicants in preparation for the 2013 GEAR UP College Savings Account Research Demonstration Project application process, the Student Service area will offer the following on-site pre-application workshop: February 5, 2013, 3:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. This workshop will be held in conjunction with the GEAR UP Capacity-Building Workshop in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Application Contact

Catherine St. Clair
Student Service
U.S. Department of Education
1990 K Street, N.W., Room 7056
Washington, DC 20006-8524
Telephone: (202) 502-7579
E-mail: Catherine.StClair@ed.gov

If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) toll free at 1-800-877-8339.

Express Mail Delivery* Only
Name of Contact
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, S.W.
OPE, Student Service, GEARUP Program
K Street Location, 7th Floor
Washington DC 20202-8524
Telephone: (202) 502-7802

* Effective April 8, 2011 all express mail packages must be sent to a central U. S. Department of Education location for security screening and tracking before transfer to other headquarters buildings. Please direct express mail packages being delivered to program by UPS, FedEx, DHL, and similar carriers to the express mail address indicated.

Student Service Home | Discretionary Grant Application Packages