65028 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2004 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office of Innovation and Improvement, 

Overview Information, Advanced 

Placement (AP) Test Fee Program, 

Notice Inviting Applications for New 

Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2005

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

(CFDA) Number: 84.330B.

DATES: Applications Available: 

November 9, 2004. 

Deadline for Notice of Intent to 

Apply: December 1, 2004. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: December 13, 2004. 

Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: February 11, 2005. 

Eligible Applicants: State educational 

agencies (SEAs) in any State, including 

the District of Columbia, the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

United States Virgin Islands, Guam, 

American Samoa, the Commonwealth of 

the Northern Mariana Islands, and the 

freely associated states of the Republic 

of the Marshall Islands, the Federated 

States of Micronesia, and the Republic 

of Palau.

Note: For purposes of this program, the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs is treated as an SEA.

Estimated Available Funds: The 

Administration has requested 

$51,534,000 for the Advanced 

Placement programs for FY 2005. The 

actual level of funding depends on final 

congressional action. The Department is 

inviting applications for this 

competition now so that it may be 

prepared to make awards following final 

congressional action on the 

Department’s appropriation bill. Based 

on the Administration’s request, we 

estimate $6 million will be available for 

new awards under this competition but, 

in accordance with statutory 

requirements, will make more funds 

available from the Advanced Placement 

Incentive program (CFDA number 

84.330C) if necessary. 

Estimated Range of Awards: $5,000–

$500,000. 

Estimated Average Size of Awards:

$120,000. 

Estimated Number of Awards: 50.

Note: The Department is not bound by any 

estimates in this notice.

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program: The AP Test Fee 

program provides grants to States to 

enable them to pay advanced placement 

test fees on behalf of eligible lowincome students who (1) are enrolled in 

an advanced placement course; and (2) 

plan to take an advanced placement 

exam. The program is designed to 

increase the number of low-income 

students who take advanced placement 

tests and receive scores for which 

college academic credit is awarded. 

Participation in this program helps lowincome students achieve to higher 

standards in English, mathematics, 

science, and other core subjects. The 

program also seeks to increase the 

number of low-income students who 

achieve baccalaureate and advanced 

degrees. 

Allowable Activities: States receiving 

grants under this program may use the 

grant funds to pay part or all of the cost 

of advanced placement test fees for lowincome individuals who (1) are enrolled 

in an advanced placement class; and (2) 

plan to take an advanced placement test. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6531–

6537. 

Applicable Regulations: The 

Education Department General 

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 

34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 

85, 97, 98, and 99. 

II. Award Information 

Type of Award: Discretionary grants. 

Estimated Available Funds: The 

Administration has requested 

$51,534,000 for the Advanced 

Placement programs for FY 2005. The 

actual level of funding depends on final 

congressional action. The Department is 

inviting applications for this 

competition now so that it may be 

prepared to make awards following final 

congressional action on the 

Department’s appropriation bill. Based 

on the Administration’s request, we 

estimate $6 million will be available for 

new awards under this competition but, 

in accordance with statutory 

requirements, will make more funds 

available from the Advanced Placement 

Incentive program (CFDA number 

84.330C) if necessary. 

Estimated Range of Awards: $5,000–

$500,000. 

Estimated Average Size of Awards:

$120,000. 

Estimated Number of Awards: 50.

Note: The Department is not bound by any 

estimates in this notice.

Project Period: Up to 36 months. 

III. Eligibility Information 

1. Eligible Applicants: SEAs in any 

State, including the District of 

Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 

Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, 

Guam, American Samoa, the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands, and the freely associated states 

of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 

the Federated States of Micronesia, and 

the Republic of Palau.

Note: For purposes of this program, the 

Bureau of Indian Affairs is treated as an SEA.

2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This 

program does not involve cost sharing 

or matching but does involve 

supplement-not-supplant funding 

provisions. 

Supplement not Supplant: Funds 

provided under this program must be 

used only to supplement and not 

supplant other non-Federal funds that 

are available to assist low-income 

individuals in paying advanced 

placement test fees (20 U.S.C. 6536). 

3. Other: (a) Definitions. The 

following definitions are taken from the 

Advanced Placement Programs 

authorizing statute, in Title I, Part G of 

the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act of 1965, as amended 

(ESEA). They are repeated in this 

application notice for the convenience 

of the applicant. 

(i) The term advanced placement test

means an advanced placement test 

administered by the College Board or 

approved by the Secretary of Education.

Note: The Department has approved 

advanced placement tests administered by 

the International Baccalaureate Organization. 

As part of the grant application process, 

applicants may request approval of tests from 

other educational entities that provide 

comparable programs of rigorous academic 

courses and testing through which students 

may earn college credit.

(ii) The term low-income individual

means an individual who is determined 

by an SEA or local educational agency 

to be a child, ages 5 through 19, from 

a low-income family on the basis of data 

used by the Secretary to determine 

allocations under section 1124 of Title 

I of the ESEA, data on children eligible 

for free or reduced-price lunches under 

the National School Lunch Act, data on 

children in families receiving assistance 

under part A of title IV of the Social 

Security Act, or data on children 

eligible to receive medical assistance 

under the Medicaid program under title 

XIX of the Social Security Act, or 

through an alternate method that 

combines or extrapolates from those 

data. 

(b) Information Dissemination. In 

accordance with section 1704(c) of the 

ESEA (20 U.S.C. 1704(c)), an SEA 

awarded a grant under the AP Test Fee 

Program must disseminate information 

regarding the availability of advanced 

placement test fee payments under this 

program to eligible individuals through 

secondary school teachers and guidance 

counselors. 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2004 / Notices 65029

IV. Application and Submission 

Information 

1. Address to Request Application 

Package: You may obtain an application 

package via Internet or from the ED 

Publication Center (ED Pubs). To obtain 

a copy via Internet use the following 

address: http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/

apply/grantapps/index.

To obtain a copy from ED Pubs, write 

or call the following: Education 

Publications Center (ED Pubs), P.O. Box 

1398, Jessup, MD 20794–1398. 

Telephone (toll free): 1–877–433–7827. 

FAX: (301) 470–1244. If you use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD), you may call (toll free): 1–877–

576–7734. 

You may also contact ED Pubs at its 

Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/

edpubs.html or you may contact ED 

Pubs at its e-mail address: 

edpubs@inet.ed.gov.

If you request an application from ED 

Pubs, be sure to identify this 

competition as follows: CFDA number 

84.330B. 

Individuals with disabilities may 

obtain a copy of the application package 

in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, 

large print, audiotape, or computer 

diskette) by contacting the program 

contact person listed elsewhere in this 

notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT (see VII. Agency Contact). 

2. Content and Form of Application 

Submission: Requirements concerning 

the content of an application, together 

with the forms you must submit, are in 

the application package for this 

program.

Notice of Intent to Apply: Applicants 

that plan to apply for funding under this 

program are encouraged to e-mail the 

AP Test Fee Program manager of an 

intent to apply at 

madeline.baggett@ed.gov no later than 

December 1, 2004. Applicants that fail 

to supply this e-mail notification may 

still apply for funding under this 

competition. 

Page Limit for Program Narrative: The 

program narrative is where you, the 

applicant, address the Requirements for 

Approval of Application. You must 

limit the program narrative to the 

equivalent of no more than 30 pages, 

using the following standards: 

• A ‘‘page’’ is 8.5′′ x 11′′, on one side 

only, with 1′′ margins at the top, bottom, 

and both sides. 

• Double space (no more than three 

lines per vertical inch) all text in the 

program narrative, including titles, 

headings, footnotes, quotations, 

references, and captions, as well as all 

text in charts, tables, figures, and 

graphs. 

• Use a font that is either 12-point or 

larger or no smaller than 10 pitch 

(characters per inch). 

The page limit applies only to the 

narrative section of the application. 

Instructions for completing the program 

narrative section are in the application 

package (see Section C: Application 

Forms and Instructions). 

Our reviewers will not read any pages 

of your program narrative that—

• Exceed the page limit if you apply 

these standards; or 

• Exceed the equivalent of the page 

limit if you apply other standards. 

3. Submission Dates and Times:

Applications Available: November 9, 

2004. 

Deadline for Notice of Intent to 

Apply: December 1, 2004. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: December 13, 2004. 

Applications for grants under the AP 

Test Fee program must be submitted 

electronically using the Electronic Grant 

Application System (e-Application) 

available through the Department’s eGrants system. For information 

(including dates and times) about how 

to submit your application 

electronically or to request a waiver of 

the electronic submission requirement, 

please refer to Section IV. 6. Other 

Submission Requirements in this notice. 

We do not consider an application 

that does not comply with the 

application requirements. 

Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: February 11, 2005. 

4. Intergovernmental Review: This 

program is subject to Executive Order 

12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR 

part 79. Information about 

Intergovernmental Review of Federal 

Programs under Executive Order 12372 

is in the application package for this 

program. 

5. Funding Restrictions: We reference 

regulations outlining funding 

restrictions in the Applicable 

Regulations section of this notice. 

6. Other Submission Requirements:

Applications for grants under this 

program must be submitted 

electronically, unless you request a 

waiver of this requirement in 

accordance with the instructions in this 

section. 

a. Electronic Submission of 

Applications.

Applications for grants under the AP 

Test Fee Program—CFDA Number 

84.330B must be submitted 

electronically using e-Application 

available through the Department’s eGrants system, accessible through the eGrants portal page at:

http://e-grants.ed.gov.

If you are unable to submit an 

application through the e-Grants system, 

you may submit a written request for a 

waiver of the electronic submission 

requirement. In your request, you 

should explain the reason or reasons 

that prevent you from using the Internet 

to submit your application. Address 

your request to: Madeline Baggett, U.S. 

Department of Education, 400 Maryland 

Avenue, SW., room 4W210, 

Washington, DC 20202–5943. Please 

submit your request no later than two 

weeks before the application deadline 

date. Your paper application must be 

submitted in accordance with the mail 

or hand delivery instructions described 

in this notice. 

If, within two weeks of the 

application deadline date, including the 

application deadline date itself, you are 

unable to submit an application 

electronically, you must submit a paper 

application in accordance with the mail 

or hand delivery instructions described 

in this notice. The paper application 

must include a written request for a 

waiver documenting the reasons that 

prevented you from using the Internet to 

submit your application electronically. 

While completing your electronic 

application, you will be entering data 

online that will be saved into a 

database. You may not e-mail an 

electronic copy of a grant application to 

us. 

Please note the following: 

• You must complete the electronic 

submission of your grant application by 

4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the 

application deadline date. The eApplication system will not accept an 

application for the AP Test Fee Program 

after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on 

the application deadline date. 

Therefore, we strongly recommend that 

you do not wait until the application 

deadline date to begin the application 

process.

• The regular hours of operation of 

the e-Grants Web site are 6 a.m. Monday 

until 7 p.m. Wednesday; and 6 a.m. 

Thursday until midnight Saturday, 

Washington, DC time. Please note that 

the system is unavailable on Sundays, 

and between 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and 

6 a.m. on Thursdays, Washington, DC 

time, for maintenance. Any 

modifications to these hours are posted 

on the e-Grants Web site. 

• You will not receive additional 

point value because you submit your 

application in electronic format, nor 

will we penalize you if you request a 

waiver and submit your application in 

paper format because you were 

prevented from submitting it 

electronically as required. 

• You must submit all documents 

electronically, including the 

Application for Federal Education 

65030 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2004 / Notices 

Assistance (ED 424), Budget 

Information—Non-Construction 

Programs (ED 524), and all necessary 

assurances and certifications. 

• Your electronic application must 

comply with any page limit 

requirements described in this notice. 

• Prior to submitting your electronic 

application, you may wish to download 

it and print a copy of it for your records. 

• After you electronically submit 

your application, you will receive an 

automatic acknowledgement that will 

include a PR/Award number (an 

identifying number unique to your 

application). 

• Within three working days after 

submitting your electronic application, 

fax a signed copy of the ED 424 to the 

Application Control Center after 

following these steps: 

1. Print ED 424 from e-Application. 

2. The applicant’s Authorizing 

Representative must sign this form. 

3. Place the PR/Award number in the 

upper right hand corner of the hardcopy signature page of the ED 424. 

4. Fax the signed ED 424 to the 

Application Control Center at (202) 

245–6272. 

• We may request that you provide us 

original signatures on other forms at a 

later date. 

Application Deadline Date Extension 

in Case of System Unavailability: If you 

are prevented from electronically 

submitting your application on the 

application deadline date because the eApplication system is unavailable, we 

will grant you an extension of one 

business day in order to transmit your 

application electronically, by mail, or by 

hand delivery. We will grant this 

extension if—

1. You are a registered user of eApplication and you have initiated an 

electronic application for this 

competition; and 

2. (a) The e-Application system is 

unavailable for 60 minutes or more 

between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 

p.m., Washington, DC time, on the 

application deadline date; or 

(b) The e-Application system is 

unavailable for any period of time 

between 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., 

Washington, DC time, on the 

application deadline date. 

We must acknowledge and confirm 

these periods of unavailability before 

granting you an extension. To request 

this extension or to confirm our 

acknowledgement of any system 

unavailability, you may contact either 

(1) the person listed elsewhere in this 

notice under For Further Information 

Contact (see VII. Agency Contact) or (2) 

the e-Grants help desk at 1–888–336–

8930. If the system is down and 

therefore the application deadline is 

extended, an e-mail is sent to all 

registered users who have initiated an 

application. 

Extensions referred to in this section 

apply only to the unavailability of the 

Department’s e-Application system. If 

the e-Application system is available, 

and you are unable to submit your 

application electronically or you do not 

receive an automatic acknowledgement 

of your submission, you may submit 

your application in paper format by 

mail or hand delivery in accordance 

with the instructions in this notice. 

Your paper application must be 

accompanied by a written request for 

waiver of the electronic submission 

requirement documenting the reasons 

that prevented you from using the 

Internet to submit your application 

electronically. 

b. Submission of Paper Applications 

by Mail.

If you submit your application in 

paper format by mail (through the U.S. 

Postal Service or a commercial carrier), 

you must send the original and two 

copies of your application, on or before 

the application deadline date, to the 

Department at the applicable following 

address: 

By mail through the U.S. Postal 

Service: U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center, Attention: 

(CFDA Number 84.330B), 400 Maryland 

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202–

4260; or 

By mail through a commercial carrier:

U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center—Stop 4260, 

Attention: (CFDA Number 84.330B), 

7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 

20785–1506.

The Application Control Center will 

mail a Grant Application Receipt 

Acknowledgment to you. If you do not 

receive the notification of application 

receipt within 15 business days from the 

mailing of your application, you should 

call the U.S. Department of Education 

Application Control Center at (202) 

245–6288. 

You must show proof of mailing 

consisting of one of the following: 

1. A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service 

postmark; 

2. A legible mail receipt with the date 

of mailing stamped by the U.S. Postal 

Service; 

3. A dated shipping label, invoice, or 

receipt from a commercial carrier; or 

4. Any other proof of mailing 

acceptable to the U.S. Secretary of 

Education. 

If you mail your application through 

the U.S. Postal Service, we do not 

accept either of the following as proof 

of mailing: 

1. A private metered postmark, or 

2. A mail receipt that is not dated by 

the U.S. Postal Service. 

If your application is postmarked after 

the application deadline date, we will 

not consider your application.

Note: Applicants should note that the U.S. 

Postal Service does not uniformly provide a 

dated postmark. Before relying on this 

method, you should check with your local 

post office.

c. Submission of Paper Applications 

by Hand Delivery.

If you have requested a waiver of the 

electronic submission requirement, you 

(or a courier service) may deliver your 

paper application to the Department by 

hand. You must deliver the original and 

two copies of your application by hand, 

on or before the application deadline 

date, to the Department at the following 

address: U.S. Department of Education, 

Application Control Center, Attention: 

CFDA Number 84.330B, 550 12th Street, 

SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center Plaza, 

Washington, DC 20202–4260. 

The Application Control Center 

accepts hand deliveries daily between 8 

a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC 

time, except Saturdays, Sundays and 

Federal holidays. A person delivering 

an application must show photo 

identification to enter the building.

Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper 

Applications: If you mail or hand deliver 

your application to the Department: 

1. You must indicate on the envelope 

and—if not provided by the Department—in 

Item 4 of the ED 424 the CFDA number—and 

suffix letter, if any—of the competition under 

which you are submitting your application. 

2. The Application Control Center will 

mail a Grant Application Receipt 

Acknowledgment to you. If you do not 

receive the notification of application receipt 

within 15 business days from the application 

deadline date, you should call the U.S. 

Department of Education Application Control 

Center at (202) 245–6288.

V. Application Review Information 

1. Review and Selection Process: In 

accordance with statutory requirements, 

the Department gives priority to funding 

applications (from among those received 

for the two Advanced Placement 

programs authorized under Title I, Part 

G of the ESEA) to use grant funds to pay 

advanced placement test fees on behalf 

of eligible low-income individuals. The 

Department intends to fund, at some 

level, all applications for this 

competition that meet the minimum 

Requirements for Approval of 

Application as described in the 

application package. However, in 

determining whether to approve an 

application for a new award from an 

applicant with a current grant under the 

program, the Department will consider 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 216 / Tuesday, November 9, 2004 / Notices 65031

the amount of any carryover funds 

under the existing grant. 

2. Award Basis: In determining grant 

award amounts, the Department will 

consider, among other things, the 

amount of any carryover funds the 

applicant has under an existing grant 

under the program and the number of 

children in the State eligible to be 

counted under section 1124(c) of Title I 

of the ESEA in relation to the number 

of such children counted in all the 

States that apply for funding. Complete 

budget data must be submitted for each 

year of funding requested. 

VI. Award Administration Information 

1. Award Notices: If your application 

is successful, we notify your U.S. 

Representative and U.S. Senators and 

send you a Grant Award Notification 

(GAN). We may also notify you 

informally. 

If your application is not evaluated or 

not selected for funding, we notify you. 

2. Administrative and National Policy 

Requirements: We identify 

administrative and national policy 

requirements in the application package 

and reference these and other 

requirements in the Applicable 

Regulations section of this notice.

We reference the regulations outlining 

the terms and conditions of an award in 

the Applicable Regulations section of 

this notice and include these and other 

specific conditions in the GAN. The 

GAN also incorporates your approved 

application as part of your binding 

commitments under the grant. 

3. Grant Administration. Applicants 

approved for funding under this 

competition may be required to attend 

a one- or two-day Grants Administration 

meeting in Washington, DC during the 

first year of the grant. The cost of 

attending this meeting may be paid from 

API program grant funds or State or 

local resources. 

4. Reporting: At the end of your 

project period, you must submit a final 

performance report, including financial 

information, as directed by the 

Secretary. If you receive a multi-year 

award, you must submit an annual 

performance report that meets the 

reporting requirements in section 

1704(f)(1) of the ESEA and provides the 

most current performance and financial 

expenditure information as specified by 

the Secretary in 34 CFR 75.118. 

5. Performance Measures: The 

Secretary has developed four 

performance measures for assessing the 

effectiveness of the two Advanced 

Placement programs authorized under 

Title I, Part G of the ESEA. These 

measures are: 

(a) Number of Advanced Placement 

(AP) tests taken by low-income students 

nationally; 

(b) Number of International 

Baccalaureate (IB) tests taken by lowincome students nationally; 

(c) Percentage of low-income students 

served by the Department’s Advanced 

Placement programs who receive a 

passing score on AP tests; and 

(d) Percentage of low-income students 

served by the Department’s Advanced 

Placement programs who receive a 

passing score on IB tests. 

VII. Agency Contact

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Madeline E. Baggett, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., 

room 4W210, Washington, DC 20202–

5943. Telephone: (202) 260–2502 or by 

e-mail: madeline.baggett@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, 

audiotape, or computer diskette) on 

request to the program contact person 

listed in this section. 

VIII. Other Information 

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.

Dated: November 3, 2004. 

Nina Shokraii Rees, 

Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and 

Improvement.

[FR Doc. 04–24895 Filed 11–8–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–U