24764 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 82 / Thursday, April 27, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA NO. 84.334]

Office of Postsecondary Education,

Gaining Early Awareness and

Readiness for Undergraduate

Programs; Notice Inviting Applications

for New Awards for Fiscal Year 2000

Purpose of Program

The purpose of this program is to give

more elementary school, middle school,

and secondary school low-income

students the skills, motivation, and

preparation needed to pursue

postsecondary education. Through early

college preparation and awareness

activities, eligible students are provided

comprehensive mentoring, counseling,

outreach and supportive services,

including information to students and

their parents about the benefits of

postsecondary education and the

availability of Federal financial

assistance to attend college. Through the

scholarship component, which is

mandatory for State grants and optional

for Partnership grants, eligible students

are provided scholarships for higher

education.

Eligible Applicants

1. Partnerships with at least—

• One institution of higher education.

This may be any degree-granting twoyear or four-year college or university;

• One local educational agency

(school district) on behalf of one or

more schools with a 7th grade and the

high school(s) that the students at these

middle schools would normally attend.

Generally, at least 50 percent of the

students attending the participating

school with a 7th grade must be eligible

for free or reduced-price lunches.

However, as an alternative, Partnerships

may choose to work with one or more

grade levels of students, beginning not

later than the 7th grade, who reside in

public housing; and

• Two additional organizations, such

as businesses, professional associations,

community-based organizations, State

Agencies, elementary schools,

philanthropic organizations, religious

groups, and other public or private

organizations.

2. State Agencies as designated by the

State’s Governor, one per State.

Applications Available: April 27,

2000.

Deadline for Transmittal of

Applications: June 26, 2000.

Deadline for Intergovernmental

Review: August 25, 2000.

Available Funds: $47,000,000.

Estimated Average Awards: No

minimum, maximum or average award

has been established for Partnership

grants. The size of each Partnership

grant will depend on the number of

students served. However, there is a

maximum annual Federal contribution

of $800 per student for Partnership

grants.

For State grants, the estimated average

award is $1.5 million to $2 million with

a $5 million maximum and no

minimum award.

Estimated Number of Awards: 6 State

grant awards and 74 partnership grant

awards.

Note: The Department is not bound by any

estimates in this notice.

Project Period: Up to 60 months,

unless the Department announces that

Congress has passed a technical

amendment to the contrary.

Selection Criteria

The Secretary uses the selection

criteria in accordance with 34 CFR

75.209 and 75.210 to evaluate

applications for Gaining Early

Awareness and Readiness for

Undergraduate Programs. The

application package includes selection

criteria and the points assigned to the

criteria.

Priorities

Competitive Priorities

Competitive Preference Priority

Providing Program Services in an

Empowerment Zone or Enterprise

Community (For Partnership or State

grants)—Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)

and 34 CFR 694.17(a), the Secretary

gives competitive preference to an

application for a partnership or State

grant that serves a substantial number or

percentage of students who reside in an

Empowerment Zone, a supplemental

Empowerment Zone, or an Enterprise

Community.

The Secretary will select an

application that meets this priority over

an application of comparable merit that

does not meet the priority.

Invitational Priority

Scholarships (For Partnerships grants

only)—Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) and

34 CFR 694.17(b) the Secretary is

particularly interested in applications

that meet the invitations priority for

establishing or maintaining a financial

assistance program that awards

scholarships to students either in

accordance with section 404E of the

Higher Education Act of 1965, as

amended, or in accordance with 34 CFR

694.12. However, an application that

meets this invitational priority does not

receive competitive or absolute

preference over other applications.

For Applications or Information

Contact

Rafael Ramirez, Office of

Postsecondary Education, U.S.

Department of Education, 1900 K Street,

NW, Room 6252, Washington, DC

20006. Telephone 1–800–USA–LEARN,

email gearup@ed.gov or fax your request

to (202) 502–7675. Individuals who use

a telecommunications device for the

deaf (TDD) may call the Federal

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–

800–877–8339.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain the GEAR UP application in an

alternate format (e.g., Braille, large print,

audiotape, or computer diskette) upon

request to Rafael Ramirez, whose

contact information is listed in the

preceding paragraph. Individuals with

disabilities may obtain a copy of the

application package in an alternate

format, also, by contacting that person.

However, the Department is not able to

reproduce in an alternate 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 the following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 82 / Thursday, April 27, 2000 / Notices 24765

http://www.ed.gov/news.html

http://www.ed.gov/gearup

To use the PDF you must have the

Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with

Search, which is available free at the

previous sites. If you have any questions

about using the 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 Code of

Federal Regulations is available on GPO

Access at: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/

index.html.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070a–21.

Dated: April 14, 2000.

A. Lee Fritschler,

Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary

Education.

[FR Doc. 00–10325 Filed 4–26–00; 8:45 am]

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