35238 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 106 / Thursday, June 1, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Upward Bound Program Participant

Expansion Initiative

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary

Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed priority.

SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education

proposes to establish an absolute

priority to provide supplemental funds

of up to $85,600 in fiscal year 2000 to

on-going Upward Bound projects that

serve at least one target high school in

which at least 50 percent of the students

were eligible for a free lunch under the

National School Lunch Act during the

1999–2000 school year.

The purpose of this initiative is to

increase the number of the neediest

eligible students who are served by the

Upward Bound program. The neediest

students are generally those from the

lowest income levels. The Secretary

believes that limiting supplemental

funds to projects that serve the abovedescribed target schools is a good way

to measure whether projects serve the

lowest income students because the

Free Lunch program is limited to

students from families with the lowest

family income.

Under this priority, supplements up

to $85,600 will be awarded to projects

currently funded under the Upward

Bound Program. An estimated 150

current Upward Bound projects could

receive supplemental funds to serve not

more than twenty (20) additional

students.

Projects that receive supplemental

funds under this priority are strongly

encouraged to select eligible

participants who have the greatest need

for Upward Bound services.

DATES: We must receive your comments

on or before July 3, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about

this proposed priority to Dr. Robert L.

Belle, U.S. Department of Education,

1990 K Street, NW., Room 7044,

Washington, DC 20006–8510. If you

prefer to send your comments through

the Internet, use the following address:

peggy_whitehead@ed.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peggy Whitehead, Sheryl Wilson, or

Gaby Watts, U.S. Department of

Education, 1990 K Street, NW., Room

7020, Washington, DC 20006–8510.

Telephone (202) 502–7600. 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 contact persons listed

in the preceding paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation to Comment

We invite you to submit comments

regarding this proposed priority. During

and after the comment period, you may

inspect all public comments about this

priority in room 7039, 1990 K Street,

NW., Washington, DC, between the

hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eastern

time, Monday through Friday of each

week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With

Disabilities in Reviewing the

Rulemaking Record

On request, we will supply an

appropriate aid, such as a reader or

print magnifier, to an individual with a

disability who needs assistance to

review the comments or other

documents in the public rulemaking

record for this proposed priority. If you

want to schedule an appointment for

this type of aid, you may call (202) 502–

7600. If you use a TDD, you may call the

Federal Information Relay Service

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339.

Background

In fiscal year 2000, the Congress

provided more funds than the

Administration requested for the

Federal TRIO Programs. In examining

the options available to the Secretary for

allocating these additional funds, the

Secretary determined that a portion of

the funds should be used to increase

support to the Upward Bound program.

The Upward Bound program,

authorized under section 402C of the

Higher Education Act of 1965 as

amended (HEA), 20 U.S.C. 1070a–13,

serves low-income, potential firstgeneration, college students helping

them generate the skills and motivation

necessary for success in education

beyond secondary school.

Proposed Absolute Priority

Under 34 CFR 75.105(c), the Secretary

proposes to give an absolute preference

to applications that meet the following

absolute priority. The Secretary will

provide supplemental funds of $85,600

only to Upward Bound projects serving

a target high school in which at least 50

percent of the students were eligible for

the Free Lunch program during the

1999–2000 school year.

If more applications are received than

can be funded under this initiative, the

Secretary will use numerical scores

assigned by field readers during the

fiscal year 1999 Upward Bound

competition. The Secretary will provide

supplemental funds to the projects

eligible for the proposed absolute

priority that received the highest

average scores from the three field

readers. For the purposes of this

proposed absolute priority, the prior

experience score will not be considered.

Only currently funded projects are

eligible to apply for these supplemental

funds.

Veteran Upward Bound projects and

Upward Bound Math/Science projects

are not eligible to participate in this

initiative.

Upward Bound projects that wish to

receive supplemental funds will be

required to submit:

• For the 1999–2000 school year, the

number of students eligible for the Free

Lunch program at each of the target high

schools served by the project and the

total number of students enrolled at

those target schools;

• The number of additional students,

not to exceed 20, that the project plans

to serve;

• A revised budget; and

• A narrative describing how the

supplemental funds will be used.

Invitational Priority

The Secretary strongly encourages

projects that receive supplemental funds

to enhance their recruitment strategies

and services to target high schools to

select and serve students who are at

greatest risk of not graduating from high

school or pursuing postsecondary

education. As is the case currently in

the Upward Bound program, program

participants must be low-income or

potential first-generation college

students who have an academic need for

the services of this program. However,

under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1) an

application that meets this invitational

priority does not receive competitive or

absolute preference over other

applications.

Intergovernmental Review

This program is subject to Executive

Order 12372 and the regulations in 34

CFR part 79. One of the objectives of the

Executive order is to foster an

intergovernmental partnership and a

strengthened federalism. The Executive

order relies on processes developed by

State and local governments for

coordination and review of proposed

Federal financial assistance.

This document provides early

notification of our specific plans and

action for the program.

Applicable Program Regulations: 34

CFR Part 645.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070.

Electronic Access to This Document

You may view this document, as well

as all other Department of Education

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 106 / Thursday, June 1, 2000 / Notices 35239

documents published in the Federal

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sites. If you have questions about using

the PDF, call the U.S. Government

Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1–

888–293–6498; or in the Washington,

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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.access.gpo.gov/nara/

index.html

Dated: May 26, 2000.

A. Lee Fritschler,

Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary

Education.

[FR Doc. 00–13662 Filed 5–31–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P