60988 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 219 / Thursday, November 13, 1997 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.031A, CFDA No. 84.031G]

Notice Inviting Applications for

Designation as an Eligible Institution

for Fiscal Year 1998 for the

Strengthening Institutions Program

Purpose

The Secretary announces closing

dates for applications from institutions

that wish to be designated as an eligible

institution under the Strengthening

Institutions Program authorized under

Title III, part A of the Higher Education

Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). If an

institution qualifies as an eligible

institution under that program, it is

eligible to receive program funds if it

submits a successful grant application.

It is also eligible to have certain of its

matching requirements waived under

the Federal Supplemental Educational

Grant (FSEOG) and Federal Work Study

(FWS) Programs. Moreover, the

institution is eligible for a waiver even

if it does not apply for a grant under the

Strengthening Institutions Program.

(The FSEOG and FWS programs are

student financial assistance programs

authorized under Title IV of the HEA.)

The Department will hold a Fiscal

Year 1998 funding competition for new

awards under the Strengthening

Institutions Program and will publish a

closing date notice in a future Federal

Register. (There will be no competition

for new awards under the HispanicServing Institutions and Endowment

Challenge Grant Programs because no

funds were appropriated for those

awards.)

An institution that wishes to be

designated as an eligible institution

under the Strengthening Institutions

Program for any purpose must submit

its application to the Department by

February 2, 1998.

If an institution submits its

application by December 29, 1997, the

Department will notify the applicant of

its eligibility status by February 2, 1998.

If an applicant believes it failed to be

designated as an eligible institution

because of errors in its application or

insufficient information in its waiver

request, it may submit an amended

application to the Department no later

than March 20, 1998.

If an applicant submits its initial

application after December 29, 1997, but

on or before February 2, 1998, the

Department does not guarantee that it

will be able to review the application

and notify the applicant in time for the

applicant to submit an amended

application by March 20, 1998, the

deadline date for amended applications.

An applicant will not be designated as

an eligible institution if the applicant

misses the February 2, 1998 deadline for

initial applications or the March

20,1998 deadline for amended

applications. The Department strongly

recommends that applicants apply by

December 29,1997 to take advantage of

the opportunity to amend unapproved

applications.

Deadline for Transmittal of

Applications

December 29, 1997 for early

applications, February 2, 1998 for all

initial applications, and March 20, 1998

for amended applications. These

deadlines apply to institutions of higher

education that anticipate competing for

new awards under the Strengthening

Institutions Program, and for

institutions that plan to obtain a waiver

of certain non-Federal share

requirements under the FSEOG and

FWS Programs.

Applications Available

November 20, 1997.

Eligibility Information

To qualify as an eligible institution an

applicant must (1) be accredited or

preaccredited by a nationally recognized

accrediting agency; (2) be legally

authorized by the State in which it is

located to be a junior or community

college or to provide a bachelor’s degree

program; and (3) have a high enrollment

of needy students. In addition, its

educational and general (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. The

complete eligibility requirements are

found in the Strengthening Institutions

Program regulations, 34 CFR 607.2–

607.5.

Enrollment of Needy Students

Under 34 CFR § 607.3(a), an

institution is considered to have a high

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 1995–96

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

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 expenditure for the 1995–

1996 base year is less than the average

for its category of comparable

institutions, it meets this eligibility

requirement.

An institution’s E&G expenditures are

the total amount it expended during the

base year for instruction, research,

public service, academic support,

student services, institutional support,

operation and maintenance,

scholarships and fellowships, and

mandatory transfers.

The following table identifies the

relevant median Federal Pell Grant

percentages and the average E&G

expenditures per FTE student for the

1995–96 base year for the four categories

of comparable institutions:

Median

Federal

Pell

Grant

percentage

Average

E&G expenditure per

FTE student

2-year Public Institutions 30.16 $7,114

2-year Non-Profit Private Institutions ......... 31.57 11,704

4-year Public Institutions 28.00 16,594

4-year Non-Profit Private Institutions ......... 28.53 22,479

Waiver Information

Institutions of higher education that

are unable to meet the needy student

enrollment requirement or the E&G

expenditure requirement may apply to

the Secretary for waivers of these

requirements, as described in 34 CFR

607.3(b) and 607.4(c) and (d).

Institutions requesting a waiver of the

needy student requirement must include

the detailed information as set forth in

the instructions for completing the

application.

The waiver authority provided in 34

CFR 607.3(b)(2) and (3), refers to ‘‘lowincome’’ students and families. The

regulations define ‘‘low-income’’ as an

amount that does not exceed 150

percent of the amount equal to the

poverty level in 1995–97 base year as

established by the U.S. Bureau of the
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 219 / Thursday, November 13, 1997 / Notices 60989

Census, 34 CFR 607.3(c). For the

purposes of this waiver provision, the

following table sets forth the lowincome levels for the various sizes of

families:

1995–96 BASE YEAR LOW-INCOME

LEVELS

Size of

family

unit

Contiguous 48

States,

the District of

Columbia, and

outlying

jurisdictions

Alaska Hawaii

1 ............ $11,205 $14,010 $12,915

2 ............ 15,045 18,810 17,325

3 ............ 18,885 23,610 21,735

4 ............ 22,725 28,410 26,145

5 ............ 26,565 33,210 30,555

6 ............ 30,405 38,010 34,965

7 ............ 34,245 42,810 39,375

8 ............ 38,085 47,610 43,710

For family units with more than eight

members, add the following amount for

each additional family member: $3,840

for the contiguous 48 states, the District

of Columbia and outlying jurisdictions;

$4,800 for Alaska; and $4,410 for

Hawaii.

The figures shown as low-income

levels 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 Census levels were published by

the U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services in the Federal Register

on February 9, 1995 (Volume 60,

Number 27, pages 7772–7774).

In reference to the waiver option

specified in § 607.3(b)(4) of the

regulations, information about

‘‘metropolitan statistical areas’’ may be

obtained by requesting the Metropolitan

Statistical Areas, 1993, order number

PB 93–192664, from the National

Technical Information Services,

Document Sales, 5285 Port Royal Road,

Springfield, Virginia 22161, telephone

number (703) 487–4650. There is a

charge for this publication.

Applicable Regulations

Regulations applicable to the

eligibility process include the

Strengthening Institutions Program

Regulations in 34 CFR part 607, and the

Education Department General

Administrative Regulations in 34 CFR

parts 74, 75, 77, 82, 85, and 86.

For Applications or Information

Contact

Blanca Westgate or Jane Wrenn,

Institutional Development and

Undergraduate Education Service, U.S.

Department of Education, 600

Independence Avenue, S.W., (Portals

CY–80) Washington, D.C. 20202–5335.

Telephone: (202) 708–8866, 708–9926

and 708–8839. Individuals who use a

telecommunications device for the deaf

(TDD) may call the Federal Information

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time,

Monday through Friday.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alternate

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

tape, or computer diskette) on request to

the contact person 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

Anyone may view this document, as

well as all other Department of

Education documents published in the

Federal Register, in text or portable

document format (pdf) on the World

Wide Web at either of the following

sites:

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

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

To use the pdf you must have the

Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with

Search, which is available free at either

of the previous sites. If you have

questions about using the pdf, call the

U.S. Government Printing Office toll

free at 1–888–293–6498.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1057, 1059c

and 1065a.

Dated: November 5, 1997.

David A. Longanecker,

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary

Education.

[FR Doc. 97–29796 Filed 11–12–97; 8:45 am]

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