8228 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 14, 2012 / Notices 

other documents of this Department 

published in the Federal Register, in 

text or Adobe Portable Document 

Format (PDF). To use PDF you must 

have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 

available free at the site. You may also 

access documents of the Department 

published in the Federal Register by 

using the article search feature at: 

www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, 

through the advanced search feature at 

this site, you can limit your search to 

documents published by the 

Department. 

Dated: February 9, 2012. 

Alexa Posny, 

Assistant Secretary for Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services. 

[FR Doc. 2012–3414 Filed 2–13–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Applications for New Awards; 

Developing Hispanic-Serving 

Institutions Program 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Notice. 

Overview Information: Developing 

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) 

Program Notice inviting applications for 

new awards for fiscal year (FY) 2012. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.031S. 

DATES: 

Applications Available: February 14, 

2012. Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: March 15, 2012. Deadline 

for Intergovernmental Review: May 14, 

2012. 

Full Text of Announcement 

I. Funding Opportunity Description 

Purpose of Program 

The HSI Program provides grants to 

assist HSIs to expand educational 

opportunities for, and improve the 

academic attainment of, Hispanic 

students. The HSI Program grants also 

enable HSIs to expand and enhance 

their academic offerings, program 

quality, and institutional stability. 

General Background 

In 2008, the Higher Education Act of 

1965 (HEA) was amended by the Higher 

Education Opportunity Act of 2008 

(HEA). The HEOA made a number of 

changes to the HSI program. The 

regulations for the HSI Program in 34 

part 606 have not been updated since 

before the HEA was amended by the 

HEOA. Therefore, we encourage 

applicants to carefully read this notice, 

which references the statutory 

provisions when the corresponding 

regulatory provisions for this program 

have not been updated. 

For example, section 501 of the HEOA 

amended section 503(b) of the HEA to 

include, among the authorized activities 

under the HSI Program— 

(1) Activities to improve student 

services, including innovative and 

customized instruction courses 

designed to help retain students and 

move the students into core courses; 

(2) Articulation agreements and 

student support programs designed to 

facilitate the transfer of students from 2- 

year to 4-year institutions; and 

(3) Providing education, counseling 

services, or financial information 

designed to improve the financial and 

economic literacy of students or their 

families. 

(4) The list of authorized activities in 

section 503(b) of the HEA was also 

amended to use the term ‘‘distance 

education technologies’’ in place of 

‘‘distance learning academic instruction 

capabilities.’’ Therefore, 

notwithstanding the description of 

authorized activities in § 606.10, 

applicants may include these activities 

in their proposals under this 

competition. 

Priorities 

This notice contains three competitive 

preference priorities. These priorities 

are from the notice of final 

supplemental priorities and definitions 

for discretionary grant programs, 

published in the Federal Register on 

December 15, 2010 (75 FR 78486), and 

corrected on May 12, 2011 (76 FR 

27637). 

Competitive Preference Priorities 

For FY 2012, and any subsequent year 

in which we make awards from the list 

of unfunded applicants from the 

competition, these priorities are 

competitive preference priorities. Under 

34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i), we award up to 

an additional 9 points total to an 

application, depending on how well the 

application meets all competitive 

preference priorities. Applicants must 

address all competitive preference 

priorities in order to receive any 

additional points. Applicants who do 

not address all three competitive 

preference priorities will not receive 

any additional points. 

These priorities are: 

Competitive Preference Priority 1: 

Increasing Postsecondary Success. 

Projects that are designed to increase 

the number and proportion of high-need 

students (as defined in this notice) who 

persist in and complete college or other 

postsecondary education and training. 

Competitive Preference Priority 2: 

Enabling More Data-Based DecisionMaking. 

Projects that are designed to collect 

(or obtain), analyze, and use highquality and timely data, including data 

on program participant outcomes, in 

accordance with privacy requirements 

(as defined in this notice), in the 

following priority area: improving 

postsecondary student outcomes 

relating to enrollment, persistence, and 

completion and leading to career 

success. 

Competitive Preference Priority 3: 

Improving Productivity. 

Projects that are designed to 

significantly increase efficiency in the 

use of time, staff, money, or other 

resources while improving student 

learning or other educational outcomes 

(i.e., outcome per unit of resource). 

Such projects may include innovative 

and sustainable uses of technology, 

modification of school schedules and 

teacher compensation systems, use of 

open educational resources (as defined 

in this notice), or other strategies. 

Note: The types of projects identified in 

Competitive Preference Priority 3 are 

suggestions for ways to improve productivity. 

The Department recognizes that some of 

these examples, such as modification of 

teacher compensation systems, may not be 

relevant for the context of this program. 

Accordingly, applicants might want to 

consider responding to this competitive 

preference priority in a way that improves 

productivity in a relevant, higher education 

context. 

Definitions 

The following definitions are from the 

notice of final supplemental priorities 

and definitions for discretionary grant 

programs published in the Federal 

Register on December 15, 2010 (75 FR 

78486), and corrected on May 12, 2011 

(76 FR 27637), and apply to the 

priorities in this notice: 

High-need children and high-need 

students means children and students at 

risk of educational failure, such as 

children and students who are living in 

poverty, who are English learners, who 

are far below grade level, or who are not 

on track to becoming college- or careerready by graduation, who have left 

school or college before receiving, 

respectively, a regular high school 

diploma or a college degree or 

certificate, who are at risk of not 

graduating with a diploma on time, who 

are homeless, who are in foster care, 

who are pregnant or parenting 

teenagers, who have been incarcerated, 

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1For purposes of making the determination 

described in paragraph (e) of the Eligibility Criteria 

for this competition, IHEs must report their 

undergraduate Hispanic FTE percent based on the 

student enrollment count closest to, but not after, 

September 30, 2010. 

who are new immigrants, who are 

migrant, or who have disabilities. 

Open educational resources (OER) 

means teaching, learning, and research 

resources that reside in the public 

domain or have been released under an 

intellectual property license that 

permits their free use or repurposing by 

others. 

Privacy requirements means the 

requirements of the Family Educational 

Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 

U.S.C. 1232g, and its implementing 

regulations in 34 CFR part 99, the 

Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. 552a, as well as all 

applicable Federal, State, and local 

requirements regarding privacy. 

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1101– 

1101d; 1103–1103g. 

Applicable Regulations: (a) The 

Education Department General 

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 

34 CFR parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 82, 84, 85, 

86, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The regulations 

for this program in 34 CFR part 606. (c) 

The notice of final supplemental 

priorities and definitions for 

discretionary grant programs, published 

in the Federal Register on December 15, 

2010 (75 FR 78486), and corrected on 

May 12, 2011 (76 FR 27637). 

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 

apply to all applicants except federally 

recognized Indian tribes. 

Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 86 

apply to institutions of higher education 

(IHEs) only. 

II. Award Information 

Type of Award: Discretionary grants. 

Five-year Individual Development 

Grants and Five-year Cooperative 

Arrangement Development Grants will 

be awarded in FY 2012. Planning grants 

will not be awarded in FY 2012. 

Estimated Available Funds: 

$11,676,476. 

Contingent upon the availability of 

funds and the quality of applications, 

we may make additional awards in FY 

2013 from the list of unfunded 

applicants from this competition. 

Estimated Range of Awards: 

$535,000–$775,000. 

Estimated Average Size of Awards: 

Individual Development Grants: 

$560,000. Cooperative Arrangement 

Development Grants: $640,000. 

Maximum Awards: Individual 

Development Grants: $650,000. 

Cooperative Arrangement Development 

Grants: $775,000. We will not fund any 

application at an amount exceeding 

these maximum amounts for a single 

budget period of 12 months. We may 

choose not to further consider or review 

applications with budgets that exceed 

the maximum amounts specified, if we 

conclude, during our initial review of 

the application, that the proposed goals 

and objectives cannot be obtained with 

the specified maximum amount. The 

Assistant Secretary for the Office of 

Postsecondary Education may change 

the maximum amount through a notice 

published in the Federal Register. 

Estimated Number of Awards: 

Individual Development Grants: 14. 

Cooperative Arrangement Development 

Grants: 6. 

Note: The Department is not bound by any 

estimates in this notice. Applicants should 

periodically check the HSI program Web site 

for further information. The address is: 

www.ed.gov/programs/idueshsi/index.html. 

Project Period: Up to 60 months. 

III. Eligibility Information 

1. Eligible Applicants: IHEs that 

qualify as eligible HSIs are eligible to 

apply for new Individual Development 

Grants and Cooperative Arrangement 

Development Grants under the HSI 

program. To be an eligible HSI, an IHE 

must— 

(a) Have an enrollment of needy 

students, as defined in section 502(b) of 

the HEA (section 502(a)(2)(A)(i) of the 

HEA; 20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(2)(A)(i)); 

(b) Have, except as provided in 

section 522(b) of the HEA, average 

educational and general expenditures 

that are low, per full-time equivalent 

(FTE) undergraduate student, in 

comparison with the average 

educational and general expenditures 

per FTE undergraduate student of 

institutions that offer similar instruction 

(section 502(a)(2)(A)(ii) of the HEA; 20 

U.S.C. 1101a(a)(2)(A)(ii)); 

Note: To demonstrate an enrollment of 

needy students and low average educational 

and general expenditures per FTE 

undergraduate student, an IHE must be 

designated as an ‘‘eligible institution’’ in 

accordance with 34 CFR 606.3 through 606.5 

and the notice inviting applications for 

designation as an eligible institution for the 

fiscal year for which the grant competition is 

being conducted. 

For purposes of establishing eligibility 

for this competition, the Notice Inviting 

Applications for Designation as Eligible 

Institution for FY 2012 was published in 

the Federal Register on December 15, 

2011 (76 FR 77982). Only institutions 

that submitted the required application 

and received designation through this 

process are eligible to submit 

applications for this competition. 

(c) Be accredited by a nationally 

recognized accrediting agency or 

association that the Secretary has 

determined to be a reliable authority as 

to the quality of education or training 

offered, or making reasonable progress 

toward accreditation, according to such 

an agency or association (section 

502(a)(2)(A)(iv) of the HEA; 20 U.S.C. 

1101a(a)(2)(A)(iv)); 

(d) Be legally authorized to provide, 

and provide within the State, an 

educational program for which the 

institution awards a bachelor’s degree 

(section 502(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the HEA or 

a junior or community college; 20 U.S.C. 

1101a(a)(2)(A)(iii)); and 

(e) Have an enrollment of 

undergraduate FTE students that is at 

least 25 percent Hispanic students at the 

end of the award year immediately 

preceding the date of application 

(section 502(a)(5)(B) of the HEA; 20 

U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)(B)). 

Note 1: Funds for the HSI Program will be 

awarded each fiscal year; thus, for this 

program, the ‘‘end of the award year 

immediately preceding the date of 

application’’ refers to the end of the fiscal 

year prior to the application due date. The 

end of the fiscal year occurs on September 30 

for any given year. 

Note 2: In considering applications for 

grants under this program, the Department 

will compare the data and documentation the 

institution relied on in its application with 

data reported to the Department’s Integrated 

Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS), the IHE’s State-reported enrollment 

data, and the institutional annual report. If 

different percentages or data are reported in 

these various sources, the institution must, as 

part of the 25 percent assurance verification, 

explain the reason for the differences. If the 

IPEDS data show that less than 25 percent of 

the institution’s undergraduate FTE students 

are Hispanic, the burden is on the institution 

to show that the IPEDS data are inaccurate. 

If the IPEDS data indicate that the institution 

has an undergraduate FTE less than 25 

percent, and the institution fails to 

demonstrate that the IPEDS data are 

inaccurate, the institution will be considered 

ineligible.1

Relationship Between HSI and Title III, 

Part A Programs 

Note 1: A grantee under the HSI Program, 

which is authorized by Title V of the HEA, 

may not receive a grant under any HEA, Title 

III, Part A or Part B Program (section 505 of 

the HEA; 20 U.S.C. 1101D). The Title III, Part 

A Programs include: the Strengthening 

Institutions Program; the American Indian 

Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities 

Program; the Alaska Native and Native 

Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Programs; the 

Asian American and Native American Pacific 

Islander-Serving Institutions Program; and 

the Native American-Serving Non-Tribal 

Institutions Program. Furthermore, a current 

HSI Program grantee may not give up its HSI 

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8230 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 14, 2012 / Notices 

grant in order to receive a grant under any 

Title III, Part A Program (§ 606.2(c)(1)). 

Note 2: An HSI that does not fall within 

the limitation described in Note 1 may apply 

for a FY 2012 grant under all Title III, Part 

A Programs, for which it is eligible, as well 

as under the HSI Program. However, a 

successful applicant may receive only one 

grant. 

Note 3: An eligible HSI that submits 

multiple applications may only be awarded 

one Individual Development Grant and/or 

one Cooperative Arrangement Development 

Grant in a fiscal year (34 CFR 606.9 and 

606.13). In addition, the Secretary will not 

award a second Individual Development 

Grant to an HSI with a current five-year 

Individual Development Grant as described 

in 34 CFR 606.9(b)(1). 

Note 4: An eligible HSI that submits a 

Cooperative Arrangement Development Grant 

with a partnering branch campus that is a 

part of the same institution will not be 

awarded a grant (34 CFR 606.7(b)). 

2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This 

program does not require cost sharing or 

matching requirements unless the 

grantee uses a portion of its grant for 

establishing or improving an 

endowment fund. If a grantee uses a 

portion of its grant for endowment fund 

purposes, it must match those grant 

funds with non-Federal funds (section 

503(c)(2) of the HEA; 20 U.S.C. 

1101b(c)(2)). 

IV. Application and Submission 

Information 

1. Address to Request Application 

Package: Carnisia M. Proctor, U.S. 

Department of Education, 1990 K Street, 

NW., Room 6060, Washington, DC 

20006–8513. Telephone: (202) 502–7606 

or by email: Carnisia.Proctor@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. 

Individuals with disabilities can 

obtain a copy of the application package 

in an accessible format (e.g., braille, 

large print, audiotape, or compact disc) 

by contacting the program contact 

person listed in this section. 

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. 

Page Limits: The application narrative 

(Part III of the application) is where you, 

the applicant, address the selection 

criteria and the competitive priorities 

that reviewers use to evaluate your 

application. We have established 

mandatory page limits for both the 

Individual Development Grant and the 

Cooperative Arrangement Development 

Grant applications. You must limit the 

application narrative (Part III) to no 

more than 55 pages for the Individual 

Development Grant application and no 

more than 75 pages for the Cooperative 

Arrangement Development Grant 

application. 

Note: Please include a separate heading 

when responding to the competitive 

priorities. If you do not wish to address the 

competitive priorities, you must limit your 

application narrative to no more than 50 

pages for the Individual Development Grant 

application and no more than 70 pages for 

the Cooperative Arrangement Development 

Grant application 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. 

Note: For purposes of determining 

compliance with the page limits, each page 

on which there are words will be counted as 

one full page. 

• Double space (no more than three 

lines per vertical inch) all text in the 

application narrative, except titles, 

headings, footnotes, quotations, 

references, captions and all text in 

charts, tables, and graphs. These items 

may be single-spaced. Charts, tables, 

figures, and graphs in the application 

narrative count toward the page limit. 

• Use a font that is either 12 point or 

larger, or no smaller than 10 pitch 

(characters per inch). 

• Use one of the following fonts: 

Times New Roman, Courier, Courier 

New, or Arial. An application submitted 

in any other font (including Times 

Roman or Arial Narrow) will not be 

accepted. 

The page limit does not apply to Part 

I, the Application for Federal Assistance 

(SF 424); the Department of Education 

Supplemental Information form (SF 

424); Part II, Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs (ED 524); Part 

IV, the assurances and certifications; or 

the one-page project abstract, program 

activity budget detail form and 

supporting narrative, and the five-year 

plan. However, the page limit does 

apply to all of the application narrative 

section (Part III), including the budget 

narrative of the selection criteria and the 

competitive priorities. If you include 

any attachments or appendices not 

specifically requested in the application 

package, these items will be counted as 

part of your application narrative (Part 

III) for purposes of the page limit 

requirement. You must include your 

complete response to the selection 

criteria in the application narrative. 

Note: The narrative response to the budget 

selection criteria is not the same as the 

activity detail budget form and supporting 

narrative. The supporting narrative for the 

activity detail budget form lists the requested 

budget items line by line. 

We will reject your application if you 

exceed the page limit. 

3. Submission Dates and Times: 

Applications Available: February 14, 

2012. 

Deadline for Transmittal of 

Applications: March 15, 2012. 

Applications for grants under this 

program must be submitted 

electronically using the Grants.gov 

Apply site (Grants.gov). For information 

(including dates and times) about how 

to submit your application 

electronically, or in paper format by 

mail or hand delivery if you qualify for 

an exception to the electronic 

submission requirement, please refer to 

section IV. 7. Other Submission 

Requirements of this notice. 

We do not consider an application 

that does not comply with the deadline 

requirements. 

Individuals with disabilities who 

need an accommodation or auxiliary aid 

in connection with the application 

process should contact the person listed 

under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT in section VII of this notice. If 

the Department provides an 

accommodation or auxiliary aid to an 

individual with a disability in 

connection with the application 

process, the individual’s application 

remains subject to all other 

requirements and limitations in this 

notice. Deadline for Intergovernmental 

Review: May 14, 2012. 

4. Intergovernmental Review: This 

competition 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 

competition. 

5. Funding Restrictions: We reference 

regulations outlining funding 

restrictions in the Applicable 

Regulations section of this notice. 

6. Data Universal Numbering System 

Number, Taxpayer Identification 

Number, and Central Contractor 

Registry: To do business with the 

Department of Education, you must— 

a. Have a Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) number and a Taxpayer 

Identification Number (TIN); 

b. Register both your DUNS number 

and TIN with the Central Contractor 

Registry (CCR), the Government’s 

primary registrant database; 

c. Provide you DUNS number and TIN 

on your application; and 

d. Maintain an active CCR registration 

with current information while your 

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application is under review by the 

Department and, if you are awarded a 

grant, during the project period. 

You can obtain a DUNS number from 

Dun and Bradstreet. A DUNS number 

can be created within one business day. 

If you are a corporate entity, agency, 

institution, or organization, you can 

obtain a TIN from the Internal Revenue 

Service. If you are an individual, you 

can obtain a TIN from the Internal 

Revenue Service or the Social Security 

Administration. If you need a new TIN, 

please allow 2–5 weeks for your TIN to 

become active. 

The CCR registration process may take 

five or more business days to complete. 

If you are currently registered with the 

CCR, you may not need to make any 

changes. However, please make certain 

that the TIN associated with your DUNS 

number is correct. Also note that you 

will need to update your CCR 

registration on an annual basis. This 

may take three or more business days to 

complete. 

In addition, if you are submitting your 

application via Grants.gov, you must (1) 

be designated by your organization as an 

Authorized Organization Representative 

(AOR); and (2) register yourself with 

Grants.gov as an AOR. Details on these 

steps are outlined at the following 

Grants.gov Web page: www.grants.gov/ 

applicants/get_registered.jsp. 

7. Other Submission Requirements: 

Applications for grants under this 

competition must be submitted 

electronically unless you qualify for an 

exception to this requirement in 

accordance with the instructions in this 

section. 

a. Electronic Submission of 

Applications: 

Applications for grants under the HSI 

Program, CFDA Number 84.031S, must 

be submitted electronically using the 

Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site 

at www.Grants.gov. Through this site, 

you will be able to download a copy of 

the application package, complete it 

offline, and then upload and submit 

your application. You may not email an 

electronic copy of a grant application to 

us. 

We will reject your application if you 

submit it in paper format unless, as 

described elsewhere in this section, you 

qualify for one of the exceptions to the 

electronic submission requirement and 

submit, no later than two weeks before 

the application deadline date, a written 

statement to the Department that you 

qualify for one of these exceptions. 

Further information regarding 

calculation of the date that is two weeks 

before the application deadline date is 

provided later in this section under 

Exception to Electronic Submission 

Requirement. 

You may access the electronic grant 

application for Developing HispanicServing Institutions at www.Grants.gov. 

You must search for the downloadable 

application package for this program by 

the CFDA number. Do not include the 

CFDA number’s alpha suffix in your 

search (e.g., search for 84.031, not 

84.031S). 

Please note the following: 

• When you enter the Grants.gov site, 

you will find information about 

submitting an application electronically 

through the site, as well as the hours of 

operation. 

• Applications received by Grants.gov 

are date and time stamped. Your 

application must be fully uploaded and 

submitted and must be date and time 

stamped by the Grants.gov system no 

later than 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC 

time, on the application deadline date. 

Except as otherwise noted in this 

section, we will not accept your 

application if it is received—that is, date 

and time stamped by the Grants.gov 

system—after 4:30:00 p.m., Washington, 

DC time, on the application deadline 

date. We do not consider an application 

that does not comply with the deadline 

requirements. When we retrieve your 

application from Grants.gov, we will 

notify you if we are rejecting your 

application because it was date and time 

stamped by the Grants.gov system after 

4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on 

the application deadline date. 

• The amount of time it can take to 

upload an application will vary 

depending on a variety of factors, 

including the size of the application and 

the speed of your Internet connection. 

Therefore, we strongly recommend that 

you do not wait until the application 

deadline date to begin the submission 

process through Grants.gov. 

• You should review and follow the 

Education Submission Procedures for 

submitting an application through 

Grants.gov that are included in the 

application package for this competition 

to ensure that you submit your 

application in a timely manner to the 

Grants.gov system. You can also find the 

Education Submission Procedures 

pertaining to Grants.gov under News 

and Events on the Department’s G5 

system home page at http://www.G5.gov. 

• You will not receive additional 

point value because you submit your 

application in electronic format, nor 

will we penalize you if you qualify for 

an exception to the electronic 

submission requirement, as described 

elsewhere in this section, and submit 

your application in paper format. 

• You must submit all documents 

electronically, including all information 

you typically provide on the following 

forms: the Application for Federal 

Assistance (ED 424), the Department of 

Education Supplemental Information for 

SF 424, Budget Information—NonConstruction Programs (ED 524), and all 

necessary assurances and certifications. 

• You must upload any narrative 

sections and all other attachments to 

your application as files in a PDF 

(Portable Document) read-only, nonmodifiable format. Do not upload an 

interactive or fillable PDF file. If you 

upload a file type other than a readonly, non-modifiable PDF or submit a 

password-protected file, we will not 

review that material. 

• Your electronic application must 

comply with any page-limit 

requirements described in this notice. 

• After you electronically submit 

your application, you will receive from 

Grants.gov an automatic notification of 

receipt that contains a Grants.gov 

tracking number. (This notification 

indicates receipt by Grants.gov only, not 

receipt by the Department). The 

Department then will retrieve your 

application from Grants.gov and send a 

second notification to you by email. 

This second notification indicates that 

the Department has received your 

application and has assigned your 

application a PR/Award number (an EDspecified identifying number unique to 

your application). 

• We may request that you provide us 

original signatures on forms at a later 

date. 

Application Deadline Date Extension 

in Case of Technical Issues with the 

Grants.gov System: If you are 

experiencing problems submitting your 

application through Grants.gov, please 

contact the Grants.gov Support Desk, 

toll free, at 1–800–518–4726. You must 

obtain a Grants.gov Support Desk Case 

Number and must keep a record of it. 

If you are prevented from 

electronically submitting your 

application on the application deadline 

date because of technical problems with 

the Grants.gov system, we will grant you 

an extension until 4:30:00 p.m., 

Washington, DC time, the following 

business day to enable you to transmit 

your application electronically or by 

hand delivery. You also may mail your 

application by following the mailing 

instructions described elsewhere in this 

notice. 

If you submit an application after 

4:30:00 p.m., Washington, DC time, on 

the application deadline date, please 

contact the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in 

section VII of this notice and provide an 

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8232 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 14, 2012 / Notices 

explanation of the technical problem 

you experienced with Grants.gov, along 

with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case 

Number. We will accept your 

application if we can confirm that a 

technical problem occurred with the 

Grants.gov system and that that problem 

affected your ability to submit your 

application by 4:30:00 p.m., 

Washington, DC time, on the 

application deadline date. The 

Department will contact you after a 

determination is made on whether your 

application will be accepted. 

Note: The extensions to which we refer in 

this section apply only to the unavailability 

of, or technical problems with, the Grants.gov 

system. We will not grant you an extension 

if you failed to fully register to submit your 

application to Grants.gov before the 

application deadline date and time or if the 

technical problem you experienced is 

unrelated to the Grants.gov system. 

Exception to Electronic Submission 

Requirement: You qualify for an 

exception to the electronic submission 

requirement, and may submit your 

application in paper format, if you are 

unable to submit an application through 

the Grants.gov system because— 

• You do not have access to the 

Internet; or 

• You do not have the capacity to 

upload large documents to the 

Grants.gov system; and 

• No later than two weeks before the 

application deadline date (14 calendar 

days or, if the fourteenth calendar day 

before the application deadline date 

falls on a Federal holiday, the next 

business day following the Federal 

holiday), you mail or fax a written 

statement to the Department, explaining 

which of the two grounds for an 

exception prevent you from using the 

Internet to submit your application. 

If you mail your written statement to 

the Department, it must be postmarked 

no later than two weeks before the 

application deadline date. If you fax 

your written statement to the 

Department, we must receive the faxed 

statement no later than two weeks 

before the application deadline date. 

Address and mail or fax your 

statement to: Carnisia M. Proctor, U.S. 

Department of Education, 1990 K Street, 

NW., Room 6060, Washington, DC 

20006–8513. FAX: (202) 502–7861. 

Your paper application must be 

submitted in accordance with the mail 

or hand delivery instructions described 

in this notice. 

b. Submission of Paper Applications 

by Mail. 

If you qualify for an exception to the 

electronic submission requirement, you 

may mail (through the U.S. Postal 

Service or a commercial carrier) your 

application to the Department. You 

must mail the original and two copies 

of your application, 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 84.031S), LBJ Basement 

Level 1, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20202–4260. 

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. 

(4) Any other proof of mailing 

acceptable to the Secretary of the U.S. 

Department 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. 

(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: 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 qualify for an exception to 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 84.031S), 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. 

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 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number, 

including suffix letter, if any, of the 

competition under which you are submitting 

your application; and 

(2) The Application Control Center will 

mail to you a notification of receipt of your 

grant application. If you do not receive this 

notification 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. Selection Criteria: The selection 

criteria for this program are in 34 CFR 

606.22. In addition to these selection 

criteria, we evaluate an applicant’s 

performance under a previous 

development grant under 34 CFR 

606.24. 

2. Review and Selection Process: We 

remind potential applicants that in 

reviewing applications in any 

discretionary grant competition, the 

Secretary may consider, under 34 CFR 

75.217(d)(3), the past performance of the 

applicant in carrying out a previous 

award, such as the applicant’s use of 

funds, achievement of project 

objectives, and compliance with grant 

conditions. The Secretary may also 

consider whether the applicant failed to 

submit a timely performance report or 

submitted a report of unacceptable 

quality. 

In addition, in making a competitive 

grant award, the Secretary also requires 

various assurances including those 

applicable to Federal civil rights laws 

that prohibit discrimination in programs 

or activities receiving Federal financial 

assistance from the Department of 

Education (34 CFR 100.4, 104.5, 106.4, 

108.8, and 110.23). 

Additional factors we consider in 

selecting an application for an award are 

as follows: 

(A) Documentation of at least 25 

Percent Hispanic Undergraduate FTE 

students. Applicants must provide, as 

an attachment to the application, the 

documentation the IHE relied upon in 

determining that at least 25 percent of 

the IHE’s undergraduate FTE students 

are Hispanic. 

Note: The 25 percent requirement applies 

only to undergraduate Hispanic students and 

is calculated based upon FTE students as 

defined in section 502(a)(4) of the HEA. 

Instructions for formatting and submitting 

the verification documentation to Grants.gov 

are in the application package for this 

competition. 

(B) Tiebreaker for Development 

Grants. In tie-breaking situations for 

development grants described in 34 CFR 

606.23(b), the HSI Program regulations 

require that we award one additional 

point to an application from an IHE that 

has an endowment fund of which the 

current market value, per FTE enrolled 

student, is less than the average current 

market value of the endowment funds, 

per FTE enrolled student, at comparable 

institutions that offer similar 

instruction. We also award one 

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Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 14, 2012 / Notices 8233 

additional point to an application from 

an IHE that had expenditures for library 

materials per FTE enrolled student that 

are less than the average expenditures 

for library materials per FTE enrolled 

student at comparable institutions that 

offer similar instruction. 

For the purpose of these funding 

considerations, we use 2009–2010 data. 

If a tie remains after applying the 

tiebreaker mechanism above, priority 

will be given (a) for Individual 

Development Grants, to applicants that 

addressed the statutory priority found in 

section 521(d) of the HEA, as amended; 

and (b) for Cooperative Arrangement 

Development Grants, to applicants in 

accordance with section 524(b) of the 

HEA, under which the Secretary 

determines that the cooperative 

arrangement is geographically and 

economically sound or will benefit the 

applicant HSI. 

If a tie still remains after applying the 

additional point(s) and the relevant 

statutory priority, we will determine the 

ranking of applicants based on the 

lowest endowment values per FTE 

enrolled student. 

3. Special Conditions: Under 34 CFR 

74.14 and 80.12, the Secretary may 

impose special conditions on a grant if 

the applicant or grantee is not 

financially stable; has a history of 

unsatisfactory performance; has a 

financial or other management system 

that does not meet the standards in 34 

CFR parts 74 or 80, as applicable; has 

not fulfilled the conditions of a prior 

grant; or is otherwise not responsible. 

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 notify you informally, 

also. 

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. Reporting: (a) If you apply for a 

grant under this competition, you must 

ensure that you have in place the 

necessary processes and systems to 

comply with the reporting requirements 

in 2 CFR part 170 should you receive 

funding under the competition. This 

does not apply if you have an exception 

under 2 CFR 170.110(b). 

(b) 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 provides the most current 

performance and financial expenditure 

information as directed by the Secretary 

under 34 CFR 75.118. The Secretary 

may also require more frequent 

performance reports under 34 CFR 

75.720(c). For specific requirements on 

reporting, please go to www.ed.gov/ 

fund/grant/apply/appforms.html. 

4. Performance Measures: The 

Secretary has established the following 

key performance measures for assessing 

the effectiveness of the HSI program: 

1. The percentage change, over the 

five-year grant period, of the number of 

full-time degree-seeking undergraduate 

students enrolled at HSIs. 

2. The percentage of first-time, fulltime degree-seeking undergraduate 

students who were in their first year of 

postsecondary enrollment in the 

previous year and are enrolled in the 

current year at the same two-year 

Hispanic-serving institution. 

3. The percentage of first-time, fulltime degree-seeking undergraduate 

students who were in their first year of 

postsecondary enrollment in the 

previous year and are enrolled in the 

current year at the same four-year 

Hispanic-serving institution. 

4. The percentage of first-time, fulltime degree-seeking undergraduate 

students enrolled at four-year HSIs 

graduating within six years of 

enrollment. 

5. The percentage of first-time, fulltime degree-seeking undergraduate 

students enrolled at two-year HSIs 

graduating within three years of 

enrollment. 

6. Federal cost per undergraduate and 

graduate degree at institutions in the 

HSI Program. 

5. Continuation Awards: In making a 

continuation award, the Secretary may 

consider, under 34 CFR 75.253, the 

extent to which a grantee has made 

‘‘substantial progress toward meeting 

the objectives in its approved 

application.’’ This consideration 

includes review of a grantee’s progress 

in meeting the targets and projected 

outcomes in its approved application, 

and whether the grantee has expended 

funds in a manner that is consistent 

with its approved application and 

budget. In making a continuation grant, 

the Secretary also considers whether the 

grantee is operating in compliance with 

the assurances in its approved 

application, including those applicable 

to Federal civil rights laws that prohibit 

discrimination in programs or activities 

receiving Federal financial assistance 

from the Department (34 CFR 100.4, 

104.5, 106.4, 108.8, and 110.23). 

VII. Agency Contact 

For Further Information Contact: 

Carnisia M. Proctor, U.S. Department of 

Education, 1990 K Street, NW., Room 

6060, Washington, DC 20006–8513. 

Telephone: (202) 502–7606 or by email: 

Carnisia.Proctor@ed.gov. 

If you use a TDD or a TTY, call the 

FRS, toll free, at 1–800–877–8339. 

VIII. Other Information 

Accessible Format: Individuals with 

disabilities can obtain this document 

and a copy of the application package in 

an accessible format (e.g., braille, large 

print, audiotape, or compact disc) on 

request to the program contact person 

listed under For Further Information 

Contact in section VII of this notice. 

Electronic Access to This Document: 

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 via the Federal Digital System 

at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you 

can 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). To use PDF you must 

have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 

available free at this site. 

You may also access documents of the 

Department published in the Federal 

Register by using the article search 

feature at www.federalregister.gov. 

Specifically, through the advanced 

search feature at this site, you can limit 

your search to documents published by 

the Department. 

Dated: February 9, 2012. 

Eduardo M. Ochoa, 

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary 

Education. 

[FR Doc. 2012–3421 Filed 2–13–12; 8:45 am] 

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