3620 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 15 / Friday, January 23, 1998 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No. 84.031]

Strengthening Institutions Programs;

Notice Inviting Applications for New

Awards for Fiscal Year 1998

Purpose of Program: Provide grants to

eligible institutions of higher education

to improve their academic quality,

institutional management, and fiscal

stability in order to increase their selfsufficiency.

This grant program should be seen as

an opportunity for applicants to support

those elements of the National

Education Goals that are relevant to

their unique missions.

Deadline for Transmittal of

Applications: March 17, 1998.

Deadline for Intergovernmental

Review: April 9, 1998.

Applications Available: Applications

will be mailed by January 26, 1998 to

the office of the president of all

institutions that will receive an

application to be designated as an

eligible institution under the

Strengthening Institutions Program.

Available Funds: $17,000,000.

Estimated Range of Awards: $327,000

to $350,000 per year for five-year

development grants; $30,000 to $35,000

for one-year planning grants.

Estimated Average Size of Awards:

$338,500 per year for five-year

development grants; $32,500 for one

year planning grants.

Estimated Number of Awards: 48

development grants; 14 planning grants.

Project Period: 60 months for

development grants; 12 months for

planning grants.

Note: The Department is not bound by any

estimates in this notice.

Special Funding Considerations: In

tie-breaking situations described in 34

CFR 607.23 of the Strengthening

Institutions program regulations, the

Secretary awards one additional point

under § 607.23 to an application from an

institution that has an endowment fund

for which the current market value, per

full-time equivalent (FTE) student, is

less than the average, per FTE student,

at similar type institutions; and one

additional point to an application from

an institution that has expenditures for

library materials, per FTE student, that

are less than the average, per FTE

student, at similar type institutions.

For the purposes of these funding

considerations, an applicant must be

able to demonstrate that the current

market value of its endowment fund,

per FTE student, or expenditures for

library materials, per FTE student, is

less than the following national average

for base year 1995–96:

Average

market

value of endowment

fund, per

FTE

Average library expenditures

for materials, per

FTE

Two-year Public

Institutions ..... $1,332 $45

Two-year Nonprofit, Private

Institutions ..... 11,567 121

Four-year Public

Institutions ..... 2,829 165

Four-year Nonprofit Private

Institutions ..... 42,579 254

If a tie still remains after applying the

above, the Secretary determines that

institutions will receive an award

according to a combined ranking of two

year-and four-year institutions. The

ranking is established by awarding

points for combined FTE averages of

library expenditures and endowment

values by similar type institutions.

Institutions whose combined FTE

averages of library expenditures and

endowment values are the lowest are

ranked higher in strict numerical order.

Applicable Regulations: (a) The

Department of Education General

Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in

34 CFR Parts 74, 75, 77, 79, 82, 85, and

86; and (b) the regulations for this

program in 34 CFR Part 607.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Please

note that 34 CFR 607.9(b)(2), (3) and (4)

have been superseded by § 313(a) of the

Higher Education Act of 1965, as

amended (HEA). Accordingly, please

disregard those sections, which are

found in appendix VI of the application.

In making awards for fiscal year 1998,

the Secretary will give priority for grants

to the highest ranked applicants who are

not or were not recipients of an

individual Strengthening Institutions

Program development grant on or after

October 1, 1997. While institutions that

are or were recipients of individual

Strengthening Institutions Program

development grants on or after October

1, 1997 may submit applications if they

wish, those applications will be

reviewed only if funds are available

after all priority applications are

funded. The Secretary does not

anticipate having any funds available

after all priority applications are

funded.

In § 312 of the FY 1998 appropriation

bill, Congress authorized the use of up

to 20% of grant funds awarded to an

institution under the Part AStrengthening Program for endowment

building. Any institution seeking to use

Part A funds for endowment building

purposes shall indicate that intention in

its application and shall abide by the

departmental regulations in 34 CFR Part

628 governing the Endowment

Challenge Grant program. Only

institutions requesting and competing

successfully for new individual

development grants in Fiscal Year 1998

may use up to 20% of the funds for

endowment building; non-competing

continuation grantees are not eligible for

endowment building.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Blanca Westgate, U.S. Department of

Education, 600 Independence Avenue,

SW, Portals Building, Suite CY–80,

Washington, D.C. 20202–5335.

Telephone: (202) 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://gcs.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.

Anyone may also view these

documents in text copy only on an

electronic bulletin board of the

Department. Telephone (202)219–1511

or, toll free, 1–800–222–4922. The

documents are located under Option GFiles/Announcements, Bulletins and

Press Releases.

Note: The official version of a document is

the document published in the Federal

Register.

Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1057.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 15 / Friday, January 23, 1998 / Notices 3621

Dated: January 16, 1998.

David A. Longanecker,

Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary

Education.

[FR Doc. 98–1560 Filed 1–22–98; 8:45 am]

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