Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1998

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 1998)]

[Notices]

[Pages 7636-7637]

From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[FR Doc No: 98-3762]

[[Page 7635]]

_______________________________________________________________________

Part VIII

Department of Education

_______________________________________________________________________

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

_______________________________________________________________________

Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program; Notice Inviting Applications

for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1998; Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 30 / Friday, February 13, 1998 /

Notices

[[Page 7636]]

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[CFDA No.: 84.330]

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program; Notice Inviting

Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 1998

Summary

The Secretary invites applications for new awards for FY 1998 under

the Advanced Placement Fee Payment discretionary grant program and

announces deadline dates for the transmittal of applications for

funding under the program.

Purpose of Program

The primary purpose of the Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program

is to enable States to reimburse part or all of the cost of advanced

placement test fees for low-income individuals who (1) are enrolled in

an advanced placement class; and (2) plan to take an advanced placement

test. This program is authorized by section 1545 of the Higher

Education Amendments of 1992, 20 U.S.C. 1070a-11, note.

Who May Apply

State educational agencies (SEAs) in any State, including the

District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin

Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the

former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: March 20, 1998.

Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: April 10, 1998. The 60-day

period for intergovernmental review has been waived.

Applications Available: February 13, 1998.

Available Funds: $3,000,000.

Estimated Range of Awards: $1,000 to $400,000.

Estimated Average Size of Awards: $50,000.

Estimated Number of Awards: 57.

*Note: These estimates are projections for the guidance of

potential applicants. The Department is not bound by any estimates

in this notice.

Project Period

Up to 15 months. States receiving grants under this program may use

the funds to reimburse eligible individuals for advanced placement

tests taken in FY 1998, FY 1999, or both.

Requirements for Approval of Applications

In order to receive funding under this program, an SEA must submit

to the Department an application that contains the following:

(a) A description of the advanced placement test fees the State

will pay on behalf of individual students, including the approximate

number of students on whose behalf the State will pay these fees and

the approximate date the State expects each student to take the

advanced placement exam;

(b) A description of the method by which eligible low-income

individuals will be identified, and the steps the State will take to

ensure that any students receiving payments under this program are

eligible for such payments;

(c) A description of the State's plan to disseminate information on

the availability of test fee payments to eligible individuals through

secondary school teachers and guidance counselors;

(d) A description of the State's plan to evaluate the effectiveness

of the program;

(e) An assurance that any funds received under this program will

only be used to pay advanced placement test fees for qualifying low-

income individuals;

(f) An assurance that the State will document the eligibility of

each individual on whose behalf the State pays part or all of an

advanced placement test fee in accordance with section 402A(e) of the

Higher Education Act of 1965; and

(g) An assurance that funds provided under this program will be

used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, local, or

private funds available to assist low-income individuals in paying for

advanced placement testing.

Allowable Activities

States receiving grants under this program may use the grant funds

only to pay advanced placement test fees. The Department encourages

States to undertake activities to increase the participation of low-

income students in advanced placement classes and testing, but grant

funds may not be used for this purpose.

Allocation of Funds

The Department intends to fund all applications meeting the

requirements for approval of applications previously described in this

notice. In determining the amount of grant funds to be allocated to

each State, the Department will rely on the U.S. Census Bureau count of

poor children ages 5-17 that is used for allocations under Title I,

Part A, of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20

U.S.C. 6311-6338. The Department will also consider the State's

description of the advanced placement test fees it intends to pay, and

whether those fees are reasonable and allowable. The application

package will provide each State with an estimate of the approximate

amount of grant funds it can expect to receive if all States

participate in the program. In the event that all States do not

participate in the program, the Department will reallocate the funds

that would have been awarded to the non-participating States to States

whose applications have been approved.

Waiver of Rulemaking

Because the Department intends to fund all applications meeting the

requirements for approval of applications described in this notice,

Department regulations governing the selection of new discretionary

grant projects, codified at 34 CFR 75.200-75.222, will not apply to

this program. While it is generally the practice of the Secretary to

offer interested parties the opportunity to comment on such a

regulation before it is implemented, section 437(d) of the General

Education Provisions Act exempts from formal rulemaking requirements

regulations governing the first grant competition under a new or

substantially revised program authority (20 U.S.C. 1232(d)(1)). In

order to make awards on a timely basis, the Secretary has decided to

publish this regulation in final under the authority of section 437(d).

Applicable Statute and Regulations

Title XV, Part G, of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, 20

U.S.C. 1070a-11, note. The Education Department General Administrative

Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR Parts 75 (except 75.200-75.222), 76, 77,

79, 80, 81, 82, 85, and 86.

The following definitions and other provisions are taken from the

Advanced Placement Fee Payment Program statute, in Title XV, Part G, of

the Higher Education Amendments of 1992. They are repeated in this

application notice for the convenience of the applicant.

Definitions

As used in this section:

(a) The term advanced placement test includes only an advanced

placement test approved by the Secretary of Education for the purposes

of this section.

(b) The term ``low-income individual'' has the meaning given the

term in

[[Page 7637]]

section 402A(g)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

*Note: Under section 402A(g)(2) of the Higher Education Act of

1965, the term low-income individual means an individual from a

family whose taxable income for the preceding year did not exceed

150 percent of an amount equal to the poverty level determined by

using criteria of poverty established by the Bureau of the Census

(20 U.S.C. 1070a-11(g)(2)).

Information Dissemination

The SEA shall disseminate information on the availability of test

fee payments under this program to eligible individuals through

secondary school teachers and guidance counselors.

Supplementation of Funding

Funds provided under this program must be used to supplement and

not supplant other Federal, State, and local or private funds available

to assist low-income individuals in paying for advanced placement

testing.

For Applications or Information Contact: Frank B. Robinson, U.S.

Department of Education, School Improvement Programs, Portals Building,

Room 4500, Washington, D.C. 20202-6140. Telephone (202) 260-2669.

Internet address: [email protected]. 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, audiotape, or computer

diskette) upon 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.

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

G--Files/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. 1070a-11, note.

Dated: February 10, 1998.

Gerald N. Tirozzi,

Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.

[FR Doc. 98-3762 Filed 2-12-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000-01-P