# 34 CFR § 646.20: How does the Secretary decide which new grants to make?

> Federal · Regulations · In force

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.20

## Section

- **Citation:** 34 CFR § 646.20
- **Heading:** How does the Secretary decide which new grants to make?
- **Jurisdiction:** Federal
- **Kind:** Regulations
- **Status:** In force
- **Text as of:** September 22, 2026
- **Source:** Publisher's official text
- **Location:** Title 34—Education > Subtitle B—Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education > CHAPTER VI—OFFICE OF POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION > PART 646—STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROGRAM > Subpart C—How Does the Secretary Make a Grant?

## Text

(a) The Secretary evaluates an application for a new grant as follows:
(1)(i) The Secretary evaluates the application on the basis of the selection criteria in § 646.21.
(ii) The maximum score for all the criteria in § 646.21 is 100 points. The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in parentheses with the criterion.
(2)(i) If an application for a new grant proposes to continue to serve substantially the same population and campus that the applicant is serving under an expiring grant, the Secretary evaluates the applicant's prior experience of high quality service delivery under the expiring grant on the basis of the outcome criteria in § 646.22.
(ii) The maximum total score for all the criteria in § 646.22 is 15 points. The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in parentheses with the criterion.
(iii) The Secretary evaluates the PE of an applicant for each of the three project years that the Secretary designates in the Federal Register notice inviting applications and the other published application materials for the competition.
(iv) An applicant may earn up to 15 PE points for each of the designated project years for which annual performance report data are available.
(v) The final PE score is the average of the scores for the three project years assessed.
(b) The Secretary makes new grants in rank order on the basis of the applications' total scores under paragraphs (a)(1) and (a)(2) of this section.
(c) If the total scores of two or more applications are the same and there is insufficient money available to fully fund them both after funding the higher-ranked applications, the Secretary chooses among the tied applications so as to serve geographic areas that have been underserved by the Student Support Services Program.
(d) The Secretary does not make a new grant to an applicant if the applicant's prior project involved the fraudulent use of program funds.
(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1070a-11 and 1070a-14)
[61 FR 38537, July 24, 1996, as amended at 75 FR 65791, Oct. 26, 2010]

## Nearby sections

- [34 CFR § 646.1 § 646.1 What is the Student Support Services Program?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.1.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.2 § 646.2 Who is eligible to receive a grant?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.2.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.3 § 646.3 Who is eligible to participate in a Student Support Services project?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.3.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.4 § 646.4 What activities and services does a project provide?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.4.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.5 § 646.5 How long is a project period?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.5.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.6 § 646.6 What regulations apply?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.6.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.7 § 646.7 What definitions apply?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.7.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.10 § 646.10 How many applications may an eligible applicant submit and for what different populations may an eligible application be submitted?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.10.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.11 § 646.11 What assurances and other information must an applicant include in an application?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.11.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.20 § 646.20 How does the Secretary decide which new grants to make?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.20.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.21 § 646.21 What selection criteria does the Secretary use to evaluate an application?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.21.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.22 § 646.22 How does the Secretary evaluate prior experience?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.22.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.23 § 646.23 How does the Secretary set the amount of a grant?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.23.md)
- [34 CFR § 646.24 § 646.24 What is the review process for unsuccessful applicants?](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.24.md)

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/ecfr-34-646.20. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.