Member Advisory - May 14, 2008

College Cost Reduction and Access Act grant application available

The U.S. Department of Education (DoEd) has published the application for the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) grant program for HSIs in the Federal Register. Click here to view the announcement and application. 

The CCRAA-HSI legislation proposes to award $200 million to HSIs during FY 2008 and 2009. Funds will be awarded to proposals that address science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) education and articulation programs.

These funds represent the single largest competition for HSIs since they were officially recognized under federal statute in 1992.  The DoEd will award approximately 100 two-year grants to HSIs under CCRAA.  (There will not be another competition in 2009.)  The DoEd estimates individual grant awards of approximately $862,000 per year and cooperative grant awards of $1.2 million per year. 

The legislative language defines the intent of the grants:
(i) to increase the number of Hispanic and other low income students attaining degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics; and
(ii) to develop model transfer and articulation agreements between 2-year Hispanic-serving institutions and 4-year institutions in such fields.

The application deadline is June 27, 2008. HSIs interested in applying for a grant under CCRAA-HSIs should have also submitted their application for basic HSI eligibility requirement, which -- as noted in HACU’s Member Advisory of March 13 -- was due to the DoEd on April 9, 2008, to be considered for this funding opportunity. Proposals from institutions that have not applied for (and received) basic eligibility this year will not be considered.

See "Presentations" section to view the DoEd power point presentation used during the technical assistance workshops on the CCRAA competition, click here. 

HACU Member Advisories are a service of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities.