MEMBER ADVISORY

Nov. 20, 2015

U.S. Department of Education Notice: New process for Title V eligibility designation

The U.S. Department of Education has published in the Federal Register an important notice announcing a change in the process for designation of eligible institutions for Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) grants for fiscal year (FY) 2016 programs under Title V Parts A (the undergraduate HSI program) and B (the graduate HSI program) and Title III Part F (the HSI STEM and articulation program) of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The same changes apply to other Title III minority-serving institution programs.

For Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to be eligible for grant programs under Title III and V of the HEA, they have had to apply for designation as an eligible college or university.

The Department of Education is now instituting a process known as the Eligibility Matrix (EM) that will use enrollment and fiscal data for the 2013-2014 academic year submitted by institutions to IPEDS to make eligibility determinations for FY 2016. Beginning Dec. 1, 2015, an institution will be able to review the Department's decision on whether it is eligible for Title III or Title V grant programs through this process by examining its entry in the EM linked through the Department's Institutional Service Eligibility Web site at: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/eligibility.html. The full text of the Federal Register notice and the application related information can be found here.

HACU urges current HSIs and institutions who have recently met the 25 percent Hispanic enrollment criterion to take advantage of this process and check their entry on the Eligibility Matrix. The previous application process allows institutions to appeal any errors on the Matrix list. The deadline for that application is Jan. 4, 2016.

A new competition for five-year Title III Part F, HSI STEM and Articulation grants, is expected in late winter 2016. This is the last and only HSI STEM grant competition expected under current authorizations. HSIs must be designated eligible through this new process in order to apply.

Please contact HACU government relations staff at 202-833-8361 or at DCGR@hacu.net if you have any questions.

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