Office of Postsecondary Education: Grant for Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program

Note: To demonstrate an enrollment of needy students and low average educational and general expenditures per FTE undergraduate student, an IHE must be designated as an “eligible institution” in accordance with 34 CFR 606.3 through 606.5 and the notice inviting applications for designation as an eligible institution for the fiscal year for which the grant competition is being conducted.

For purposes of establishing eligibility for this competition, the Notice Inviting Applications for Designation as Eligible Institution for FY 2012 was published in the Federal Register on December 15, 2011 (76 FR 77982). Only institutions that submitted the required application and received designation through this process are eligible to submit applications for this competition.
(c) Be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association that the Secretary has determined to be a reliable authority as to the quality of education or training offered, or making reasonable progress toward accreditation, according to such an agency or association (section 502(a)(2)(A)(iv) of the HEA; 20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(2)(A)(iv));
(d) Be legally authorized to provide, and provide within the State, an educational program for which the institution awards a bachelor’s degree (section 502(a)(2)(A)(iii) of the HEA or a junior or community college; 20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(2)(A)(iii)); and
(e) Have an enrollment of undergraduate FTE students that is at least 25 percent Hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application (section 502(a)(5)(B) of the HEA; 20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)(B)).

Please review the official application notice for pre-application and application requirements, application submission information, performance measures, priorities and program contact information.

The HSI Program provides grants to assist HSIs to expand educational opportunities for, and improve the academic attainment of, Hispanic students. The HSI Program grants also enable HSIs to expand and enhance their academic offerings, program quality, and institutional stability.

General Background

In 2008, the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) was amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEA). The HEOA made a number of changes to the HSI program. The regulations for the HSI Program in 34 part 606 have not been updated since before the HEA was amended by the HEOA. Therefore, we encourage applicants to carefully read this notice, which references the statutory provisions when the corresponding regulatory provisions for this program have not been updated.
For example, section 501 of the HEOA amended section 503(b) of the HEA to include, among the authorized activities under the HSI Program–
(1) Activities to improve student services, including innovative and customized instruction courses designed to help retain students and move the students into core courses;
(2) Articulation agreements and student support programs designed to facilitate the transfer of students from 2-year to 4-year institutions; and
(3) Providing education, counseling services, or financial information designed to improve the financial and economic literacy of students or their families.
(4) The list of authorized activities in section 503(b) of the HEA was also amended to use the term “distance education technologies” in place of “distance learning academic instruction capabilities.”
Therefore, notwithstanding the description of authorized activities in Sec. 606.10, applicants may include these activities in their proposals under this competition.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.031S.

Applications for grants under the HSI Program, CFDA Number 84.031S, must be submitted electronically using the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at www.Grants.gov. Through this site, you will be able to download a copy of the application package, complete it offline, and then upload and submit your application. You may not email an electronic copy of a grant application to us.
You may access the electronic grant application for Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions at www.Grants.gov. You must search for the downloadable application package for this program by the CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA number’s alpha suffix in your search
(e.g., search for 84.031, not 84.031S).