Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview Information; Advanced Placement (AP) Test Fee Program; Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, 63778-63781 [E7-22051]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 217 (Friday, November 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63778-63781]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-22051]



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Part V





Department of Education





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Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview Information; 
Advanced Placement (AP) Test Fee Program; Notice Inviting Applications 
for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008; Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 217 / Friday, November 9, 2007 / 
Notices

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION


Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview 
Information; Advanced Placement (AP) Test Fee Program; Notice Inviting 
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008

    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.330B.
    Dates:
    Applications Available: November 9, 2007.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: December 28, 2007.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: February 26, 2008.

I. Funding Opportunity Description

    Purpose of Program: The AP Test Fee Program awards grants to 
eligible State educational agencies (SEAs) to enable them to pay all or 
a portion of advanced placement test fees on behalf of eligible low-
income students who (1) are enrolled in an advanced placement course 
and (2) plan to take an advanced placement exam. The program is 
designed to increase the number of low-income students who take 
advanced placement tests and receive scores for which college academic 
credit is awarded.
    Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6531-6537.
    Applicable Regulations: The Education Department General 
Administration Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 
82, 84, 85, 97, 98, and 99.

    Note: The regulations in 34 CFR part 79 apply to all applicants 
except federally recognized Indian tribes.

II. Award Information

    Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
    Estimated Available Funds: The Administration has requested 
$122,175,000 for the AP Test Fee and Advanced Placement Incentive (API) 
programs for FY 2008, of which we intend to use an estimated $12 
million for this program. The remaining funds would support API grants. 
The actual level of funding, if any, depends on final congressional 
action. However, we are inviting applications to allow enough time to 
complete the grant process if Congress appropriates funds for this 
program.
    Estimated Range of Awards: $15,000--$500,000.
    Estimated Average Size of Awards: $315,789.
    Estimated Number of Awards: 38.

    Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this 
notice.

    Project Period: Up to 12 months.

III. Eligibility Information

    1. Eligible Applicants: SEAs in any State, including the District 
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, and the freely associated states of the Republic of the 
Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic 
of Palau (subject to continued eligibility).

    Note: For purposes of this program, the Bureau of Indian 
Education is treated as an SEA.

    2. a. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not require cost 
sharing or matching.
    b. Supplement-Not-Supplant: This program involves supplement-not-
supplant funding requirements. Section 1706 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind 
Act of 2001, requires that grant funds provided under the AP Test Fee 
program supplement, and not supplant, other non-Federal funds that are 
available to assist low-income individuals in paying for the cost of 
advanced placement test fees.
    3. Other: Current grantees under this program that expect to have 
sufficient carryover funds to cover school year 2007-2008 advanced 
placement exam fees for eligible low-income students should not apply 
for a new award under this program.

IV. Application and Submission Information

    1. Address to Request Application Package: To obtain a copy of the 
application package via the Internet use the following address: https://
www.ed.gov/programs/apfee/applicant.html.
    Individuals can also obtain a copy of the application package by 
contacting the program contact person listed in this section.
    Address and mail your request for information to: Kristie Barber, 
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW., room 3W253, 
Washington, DC 20202-6200. Telephone: (202) 260-3169 or by e-mail: 
Kristina.Barber@ed.gov.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
    Individuals with disabilities can obtain a copy of the application 
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, 
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program person 
listed in this section.
    2. Content and Form Application Submission: Requirements concerning 
the content of an application, together with the forms you must submit, 
are in the application package for this program.
    3. Submission Dates and Times:
    Applications Available: November 9, 2007.
    Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: December 28, 2007.
    Applications for grants under this program must be submitted 
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For 
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your 
application electronically, or in paper format by mail or hand delivery 
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, please refer to section IV. 6. Other Submission 
Requirements in this notice.
    We do not consider an application that does not comply with the 
deadline requirements.
    Individuals with disabilities who need an accommodation or 
auxiliary aid in connection with the application process should contact 
the person listed under For Further Information Contact in section VII 
in this notice. If the Department provides an accommodation or 
auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability in connection with the 
application process, the individual's application remains subject to 
all other requirements and limitations in this notice.
    Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: February 26, 2008.
    4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive 
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about 
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order 
12372 is in the application package for this program.
    5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding 
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section in this notice.
    6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under 
this program must be submitted electronically unless you qualify for an 
exception to this requirement in accordance with the instructions in 
this section.
    a. Electronic Submission of Applications.
    Applications for grants under the Advanced Placement Test Fee 
Program, CFDA Number 84.330B, must be submitted electronically using 
the Governmentwide Grants.gov Apply site at https://www.Grants.gov 
Through this

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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 e-mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us.
    We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format 
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of 
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no 
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written 
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these 
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that 
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in 
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
    You may access the electronic grant application for AP Test Fee 
Program at https://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 84.330, 
not 84.330B).
    Please note the following:
     When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find 
information about submitting an application electronically through the 
site, as well as the hours of operation.
     Applications received by Grants.gov are date and time 
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted and must 
be date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30 
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as 
otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your application 
if it is date and time stamped by the Grants.gov system later than 4:30 
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. When we 
retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are 
rejecting your application because it was date and time stamped by the 
Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the 
application deadline date.
     The amount of time it can take to upload an application 
will vary depending on a variety of factors, including the size of the 
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we 
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline 
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
     You should review and follow the Education Submission 
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are 
included in the application package for this program to ensure that you 
submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov system. 
You can also find the Education Submission Procedures pertaining to 
Grants.gov at https://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/
GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
     To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must 
complete all steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see https://
www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp). These steps include (1) 
registering your organization, a multi-part process that includes 
registration with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR); (2) 
registering yourself as an Authorized Organization Representative 
(AOR); and (3) getting authorized as an AOR by your organization. 
Details on these steps are outlined in the Grants.gov 3-Step 
Registration Guide (see https://www.grants.gov/section910/
Grants.govRegistrationBrochure.pdf). You also must provide on your 
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please 
note that the registration process may take five or more business days 
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to 
allow you to submit successfully an application via Grants.gov. In 
addition you will need to update your CCR registration on an annual 
basis. This may take three or more business days to complete.
     You will not receive additional point value because you 
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you 
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your 
application in paper format.
     You must submit all documents electronically, including 
all information you typically provide on the following forms: 
Application for Federal Assistance (SF 424), the Department of 
Education Supplemental Information for SF 424, Budget Information--Non-
Construction Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and 
certifications. Please note that two of these forms--the SF 424 and the 
Department of Education Supplemental Information for SF 424--have 
replaced the ED 424 (Application for Federal Education Assistance).
     You must attach any narrative sections of your application 
as files in a .DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable 
Document) format. If you upload a file type other than the three file 
types specified in this paragraph or submit a password-protected file, 
we will not review that material.
     Your electronic application must comply with any page-
limit requirements described in this notice.
     After you electronically submit your application, you will 
receive from Grants.gov an automatic notification of receipt that 
contains a Grants.gov tracking number. (This notification indicates 
receipt by Grants.gov only, not receipt by the Department.) The 
Department then will retrieve your application from Grants.gov and send 
a second notification to you by e-mail. This second notification 
indicates that the Department has received your application and has 
assigned your application a PR/Award number (an ED-specified 
identifying number unique to your application).
     We may request that you provide us original signatures on 
forms at a later date.
    Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues 
with the Grants.gov System: If you are experiencing problems submitting 
your application through Grants.gov, please contact the Grants.gov 
Support Desk, toll free, at 1-800-518-4726. You must obtain a 
Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number and must keep a record of it.
    If you are prevented from electronically submitting your 
application on the application deadline date because of technical 
problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an extension 
until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business day to 
enable you to transmit your application electronically or by hand 
delivery. You also may mail your application by following the mailing 
instructions described elsewhere in this notice.
    If you submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date, please contact the person listed 
under For Further Information Contact in section VII in this notice and 
provide an explanation of the technical problem you experienced with 
Grants.gov, along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number. We will 
accept your application if we can confirm that a technical problem 
occurred with the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your 
ability to submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, 
on the application deadline date. The Department will contact you after 
a determination is made on whether your application will be accepted.

    Note: The extensions to which we refer in this section apply 
only to the unavailability of, or technical problems with, the 
Grants.gov system. We will not grant you an extension if you failed 
to fully register to submit your application to Grants.gov before 
the application deadline date and time or if the

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technical problem you experienced is unrelated to the Grants.gov 
system.

    Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an 
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your 
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application 
through the Grants.gov system because--
     You do not have access to the Internet; or
     You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to 
the Grants.gov system;
     and
     No later than two weeks before the application deadline 
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the 
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business 
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement 
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception 
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application.
    If you mail your written statement to the Department, it must be 
postmarked no later than two weeks before the application deadline 
date. If you fax your written statement to the Department, we must 
receive the faxed statement no later than two weeks before the 
application deadline date.
    Address and mail or fax your statement to: Kristie Barber, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3W253, 
Washington, DC 20202-6200. FAX: (202) 205-4921.
    Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the 
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
    b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail.
    If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, you may mail (through the U.S. Postal Service or a 
commercial carrier) your application to the Department. You must mail 
the original and two copies of your application, on or before the 
application deadline date, to the Department at the applicable 
following address:
    By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of 
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 
84.330B), 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260
     or
    By mail through a commercial carrier:
    U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, Stop 
4260, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.330B), 7100 Old Landover Road, 
Landover, MD 20785-1506.
    Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing 
consisting of one of the following:
    (1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark.
    (2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the 
U.S. Postal Service.
    (3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial 
carrier.
    (4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the 
U.S. Department of Education.
    If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do 
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
    (1) A private metered postmark.
    (2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
    If your application is postmarked after the application deadline 
date, we will not consider your application.

    Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated 
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your 
local post office.

    c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery.
    If you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission 
requirement, you (or a courier service) may deliver your paper 
application to the Department by hand.
    You must deliver the original and two copies of your application by 
hand, on or before the application deadline date, to the Department at 
the following address:
    U.S. Department of Education, Application Control Center, 
Attention: (CFDA Number 84.330B), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, 
Potomac Center Plaza, Washington, DC 20202-4260.

The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily between 8 
a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays, Sundays, and 
Federal holidays.

    Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you 
mail or hand deliver your application to the Department--
    (1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by 
the Department--in Item 11 of the SF 424 the CFDA number, including 
suffix letter, if any, of the program under which you are submitting 
your application; and
    (2) The Application Control Center will mail to you a 
notification of receipt of your grant application. If you do not 
receive this notification within 15 business days from the 
application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of 
Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.

V. Application Review Information

    The Department intends to fund, at some level, all applications 
that meet the minimum Requirements for Approval of Application as 
described in the application package for this program and that 
demonstrate need for new or additional funds to pay advanced placement 
exam fees on behalf of low-income students for school year 2007-2008.
    Also, in determining whether to approve an application for a new 
award (including the amount of the award) from an applicant with a 
current grant under this program, the Department will consider the 
amount of any carryover funds under the existing grant.

VI. Award Administration Information

    1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your 
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award Notice 
(GAN). We may notify you informally, also.
    If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding, 
we notify you.
    2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify 
administrative and national policy requirements in the application 
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable 
Regulations section in this notice.
    We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of 
an award in the Applicable Regulations section in this notice and 
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also 
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding 
commitments under the grant.
    3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a 
final performance report, including financial information, as directed 
by the Secretary. The Secretary may also require more frequent 
performance reports under 34 CFR 75.720(c). For specific requirements 
on reporting, please go to https://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/apply/appforms/
appforms.html.
    4. Performance Measures: Under the Government Performance and 
Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), the Department has developed five 
performance measures to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the AP 
Test Fee and API programs: (1) The number of advanced placement tests 
taken by low-income public school students nationally; (2) The number 
of advanced placement tests taken by minority (Hispanic, Black, Native 
American) public school students nationally; (3) The percentage of 
advanced placement tests passed (for AP exams, receiving scores of 3-5) 
by low-income public school students nationally; (4) The number of 
advanced placement tests passed (for AP exams, receiving scores of 3-5) 
by low-income public school students nationally; and

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(5) The cost per passage of an advanced placement test taken by a low-
income public student. The information provided by grantees in their 
final performance reports will be one of the sources of data for this 
measure. Other sources of data include the College Board and 
International Baccalaureate North America.

VII. Agency Contact

    For Further Information Contact: Kristie Barber, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3W253, Washington, DC 20202-
6200. Telephone: (202) 260-3169 or by e-mail: kristina.barber@ed.gov.
    If you use a TDD, call the FRS, toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.

VIII. Other Information

    Alternative Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document and a copy of the application package in an alternative format 
(e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette) on 
request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII in this notice. Electronic Access to 
This Document: You can view this document, as well as all other 
documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text 
or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the Internet at the 
following site: https://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
    To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S. 
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in 
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: https://www.gpoaccess.gov/
nara/.


    Dated: November 6, 2007.
Kerri L. Briggs,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. E7-22051 Filed 11-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P