Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies
Program Funding
Annual program obligations reported to SAM.gov.
Funded Projects
Examples of what this program has supported.
Program Objective
To help local educational agencies (LEAs) improve teaching and learning in high-poverty schools in particular for children failing, or most at-risk of failing, to meet challenging State academic standards.
Eligibility
Eligible Applicants
- State
SEAs including for the Outlying Areas and the Secretary of the Interior. Local educational agencies (LEAs) and Indian tribal schools are subgrantees.
Beneficiaries
- 4
In a targeted assistance program, children who are failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet challenging State academic standards. In a schoolwide program, all children in the school.
How to Apply
Application Procedure
2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. SEAs apply for funds as part of Title I, Part A, State plans submitted to the Department of Education in accordance with Section 1111 of the ESEA or as part of a consolidated State plan submitted under Section 8302 of the ESEA. The plan remains in effect for the duration of the SEA's participation in Title I, Part A, but must be updated to reflect substantive changes. Participating LEAs must file an approved plan with their SEAs.
Award Procedure
The Department of Education (ED) makes grants through SEAs to LEAs using four statutory formulas based primarily on Census Bureau estimates of the number of children from low-income families in each LEA and State per pupil expenditures.
Program details & compliance
Use of Funds
Allowed Uses
Use of funds varies, depending on whether a school is operating a schoolwide program under Section 1114 of the ESEA or a targeted assistance program under Section 1115 of the ESEA. A school with at least a 40 percent poverty rate may choose to operate a schoolwide program under Section 1114, which allows Title I funds to be combined with other Federal, State, and local funds to upgrade the school's overall instructional program in order to raise the achievement of the lowest-achieving students; a school that does not meet the 40 percent poverty threshold may also operate a schoolwide program if it receives a waiver to do so from the State educational agency (SEA). All other participating schools must operate a targeted assistance program, which provides extra instruction to those children failing, or most at risk of failing, to meet challenging State academic standards. Title I funds must be used only to supplement the State and local funds that would, in the absence of Title I funds, be made available for the education of participating students, and not to supplant such funds. This program is subject to non-supplanting requirements and must use a restricted indirect cost rate which is referenced under 34 CFR 76.564-76.569. For assistance call the Office of the Chief Financial Officer/Indirect Cost Group on (202) 708-7770.
Required Documentation
2 C.F.R. Part 225 formerly
Reporting & Compliance
Applicable 2 CFR 200 Subparts
- Subpart B — General Provisions
- Subpart C — Pre-Federal Award Requirements
- Subpart D — Post-Federal Award Requirements
- Subpart E — Cost Principles
- Subpart F — Audit Requirements
Formula
Title I, Part A funds are allocated through four separate formulas. All four formulas are based on the number of children from low-income backgrounds in each LEA, and each formula also includes such factors as the LEA’s poverty rate and State per-pupil expenditures for education. Other children counted for allocation purposes (“formula children”) include children in families above the poverty line receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (the main Federal-State income maintenance program), children in foster homes, and children in local institutions for neglected and delinquent (N&D) children. Eligible LEAs receive funding under one or more of the formulas, but the final outcome of the Federal-State allocation process is a single Title I, Part A award to each qualifying LEA.
Three formulas are based primarily on the number of formula children in each LEA, weighted by State per-pupil expenditures for education. Basic Grants are awarded to school districts with at least 10 formula children who make up more than 2 percent of their school-age population (defined as children ages 5 to 17) and, thus, spread funds thinly across nearly all LEAs. Concentration Grants provide additional funds to LEAs in which the number of formula children exceeds 6,500 or 15 percent of the total school-age population. The Targeted Grants formula weights child counts to make higher payments to school districts with high numbers or percentages of formula students. To be eligible for Targeted Grants, an LEA must have at least 10 formula children counted for Basic Grant purposes, and the count of formula children must equal at least 5 percent of the school age population.
The Education Finance Incentive Grants (EFIG) formula uses State-level “equity” and “effort” factors to make allocations to States that are intended to encourage States to spend more on education and to improve the equity of State funding systems. Once State allocations are determined, sub-allocations to the LEA level are based on a modified version of the Targeted Grants formula.