DOE Issues Guidelines for New USG Aid Programs

The Department of Education has issued eligibility guidelines for the two new federal aid programs approved by Congress earlier this year.

President Bush signed the legislation creating the Academic Competitiveness Grants and the National SMART Grants into law on February 8. The programs encourage students to pursue academically rigorous secondary school courses and to select college majors in math, science, and specified foreign languages.

Academic Competitveness Grants are available for the first two years of college. First-year college students can receive up to $750, and second-year students up to $1,300. The DOE guidelines for these grants state that for funding in the 2006-2007 academic year:

• Students must have completed a rigorous secondary school program of study as established by a state or local educational agency and recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.

• Students must be enrolled or accepted in a two- or four-year degree-granting institution of higher education.

• First-year students must not have been previously enrolled in a program of undergraduate education and must have graduated from high school after Jan. 1, 2006.

• Second-year students must have graduated from high school after Jan. 1, 2005, and have had at least a cumulative 3.0 grade-point average (GPA) during their first year of college.

National SMART Grants are available for the third and fourth years of college. Eligible students can receive up to $4,000. The DOE guidelines for these grants state that:

• Students must be enrolled in a four-year degree-granting institution of higher education.

• Students will be eligible if they are pursuing a major in mathematics, science (including physical, life, and computer sciences), technology, engineering, or a critical foreign language.

• Students must have at least a cumulative 3.0 GPA in college.

For more information about these grant programs, including information on how applicants can demonstrate that their secondary school met eligibility guidelines, go to the Department of Education's website (http://www.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/competitiveness/ac-smart.html).

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