Assistance to Tribally Controlled Community Colleges and Universities
Published on AidPage by
IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005
Purpose of this program:
To provide grants for the operation and improvement of tribally controlled community colleges to insure continued and expanded educational opportunities for Indian students, and to allow for the improvement and expansion of the physical resources of such institutions.
Possible uses and use restrictions...
Funds must not be used in connection with religious worship or sectarian instruction. Funds may be used for the general operating costs of the Tribally Controlled Community College to defray, at the determination of the College, expenditures for academic, educational and administrative purposes and for the operation and maintenance of the College.
Who is eligible to apply...
Colleges sponsored by Federally Recognized Indian Tribes or tribal organizations which are governed by a board of directors, are in operation more than one year, admit students with a certificate of graduation from a secondary institution or equivalent, provide certificates, associate, baccalaureate and graduate degrees, are nonprofit and nonsectarian.
Credentials/Documentation
Written evidence of approval of the application by the governing body of one or more Indian tribes of the students served by or to be served by the college. "Tribal governing body" means the tribal governing body or tribal governing bodies that represent at least 90 percent of the students served by such school.
Note:This is a brief description of the credentials or documentation required prior to, or along with, an application for assistance.
About this section:
This section indicates who can apply to the Federal government for assistance and the criteria the potential applicant must satisfy.
For example, individuals may be eligible for research grants, and the criteria to be satisfied may be that they have a professional or scientific degree,
3 years of research experience, and be a citizen of the United States. Universities, medical schools, hospitals, or State and local governments may also be eligible.
Where State governments are eligible, the type of State agency will be indicated (State welfare agency or State agency on aging) and the criteria that they
must satisfy.
Certain federal programs (e.g., the Pell Grant program which provides grants to students) involve intermediate levels of application processing, i.e., applications
are transmitted through colleges or universities that are neither the direct applicant nor the ultimate beneficiary. For these programs,
the criteria that the intermediaries must satisfy are also indicated, along with intermediaries who are not eligible.
How to apply...
Application Procedure:
The organization should submit written evidence of approval of the application by the governing body of one or more Indian tribes of the students served by or to be served by the college to the Director, Office of Indian Education.
Note: Each program will indicate whether applications are to be submitted to the Federal headquarters, regional or local office, or to a State or local government office.
Award Procedure:
After receiving approval of the application by the governing body or governing bodies, the Director will designate a study team to determine whether there is justification to encourage maintaining a college.
Note: Grant payments may be made by a letter of credit, advance by Treasury check, or reimbursement by Treasury check.
Awards may be made by the headquarters office directly to the applicant, an agency field office, a regional office,
or by an authorized county office. The assistance may pass through the initial applicant for further distribution by
intermediate level applicants to groups or individuals in the private sector.
Deadlines and process...
Deadlines
Colleges must submit the tribe's approval of the application by March 1 of the fiscal year preceding the year in which they wish to be eligible for funding. Evidence that all administrative systems are in place such as accounting, personnel and property must be submitted by July 1 of the preceding year in which they wish to be eligible for funding.
Note:
When available, this section indicates the deadlines for applications to the funding agency which will
be stated in terms of the date(s) or between what dates the application should be received.
When not available, applicants should contact the funding agency for deadline information.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
The study team will be designated within 30 days. Within 60 days the team must complete its eligibility study. The tribe will be notified of approval within 60 days of completion of the study.
Preapplication Coordination
An applicant should consult the Branch Chief of Post-Secondary Education. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.
Note:
This section indicates whether any prior coordination or approval is required with governmental or nongovernmental units
prior to the submission of a formal application to the federal funding agency.
Appeals
A negative determination may be appealed to the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs. Within 30 days of receiving a notice of appeal the Assistant Secretary must conduct a hearing at which the applicant may present evidence and offer arguments in support of the appeal. Within 30 days after the hearing the Assistant Secretary must issue a written ruling on the appeal. Specifics relative to the appeals process are found in 25 CFR 41.7.
Note:
In some cases, there are no provisions for appeal. Where applicable, this section discusses appeal procedures or allowable rework time for resubmission
of applications to be processed by the funding agency. Appeal procedures vary with individual programs and are either listed in this section or
applicants are referred to appeal procedures documented in the relevant Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
Renewals
Colleges must file an annual application to receive continued funding.
Note:
In some instances, renewal procedures may be the same as for the application procedure, e.g., for projects of a non-continuing nature renewals will be treated as new, competing applications; for projects of an ongoing nature, renewals may be given annually.
Who can benefit...
Indian students who are a member of or are at least a one-fourth degree Indian blood descendant of a member of an Indian tribe which is eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States through the Bureau of Indian Affairs to Indians because of their status as Indians.
Beneficiaries
About this section:
This section lists the ultimate beneficiaries of a program, the criteria they must satisfy and who specifically is not eligible. The applicant and beneficiary will generally be the same for programs that provide assistance directly from a Federal agency. However, financial assistance that passes through State or local governments will have different applicants and beneficiaries since the assistance is transmitted to private sector beneficiaries who are not obligated to request or apply for the assistance.
What types of assistance...
Project Grants
The funding, for fixed or known periods, of specific projects. Project grants can include fellowships, scholarships, research grants, training grants, traineeships, experimental and demonstration grants, evaluation grants, planning grants, technical assistance grants, survey grants, and construction grants.
How much financial aid...
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
$154,000 to $6,967,000; $1,222,000. The amount of the award is determined by the number of Indian students enrolled in the college. Indian Tribes may choose to supplement the funding provided by the grant program by identifying additional amounts in the Tribal Priority Allocations portion of the Bureau of Indian Affairs budget.
Note:
This section lists the representative range (smallest to largest) of the amount of financial assistance available. These figures are based upon funds awarded in the past fiscal year and the current fiscal year to date. Also indicated is an approximate average amount of awards which were made in the past and current fiscal years.
Obligations
(Grants) FY 03 $39,294,000; FY 04 est $39,544,000; and FY 05 est $39,750,000.
Note:
The dollar amounts listed in this section represent obligations for the past fiscal year (PY), estimates for the current fiscal year (CY), and estimates for the budget fiscal year (BY) as reported by the Federal agencies. Obligations for non-financial assistance programs indicate the administrative expenses involved in the operation of a program.
Account Identification
14-2100-0-1-501.
Note:
Note: This 11-digit budget account identification code represents the account which funds a particular program.
This code should be consistent with the code given for the program area as specified in Appendix III of the Budget of the United States Government.
Examples of funded projects...
Twenty-five Tribally Controlled Community Colleges received financial assistance.
About this section
This section indicates the different types of projects which have been funded in the past. Only projects funded under Project Grants or Direct Payments for Specified Use should be listed here. The examples give potential applicants an idea of the types of projects that may be accepted for funding. The agency should list at least five examples of the most recently funded projects.
Program accomplishments...
Annually, over 20,000 Indian students receive an education above the secondary level, and approximately 1,000 Indian students receive an associate, bachelors or masters degree or a vocational certificate.
Criteria for selecting proposals...
Applicants which the study team determines as eligible will be funded.
Assistance considerations...
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Awards are made on an annual basis and the funds remain available without fiscal year limitation until expended by the contractor/grantee.
Formula and Matching Requirements
None.
Note:
A formula may be based on population, per capita income, and other statistical factors. Applicants are informed whether there are any matching requirements to be met when participating in the cost of a project. In general, the matching share represents that portion of the project costs not borne by the Federal government. Attachment F of OMB Circular No. A-102 (Office of Management and Budget) sets forth the criteria and procedures for the evaluation of matching share requirements which may be cash or in-kind contributions made by State and local governments or other agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals to satisfy matching requirements of Federal grants or loans.
Cash contributions represent the grantees' cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the grantee by other public agencies, institutions, private organizations, or individuals. When authorized by Federal regulation, Federal funds received from other grants may be considered as the grantees' cash contribution.
In-kind contributions represent the value of noncash contributions provided by the grantee, other public agencies and institutions, private organizations or individuals. In-kind contributions may consist of charges for real property and equipment, and value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the grant program. When authorized by Federal legislation, property purchased with Federal funds may be considered as grantees' in-kind contribution.
Maintenance of effort (MOE) is a requirement contained in certain legislation, regulations, or administrative policies stating that a grantee must maintain a specified level of financial effort in a specific area in order to receive Federal grant funds, and that the Federal grant funds may be used only to supplement, not supplant, the level of grantee funds.
Post assistance requirements...
Reports
OMB 1076-0105, Annual Report.
Note:
This section indicates whether program reports, expenditure reports, cash reports or performance monitoring are required by the Federal funding agency, and specifies at what time intervals (monthly, annually, etc.) this must be accomplished.
Audits
For awards made under this program grantees/contractors are responsible for obtaining audits in accordance with the Single Audit Act Amendments of 1996 (31 U.S.C. 7501et. seq.).
Note:
This section discusses audits required by the Federal agency.
The procedures and requirements for State and local governments and nonprofit entities are set forth in OMB Circular No. A-133.
These requirements pertain to awards made within the respective State's fiscal year - not the Federal fiscal year,
as some State and local governments may use the calendar year or other variation of time span designated as the fiscal year period,
rather than that commonly known as the Federal fiscal year (from October 1st through September 30th).
Records
Financial records must be retained for 3 years from the date of submission of the single audit report. Procurement records must be retained for 3 years from the date of final payment. Property records must be retained for 3 years from the date of disposition, replacement, or transfer. Records pertaining to any litigation, audit exceptions or claims must be retained until the dispute has been resolved.
Note:
This section indicates the record retention requirements and the type of records the Federal agency may require.
Not included are the normally imposed requirements of the General Accounting Office.
For programs falling under the purview of OMB Circular No. A-102, record retention is set forth in Attachment C.
For other programs, record retention is governed by the funding agency's requirements.
Regulations...
Authorization
Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act, Public Law 95-471, 25 U.S.C. 640c - 1(c); 25 U.S.C. 1815.
Note:
This section lists the legal authority upon which a program is based (acts, amendments to acts, Public Law numbers, titles, sections, Statute Codes, citations to the U.S. Code, Executive Orders, Presidential Reorganization Plans, and Memoranda from an agency head).
Regulations, Guidelines, And Literature
25 CFR, Part 41; 25 CFR, Part 276.