Grants » Apply for a Grant

           

What grants can I apply for from the U.S. Department of Education?

The Department offers several kinds of grants:

  • grants to help students attend college. Students can use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to apply for Pell Grants and other aid for college.
  • formula grants to agencies using formulas determined by Congress. There is no application process.
  • discretionary grants to organizations, agencies, and individuals. These are awarded using a competitive process. Anyone who meets the eligibility requirements can apply.

Discretionary grants are what people usually have in mind when thinking about applying for a grant from the Department. The remainder of this page is devoted to discretionary grants and the questions people often ask.

What discretionary grants am I eligible for?

Use the Guide to Education Programs to identify programs you are eligible to apply for.

Which grant competitions are accepting applications now?

Discretionary grant application packages lists most ED competitions that are currently open, with links to application information for each competition.

Most ED competitions are announced in Federal Register Notices, which provide information on rules, deadlines, and how to apply.

IES funding opportunities provides information on research funding opportunities run by the Institute for Education Sciences, including funding for unsolicited grants.

Grants.gov lists discretionary grant competitions from across the federal government, including many ED competitions.

When will the discretionary grant competition that I'm interested in begin accepting applications?

The ED grants forecast can help you identify competitions that may open soon.

What are the application procedures for discretionary grants?

Different competitions have different application procedures. Each competition's application package tells you what to do. If you found a grant announcement using one of the links above, the announcement should include a link to the application package or application instructions. You can find information about application procedures also from two additional sources:

  • E-grants.ed.gov is ED's online application system. It provides application packages for the competitions that it hosts.
  • EDPubs has a list of downloadable application packages for a number of ED grant competitions.

Additional information about the application process is available in Grantmaking at ED.

What forms do I need?

You should be able to find all of the forms you'll need in the application package of the grant for which you're applying and in the online application system. If you discover that you are missing forms or that you need to see other forms, grant application and other forms provides a list of grant-related forms.


 
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Last Modified: 11/28/2008