Competition for FIPSE Awards Open

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June 15, 2010

Sustainability initiatives and partnerships with Haitian institutions are among the priorities this year for grants from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). The Department of Education expects to award more than $27 million to colleges, universities, consortia, and other nonprofits to support reforms, innovations, and significant improvements in higher education. Grants will range in size from $500,000 to $750,000 for projects up to three years long. The deadline for applications is July 29.

A June 14 Federal Register notice provided details about the FY10 FIPSE grant competition, listing eight "invitational" priorities. Applications addressing these priorities will not be given a competitive or absolute preference over other applications, so other types of projects are also eligible for funding.

Several of the invitational priorities stem from provisions added to the Higher Education Act (HEA) by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. University sustainability initiatives, for instance, are a priority "as described in Section 881 of the Higher Education Act." Others relate to current initiatives and concerns about higher education, such as the priority for innovative models to improve matriculation and graduation rates, transfer of credits, curricular alignment, and articulation agreements. The last priority builds on federal efforts to respond to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, encouraging projects to "develop or enhance educational partnerships and cross-cultural cooperation" between U.S. and Haitian institutions.