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| US Department of Education has grant programs for schools and districts. Some of these programs are funded directly from the US Department of Education (discretionary grants) while others are distributed to state departments of education for local competition within the state (block or title grants). If you are applying for discretionary grants, you should be aware of the stringent guidelines associated with them. Before you apply for a grant from the US Department of Education, keep these points in mind:
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| • | Find out what upcoming federal opportunities are available by reviewing the "Forecast of Funding Opportunities" from the US Department of Education and print out information on programs that match your defined need. |
| • | Plan many months in advance to apply for a federal grant. Although the grant guidelines are likely to be released a couple of months before the application deadline, the Forecast of Funding will list the grant 6-12 months ahead of time. |
| • | Be sure you are eligible to apply for the grant. |
| • | Federal grants are evaluated according to strict scoring guidelines. Be sure to understand the evaluation criteria and give appropriate attention to each of them in your application. |
| • | Understand the content requirements and the weight each section has on scoring. Make a clear connection in your program description to the required element in the grant guidelines. |
| • | Contact your state department of education to find out when the block or title grant competitions will be open and what the requirements are. |
| • | Include key community partners in your proposal. Solicit letters of support from them and include them in your proposal. |
| • | Give yourself adequate time to develop and submit the proposal. Set your internal deadline for submission 4-6 weeks ahead of the grant deadline. |
| • | Many federal grants now require proposals to be submitted through the US Department of Education's e-Grants Application Process. To ensure that you apply properly using this system, look at the e-Grants Web site early and allow yourself enough time to complete the online process. |
