OSERS-OSEP: Preparation in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services: Focus Area D Preparing Personnel in Minority Institutions of Higher Education to Serve Children, Including Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities CFDA Number 84.3 | ED GRANTS 101515 004

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 101515 004

This funding opportunity comes from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). It sits under the Personnel Preparation in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services program and is specifically labeled as Focus Area D, which emphasizes preparing personnel at Minority Institutions of Higher Education to serve children with disabilities, including infants and toddlers. The overall idea is to strengthen the pipeline of well-trained professionals who can work effectively in special education, early intervention, and related service roles, with training grounded in scientifically based research and practical experience that has a track record of working in real settings.

The program purpose is twofold. First, it aims to help meet State-identified workforce needs, meaning it is designed to respond to shortages or gaps that States have already documented in areas like special education, early intervention, related services (such as speech-language pathology or occupational therapy supports, depending on the project), and even regular education roles that serve students with disabilities in inclusive environments. Second, it focuses on quality and effectiveness, requiring that personnel supported through these grants develop the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in serving children with disabilities, including very young children from birth to age three who receive early intervention. In practice, this kind of grant commonly supports activities such as recruiting diverse candidates, improving educator preparation coursework and clinical experiences, strengthening faculty capacity, building partnerships with schools and early intervention programs, and ensuring graduates are prepared to use evidence-based practices.

The opportunity is a discretionary grant competition (not a formula award), meaning proposals are competitively reviewed and only a limited number are funded. The CFDA number tied to this competition is 84.325K (often referenced as 84.325 without the letter suffix when searching in Grants.gov). The funding opportunity number listed is ED GRANTS 101515 004. The original closing date shown for applications was December 14, 2015, and the posting indicates an expected 10 awards. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) is listed as $250,000, which signals that proposed projects have to be scoped realistically to fit that cap while still delivering meaningful training outcomes and measurable results.

Eligibility is broad within the education and nonprofit space, but the focus area highlights Minority Institutions of Higher Education. The eligible applicant categories listed include public and State-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations (both those with 501(c)(3) status and those without). In the synopsis, eligibility is also summarized as IHEs and private nonprofit organizations. Applicants are expected to consult the official Federal Register notice for the precise eligibility definitions, any competitive preference priorities, and the specific requirements tied to Focus Area D, since the synopsis is not the authoritative source.

Applications had to be submitted electronically through Grants.gov, using the Grants.gov "Apply" process. The instructions stress that applicants must download the application package, complete it offline, and then upload it back to Grants.gov for submission. Email submissions are not allowed. A small but important procedural detail is included: when searching Grants.gov, applicants should search by CFDA number without the alpha suffix, meaning they should search for "84.325" rather than "84.325K" to find the correct application package.

The synopsis repeatedly points applicants back to the official Federal Register application notice for the details that determine how a proposal must be structured and how it will be evaluated. That official notice is where applicants would find requirements such as absolute or competitive priorities, performance measures and reporting expectations, pre-application guidance if any, formatting and submission rules, selection criteria, and program contacts. The summary also notes where to access the Federal Register online, emphasizing that the Federal Register version controls if there is any difference between summaries and the official notice.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "OSERS-OSEP: Preparation in Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services: Focus Area D Preparing Personnel in Minority Institutions of Higher Education to Serve Children, Including Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities CFDA Number 84.3" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.325.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2015-10-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2015-12-14. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for ED GRANTS 101515 004

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