Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Office of Indian Education (OIE): Indian Education Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies CFDA Number 84.060A | ED GRANTS 041717 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 041717 002

The Indian Education Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies program (CFDA 84.060A), administered by the U.S. Department of Education through OESE's Office of Indian Education, is a mandatory grant program that helps eligible entities build and run elementary and secondary education services for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students. The central idea is to fund comprehensive, locally designed programs that respond to AI/AN students' unique cultural, language, and educational needs while also supporting their progress toward meeting challenging state academic standards. The program is rooted in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and it emphasizes both culturally responsive education and accountability for student outcomes.

A key feature of this opportunity is its formula-based structure, meaning funding levels are tied largely to an Indian student count rather than being purely competitive. Applicants submit counts and program plans, and the electronic system calculates an estimated award amount that drives the required budget submission. The notice also highlights an option under ESEA section 6116: if an applicant submits an acceptable plan for the integration of education and related services, the Secretary may authorize the grantee, in coordination with other relevant federal agencies, to consolidate multiple federal funding streams that are used exclusively for Indian students. This is meant to reduce fragmentation across programs and allow more coordinated service delivery, as long as the integrated plan meets federal requirements.

Applications must be filed electronically through the Electronic Application System for Indian Education (EASIE) within the EDFacts System Portal (https://eden.ed.gov). Paper submissions are generally rejected unless the applicant qualifies for a specific exception to the electronic submission requirement and follows the alternative procedures described in the official Federal Register notice. EASIE is divided into two main parts. In Part I, the applicant enters the Indian student count and selects the application time span. In Part II, the applicant provides the substance of the program design and implementation details, including selecting the program type (regular formula program, a formula grant consolidated into a Title I schoolwide program, or an integration of services plan under section 6116), identifying the grade levels served, and describing how the Title VI-supported project will coordinate with other federal education programs (for example, ESEA Title I) to better serve AI/AN students.

Program planning and reporting expectations are built into the Part II requirements. Applicants must set clear project objectives tied to culturally responsive education and academic achievement, specify the data sources they will use to measure progress, and commit to reporting on those measures in the annual performance report after the grant year closes. Applicants also have to describe professional development activities, especially training that prepares teachers and other school staff who are new to the Indian community to work effectively with Indian children, and ensuring that staff implementing grant-supported activities are properly trained. The application also asks how state assessment data for all Indian students (not only those directly served by the grant) are used, and how the LEA plans to share assessment information with the Indian community, including parent committees and the tribes whose children are served, along with explaining how prior-year assessment data informed program decisions. Additional procedural items include stating when the required public hearing was held for FY 2017 and, for LEAs (or LEA consortia), describing how the LEA meaningfully collaborated with tribes in the community in a timely, active, and ongoing way during program development, including what actions were taken based on that collaboration.

Budget rules are tied to the formula and can change as final allocations are set. Applicants submit a budget based on the estimated award amount calculated in EASIE from the student count entered in Part I. If the final award later changes by more than $5,000, the applicant must submit a revised budget before receiving the grant award (without needing to re-certify the full application). If the change is less than $5,000, no additional action is required. If an applicant receives an increased award after submitting the original budget, the extra funds must be placed only into budget categories that were already approved, which limits last-minute shifts into entirely new spending areas.

Eligibility spans several types of entities serving AI/AN students. Eligible applicants include certain local educational agencies (including charter schools that qualify as LEAs under state law), certain Bureau of Indian Education (BIE)-funded schools or school districts, Indian tribes and Indian organizations under specified conditions, and Indian community-based organizations. The program also allows consortia in certain circumstances, including groupings of two or more LEAs and, where allowable, tribes, Indian organizations, and Indian community-based organizations, reflecting the reality that some communities may need a shared approach to serve students across district or organizational lines.

From the opportunity metadata provided, the funding opportunity number is ED GRANTS 041717 002, it was created April 17, 2017, and the original closing date was June 15, 2017. The agency is the Department of Education, the activity category is Education, and the notice anticipated roughly 1,300 awards. No award ceiling is specified in the provided summary. For anything that affects compliance, required forms, detailed eligibility nuances, priorities, performance measures, and points of contact, the controlling source is the official Federal Register application notice referenced in the synopsis.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE): Office of Indian Education (OIE): Indian Education Formula Grants to Local Educational Agencies CFDA Number 84.060A" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.060.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-04-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-06-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1,300 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Others.

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