Dear Applicant Letter

Dear Applicant:

Thank you for your interest in applying for a grant in fiscal year (FY) 2008 for new awards under the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and the Historically Black Graduate Institutions (HBGI) programs. The Title III, Part B, HBCU and HBGI programs provide financial assistance to establish or strengthen the academic resources, endowment building capacity, management capabilities and physical plants of historically Black colleges and universities.

Institutions of higher education legally designated as a Historically Black College or University, or a Historically Black Graduate Institution or qualified graduate program are eligible to apply. Additional information and the regulations governing the HBCU and HBGI programs can be accessed from the following Web site:

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/idues/index.html

The specifics regarding this year’s application procedures are contained in this application package. We encourage applicants to review FY 2008 Key Application Highlights found in the application package for an overview of important items.

Please note there are two deadlines for submitting information. Phase I Formula Data must be submitted by the [insert actual closing date here] and Phase II, the Project Plan, must be submitted by the [insert actual closing date here].

In FY 2008 we are pleased to announce an additional $85 million appropriated under the HBCU program and authorized by IV, Part J of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended by section 802 of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) of 2007. Details regarding these additional funds as well as the necessary application procedures are included in this package.

Technical Assistance workshops will be held to help grantees design and implement applications to address the additional two-year funding authorized by the CCRAA and to provide assistance with implementing the new Web based application submission procedures. These workshops will also emphasize the need for developing strong project-level performance measures that capture the impact of the activities grantees pursue toward their goals. The Department is committed to helping grantees use data to achieve their goals and, in turn, the goals of the HBCU program.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Karen W. Johnson via email at: [email protected] or by phone at (202) 502-7642.

I appreciate your interest in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Historically Black Graduate Institutions programs and look forward to receiving your application.

Sincerely,

James E. Laws, Jr., Ed.D.

Director, Institutional Development