Who May Apply: State Educational Agencies (SEAs)

The Department allocates appropriated funds to local educational agencies (LEAs) through participating SEAs. Prior to calculating the LEA allocations, the ESEA generally requires ED to set aside 0.7 percent for the Secretary of the Interior and 0.4 percent for the outlying areas (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands). The Secretary of the Interior makes subgrants to schools operated by the Bureau of Indian Education, while the outlying areas receive formula grants. In addition, appropriation acts generally make a certain amount of Basic grant funds (e.g., in the FY 2017 appropriation, up to $5 million) available to ED to obtain annually-updated LEA poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau.