ALN 84.031A

Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP), Title III Part A

SIP is the broadest Title III institutional development grant. It funds eligible colleges to strengthen academic quality, institutional management and fiscal stability, for example through new academic programs, student support, faculty development, lab equipment or endowment building. Every application rests on a comprehensive development plan, and each proposed activity is scored separately against measurable objectives and an implementation timeline.

Draft this application Official program page

Program facts

Agency: Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), Institutional Service; the FY2026 competition was administered by the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration on ED's behalf, U.S. Department of Education
Assistance Listing: 84.031A
Statutory authority: Title III, Part A of the Higher Education Act of 1965, section 311 (20 U.S.C. 1057-1059g); regulations at 34 CFR part 607
Award ceiling: $3,000,000 for a five-year Individual Development Grant; $5,000,000 for a five-year Cooperative Arrangement Development Grant
Awards: The FY2026 notice estimated about 600 awards from $365.9 million, with Individual grants of $2.25 million to $3 million over five years
Period of performance: 60 months
Cost share: None, unless part of the grant goes to an endowment fund, which must be matched with non-federal funds
Cycle: ED first runs an eligibility designation process each winter, then posts the SIP competition in spring. In FY2026 the designation notice appeared March 24, 2026 and applications were due June 23, 2026.

Program goals

Improve academic quality, institutional management and fiscal stability
Expand capacity to serve low-income students
Raise persistence and graduation rates
Help institutions become self-sufficient and institutionalize improvements after the grant

Scoring rubric

Criterion100 pts

Quality of the comprehensive development plan20
An analysis of strengths and weaknesses produced with major campus constituencies, realistic goals, measurable objectives and a plan to pay ongoing personnel and equipment costs with institutional funds.
Quality of the project design15
A rationale, usually a logic model, that links each activity to expected outcomes.
Quality of activity objectives16
Realistic, measurable objectives for each activity that map to problems in the development plan.
Quality of implementation strategy15
A comprehensive strategy per activity, supported by relevant studies, with a realistic timetable.
Quality of key personnel8
Experience directly related to the objectives and realistic time commitments.
Quality of project management plan10
Management procedures and a project coordinator with enough authority, including access to the president.
Quality of evaluation plan10
Clear data elements and analysis procedures that produce formative and summative results.
Budget6
Costs necessary and reasonable for the objectives and scope.

Point values from the FY2026 SIP notice (ED-GRANT-26-025). Applicants could add up to 5 points from one of three competitive preference priorities on career pathways, short-term training or AI in education, plus 0 or 10 points for eligible rural applicants. Confirm against the current notice.

Eligibility

Accredited or pre-accredited two-year and four-year institutions legally authorized by their state
Institutions designated eligible by ED for having enough needy students and low educational and general expenditures per FTE student, or granted a waiver
Each institution may submit one Individual and one Cooperative Arrangement application
Current SIP grantees may apply only for Cooperative grants; former grantees must observe a two-year wait-out period before an Individual grant

Required attachments

SF-424 and ED Form 524 budget with budget narrative
SIP Program Profile form
One-page double-spaced project abstract identifying priorities addressed
Project narrative organized by activity, with a table of contents
Logic model and letters of support
Eligibility designation or waiver approval from ED

Formatting rules

Recommended limit of 65 pages for the narrative; abstract, table of contents, logic model and letters of support do not count
Double-spaced text on 8.5 x 11 pages with 1-inch margins and a 12-point font
Address each selection criterion separately for each proposed activity
Budget years 1 to 5 must match the ED 524 totals

Why applications lose points

Applying without an eligibility designation or waiver for the current year
Applying for an Individual grant while still in the two-year wait-out period
A development plan written by a grant office alone, without evidence of campus-wide input
No plan for absorbing personnel and equipment costs after the grant ends
Objectives that cannot be traced back to a weakness in the development plan

How ELIXIR CONSUMERS helps with Title III SIP

1.Drafts the comprehensive development plan from your strategic plan, IPEDS data and audit findings stored in the vault
2.Builds one objectives and timeline table per activity so each is scored on its own
3.Checks year-by-year budget totals against the ED 524 before export
4.Flags any cost that lacks an institutionalization plan for after year five

How the NOFO Parser works

More education breakdowns

Questions, answered

Is SIP the same as the minority-serving institution programs?

No. SIP eligibility is based on needy student enrollment and low educational and general expenditures, not on enrollment demographics.

Can a current SIP grantee apply again?

Only for a Cooperative Arrangement grant until its Individual grant ends and the two-year wait-out passes.

Why did the FY2026 notice come through the Department of Labor?

ED had DOL's Employment and Training Administration administer the FY2026 SIP competition on its behalf. The program and statute remain under ED.

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