Summary of Promise Neighborhood Grant Applicants Released

This week, the Department of Education released a detailed summary of the Promise Neighborhood grant applications submitted in September. The summary indicates that a total of 234 applications were submitted – a number that is significantly smaller than the 662 applicants that submitted the “Intent to Apply” in July. Applications were received from 43 states, as well as Puerto Rico and American Samoa. As anticipated, there was strong interest in the Planning Grant with199 applications submitted and 35 Implementation Grant applications submitted. As illustrated in the chart below, the majority of applications in both categories were submitted by nonprofit organizations.

A majority of the applications submitted are likely from more urban and suburban areas – only 32 applications addressed Absolute Priority 2 (rural communities) and 12 addressed Absolute Priority 3 (tribal communities). This year, applicants were able to identify up to two Competitive Preference Priorities. As indicated below, an overwhelming majority of applicants in both the Planning and Implementation categories included a plan to create a Comprehensive Early Leaning Network.

Grant awards are expected to be announced in December. The DOE expects to award as many as 10 Planning Grants in amounts up to $500,000 and 4-6 Implementation Grants ranging from $4-6 million. The DOE’s summary of grant applications, which contains the charts found above, can be accessed by clicking here.