The purpose of this competitive grant is to provide planning resources for Early College applicants who would like to obtain a Massachusetts Early College Designation:
Developing Early College programs that reimagine the high school experience so that all students are engaged and prepared for post-secondary success.
Early College provides a framework and criteria to rethink high school, college, and the pathway through both, facilitating college access and success. The MA Early College Designation intentionally prioritizes underrepresented students in higher education as an effective strategy for addressing equity gaps in postsecondary education. These resources are intended to support both the K–12 secondary school partner and institutes of higher education (IHE) partner in their planning and design of an Early College program.
Priorities for this grant include, but are not limited to:
Creating and implementing strategies to prioritize and intentionally serve students traditionally underrepresented in higher education, including those who are the first in their family to go to college, students of color, English language learners, students with disabilities, and low-income students.
Creating thoughtful academic pathways aligned with MassTransfer courses that also meet Mass Core and high school graduation requirements.
Creating a widespread and supportive college-going culture, particularly among student populations underrepresented in higher education.
Create schedules that allow program participants to onboard students to college coursework, pursue college coursework, and access academic support for their coursework during their school day.
Building out academic and career advising and activities to foster participation in postsecondary pursuits.
Building out career activities that allow students to relate college coursework to potential careers.
Supporting professional development opportunities for faculty and staff to ensure equitable access to programs and develop strong Early College programming.
Priority will be given to funding K–12 institutions or institutions of higher education (IHEs) applying for their first Early College Designation for SY26
Priority will be given to districts and schools where the majority of the school population represents populations underrepresented in higher education.
Option A: Planning for Designation: These funds are available for Applicants who have submitted a letter of intent to apply for designation in the Summer of 2024 to start a Designated Early College Program in Fall 2025. These programs will be expected to align their planning with the MA Designation Criteria to support students who have been historically underrepresented in higher education. These programs will also be required to attend a minimum of 20 hours of coaching provided by DESE. This option will provide funds to develop infrastructure for current applicants, approximately up to $50,000 as an average award. However, awards for approximately up to $100,000 will be considered with justification for unique needs.
Option B: Pre-Planning for Designation: These funds are available for potential partnerships who plan to apply for Designation in Summer of 2025, to start a Designated Early College program in the Fall of 2026. These programs will be expected to align their planning with the MA Designation Criteria to support students who have been historically underrepresented in higher education. This option will provide funds to develop infrastructure for current applicants, approximately up to $50,000.
Option C: Pre-Planning for Full School ("wall to wall") Designation:This option is available to fund a more intensive model of Early College. These programs are expected to align with the MA Designation Criteria but will extend more opportunities to larger populations of underrepresented students and build pathways for students to earn significantly more credits than a traditional Early College program. A Full School Early College program will serve either the full high school population or a minimum of 400 students and provide pathways for students to earn up to 30 college credits. This option is intended for undesignated partnerships who plan to apply for Designation in the Summer 2025 and seek to start an Early College Program in the Fall of 2026.
There are two levels of funding available under this Option:
C.1) Early College partnerships comprised of a K–12 high school (that currently does not have a Designated Early College program) and an MA Institution of Higher Education (IHE) partner who are seeking to develop a Full School program are eligible for approximately up to $150,000.
or
C.2) Early College partnerships comprised of a K–12 high school (which currently does not have a Designated Early College program) and MA Institution of Higher Education who are seeking to create a Full School program on the campus of an IHE to fully immerse underrepresented students in a college environment are eligible for approximately up to $250,000.
Either the K–12 district or institution of higher education (IHE) partner can serve as the fiscal recipient. Funds will be disbursed through the GEMS management system.
State Line Item 7009-6600
Approximately a total of $2,000,000 is available through this FY25 grant.
This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.
Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.
This grant cannot be applied toward capital expenses or MTRS.
Upon Approval – 6/30/2025
The Office of Early College
Cashay Grant-Woods , Fiscal Manager
Friday, June 21, 2024
Proposals must be received at the Department by 3 p.m. Eastern on the date due.
All responses must be received by the due date listed above. Failure to do so will result in disqualification. Responses not received on time will not be reviewed. Applicants applying after the due date may be notified their application was received late and will not be reviewed. Applications must be submitted as directed in the Submissions Instructions below. Failure to do so may result in disqualification. If you need assistance with submitting your application, please reach out to the contact person listed on this funding opportunity.
Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the Superintendent / Chief Executive approves the grant application in GEM$. To be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application through the LEA Superintendent Approved stage by the due date listed in the RFP.
The FY25 0461 Early College Planning Grant will be submitted in our new GEM$ system. GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will eventually phase out the use of EdGrants.
Grants for Education Management System (GEM$)
Competitive grant applications are considered submitted when the Superintendent / Chief Executive approves the grant application in GEM$. To be considered for competitive funding, applicants must submit a grant application by the due date listed in the RFP
The Superintendent / Chief Executive Approved Step allows for the organization lead to review and approve the grant application. Removing the requirement for the Part I Standard Contract Form, this step signifies Superintendent /Chief Executive sign-off. Any grant budget changes requiring a signature, will re-execute this step when amended signifying the organization lead is approving these changes.
New Organizations: Grant Submission requires applicants to have their organization established in GEM$. Entities that do not have an organization established in GEM$ must contact the DESE Program Unit issuing this grant at a minimum of 5 business days before the grant due date for temporary organization access.
Failure to provide DESE with the GEM$ Temp Organization Access Request at least 5 business days before the due date may result in not meeting the submission due date listed above. DESE cannot accept or review applications after the due date.
Please Note: Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for the Grant writer for the specific fund code, the LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign-off. All these roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the LEA level or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. These form can be accessed without logging in to the system.
Last Updated: August 29, 2024
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