Opportunity Briefing for Rural Higher Education Leaders
The U.S. Department of Education has opened the FY 2026 competition for the Strengthening Institutions Program, one of the federal government's primary tools for building long-term financial stability and academic capacity at colleges and universities serving high proportions of lower-income students. The program distributes funding through five-year grants designed to help eligible institutions become self-sufficient without depending on continued federal support. Applications are due June 23, 2026.
Assistance Listing Number: 84.031A
Opportunity Numbre: ED-GRANT-26-025
Administering Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Application Deadline: June 23, 2026
Eligible Institutional Structures and Geographic Priorities
Only institutions that the Department of Education has formally designated as eligible may apply. Designation is based on two factors: the institution must enroll a qualifying proportion of students with demonstrated financial need, and its per-student educational expenditures must fall below the national average for comparable institutions. The Department published the FY 2026 eligible institution list on March 24, 2026. Any institution not on that list has no path to apply in this cycle.
Prior participation in SIP creates additional constraints on which grant type an institution may request. An institution currently holding an active SIP award may only apply for a Cooperative Arrangement grant, which requires partnering with at least one other eligible institution. Former grantees whose most recent award ended after September 30, 2024 face the same restriction. Institutions whose prior awards ended on or before September 30, 2024 may apply for an Individual Development Grant.
Rural institutions hold a concrete and measurable scoring advantage in this competition. Competitive Preference Priority 4 awards 10 additional points to institutions with a campus setting classified by NCES as Town-Fringe, Town-Distant, Town-Remote, Rural-Fringe, Rural-Distant, or Rural-Remote. No partial credit exists. On a 100-point application, this rural classification represents the largest single scoring increment available from any priority in the competition.
Application Priorities Every Institution Must Understand Before Writing
The SIP competition uses a two-tier priority system. The first tier is the Absolute Priority. Every applicant must address it, and applications that do not meet it are eliminated before scoring begins. The Absolute Priority requires the institution to propose one or more activities from a defined list of ten authorized uses of SIP funds: purchasing or leasing scientific or laboratory equipment; constructing, renovating, or maintaining classrooms, laboratories, or libraries; developing or improving academic programs; purchasing library materials; creating or improving tutoring, counseling, and student success programs; providing financial literacy education; jointly using facilities with another institution; establishing or improving a development office; establishing or increasing an endowment fund; and creating or improving facilities for distance education. A project must address at least one of these categories, and that activity must be developmental in nature.
The second tier is the Competitive Preference Priority structure. There are four competitive preference priorities. An institution may address only one of the first three, earning up to 5 additional points. Rural institutions may also address the fourth priority independently, which carries its own 10-point award.
Competitive Preference Priority 1 is focused on career pathways and workforce readiness. It rewards projects that develop workforce programs aligned with state priorities through in-demand credential attainment or structured work-based learning such as Registered Apprenticeships.
Competitive Preference Priority 2 is tied to the federal Workforce Pell Grant program established under the Working Families Tax Cut Act. It rewards institutions developing or expanding short-term programs that meet Workforce Pell Grant eligibility requirements. A critical technical constraint applies: SIP regulations at 34 CFR 607.10(c)(5) prohibit using SIP funds to develop or improve non-degree or non-credit courses. Institutions choosing this priority must structure SIP-funded activities around credit-bearing courses or supporting activities such as curriculum mapping or articulation agreement work.
Competitive Preference Priority 3 covers artificial intelligence in education through two approaches: expanding AI literacy through teaching and learning integration, or deploying AI technology ethically to support students and prepare educators.
Competitive Preference Priority 4 is the rural designation bonus. It requires only that the institution's campus setting falls within a recognized rural classification. If the classification applies, the institution receives 10 additional points. A rural college that qualifies for Priority 4 and earns the full 5 points under one of the first three priorities enters the scoring pool with 15 additional points above the 100-point base. That cumulative advantage is not incidental to the competitive strategy. It is the strategy.
Financial Mechanics and Match Requirements
The program distributes an estimated $365,875,512 across approximately 600 awards nationally. Two grant structures are available.
Individual Development Grants run from $2,250,000 to $3,000,000 over the five-year period, with an expected average of $3,000,000. Cooperative Arrangement Development Grants, which require multi-institution partnerships, run from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000 over the five-year period, with an expected average of $4,000,000. The performance period is 60 months for all awards.
There is no matching requirement for most project activities. The sole exception applies when an institution uses a portion of the grant to establish or grow an endowment fund; in that case, the endowment-directed grant dollars must be matched one-for-one with non-federal institutional funds.
The Department has advised applicants to front-load Year One spending and design Year One outcomes that can stand alone, citing uncertainty around future-year appropriations. This should drive how the five-year project timeline and budget are structured.
Administrative Compliance and Post-Award Oversight
Awards under this program are governed by the full 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Guidance. Institutions whose total federal expenditures across all sources reach $1,000,000 or more in a given fiscal year are subject to a federal Single Audit.
Two structural cost rules shape how SIP budgets must be built. The program prohibits indirect costs entirely, meaning every dollar must be charged to a direct, approved project activity. SIP funds are also subject to a supplement-not-supplant requirement: grant dollars must add to what the institution would otherwise spend, not replace existing institutional expenditures with federal dollars.
Infrastructure activities trigger the Build America, Buy America Act. All iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials used in any covered infrastructure project must be produced in the United States. Institutions planning facility-related activities should assess their supply chains against these requirements before finalizing project scope.
Post-award reporting tracks enrollment growth, year-to-year retention, graduation rates, and the annual incomes of program graduates across the full 60-month performance period.