“Purpose of Program:
The Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) provides grants to eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs) to help them become self-sufficient and expand their capacity to serve low-income students by providing funds to improve and strengthen the institution’s academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability.
Background:
The SIP Program is critical to the Department’s efforts to improve college completion for students who have been traditionally underrepresented in postsecondary education. In recent years, SIP competitions have given priority to applicants proposing evidence-based interventions. This competition, which provides larger awards than are available under the 84.031A competition, maintains that recent emphasis and goes one step further, by encouraging applicants to commit to conducting rigorous evaluations of those interventions. In responding to the absolute priority, we encourage applicants to not just identify the proposed evidence-based interventions, but also to describe how those interventions will be implemented in a way that will change institutional practices, cultures, and the overall institutional approach to improving results for students. In addition, to more strategically align SIP grants with broader reform strategies intended to improve college completion, this notice includes a competitive preference priority that encourages applicants to propose activities designed to assist students in progressing into creditbearing courses. Each year, substantial numbers of students enroll in college and are assigned to take developmental education courses. These non-credit bearing courses often introduce an additional barrier to college persistence and completion for college students, particularly at SIP-eligible institutions. We are interested in receiving applications with strong plans for improving outcomes for students who are academically underprepared for college.”
Excerpted from Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 39