Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 022117 002

The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) within the U.S. Department of Education announced a discretionary grant competition under the Federal TRIO Programs for the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement (McNair) Program, listed under CFDA 84.217A (searchable on Grants.gov as 84.217 without the letter suffix). The McNair Program is one of eight TRIO programs aimed at expanding postsecondary opportunity, specifically by supporting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. In this competition, the Department provides funding to institutions of higher education to run McNair projects that help eligible undergraduates prepare effectively for doctoral (PhD) study, strengthening the pipeline into advanced graduate education for students who might otherwise face systemic barriers to entering and completing doctoral programs.

The opportunity is structured as a grant, categorized under the Education funding activity area, and the overall program is administered by the Department of Education. Eligible applicants include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and private institutions of higher education, with an additional eligibility category labeled "Others" that requires applicants to consult the official Federal Register notice for precise clarification. Because this synopsis is only a high-level summary, the Federal Register application notice is the controlling source for details such as eligibility nuances, required project components, priorities, selection criteria, performance measures, reporting expectations, and any pre-application steps.

For this specific competition cycle, applications became available on February 21, 2017, and the deadline for transmittal of applications was April 7, 2017. The agency anticipated making about 164 awards, and the listed award ceiling was $226,600. Applicants were required to submit applications electronically through Grants.gov using the governmentwide "Apply" function. The process described involves downloading the application package, completing it offline, and then uploading and submitting it through Grants.gov; submissions by email were explicitly not permitted. Applicants were instructed to locate the correct application package by searching the CFDA number without the alpha suffix, meaning "84.217" rather than "84.217A," which is a common Grants.gov search requirement for CFDA-based listings.

At its core, the McNair Program funding supports institution-led projects that provide structured, research-focused, and academically intensive preparation for doctoral study. While this summary does not list the specific services or required activities, the program is widely understood to center on building the skills, experiences, and mentoring relationships that make doctoral admission and persistence more attainable for participants, often through research engagement, faculty mentorship, graduate school planning, and exposure to the expectations of doctoral-level work. For exact requirements and competitive priorities that applied to this solicitation, applicants were directed to the official Federal Register notice, which is the authoritative document and is accessible online through the Government Publishing Office (GPO) Federal Register resources.

  • The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE): Federal TRIO Programs: Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement (McNair) Program CFDA Number 84.217A" and is now available to receive applicants.
  • Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.217.
  • This funding opportunity was created on Feb 21, 2017.
  • Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 07, 2017 Applications Available February 21, 2017. Deadline for Transmittal of Applications April 7, 2017.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
  • Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $226,600.00 in funding.
  • The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 164 candidate(s).
  • Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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