High School Graduation Initiative

The Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education funded dropout prevention and student reentry programs in high schools (CFDA 84.360), with the most recent grant award issued on October 1, 2011—fifteen years ago. This program is not currently active and should be pursued only if revived by the agency.

The program supported school districts and middle schools serving high schools with dropout rates exceeding their state average, funding coordinated, sustainable dropout prevention and reentry initiatives. Recent funded projects included Clark County School District's Youth Experiencing Success dropout prevention and Back on Track reentry programs ($3.9 million), Colorado's Graduation Pathways initiative ($13 million), Massachusetts's High School Graduation Initiative ($15.7 million), and Seattle Public Schools' High School Graduation Initiative ($9.4 million). Awards funded comprehensive, district-wide efforts rather than isolated interventions.

All 57 grants in the portfolio were Project Grants. The Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education issued 48 awards totaling $155.2 million in federal dollars, while the broader Department of Education issued 9 awards totaling $73.9 million, representing the complete portfolio. Combined federal obligated dollars reached $229.2 million, with recipients providing an additional $65.3 million in non-federal cost-share, for a total of $294.5 million. Recent awards in 2010 ranged from approximately $2.3 million to $49.2 million, with a concentration in the $10–15 million range; earlier awards from 2002–2006 were substantially smaller, typically under $2.5 million.

Funding activity was episodic: 21 awards in 2004, 2 in 2005, 2 in 2006, 28 in 2010, and 1 in 2011. The source contains no evidence of grant opportunities posted recently or of awards disbursed after 2011. Organizations with operational links to high schools experiencing elevated dropout rates should monitor for program reinstatement or successor initiatives but should not expect new solicitations under the existing structure.