§ 57.2105 - How will applications be evaluated?

(a) As required by section 798(a) of the Act, each application for a grant under this subpart shall be submitted to a peer review group, composed principally of non-Federal experts, for an evaluation of the merits of the proposals made in the application. The Secretary may not approve such an application unless a peer review group has recommended the application for approval. The Secretary will decide which applications to approve by considering, among other factors:

(1) The degree to which the applicant can arrange to continue the proposed project beyond the federally funded project period;

(2) The degree to which the proposed project meets three or more of the purposes as described in § 57.2104;

(3) The relationship of the objectives of the proposed project to the goals of the plan that will be developed pursuant to § 57.2104(a)(1);

(4) The administration and managerial ability of the applicant to carry out the project in a cost effective manner;

(5) The adequacy of the staff and faculty to carry out the program;

(6) The soundness of the budget for assuring effective utilization of grant funds, and the proportion of total program funds which come from non-federal sources and the degree to which they are projected to increase over the grant period;

(7) The number of individuals who can be expected to benefit from the project; and

(8) The overall impact the project will have on strengthening the school's capacity to train minority health professionals and increase the supply of minority health professionals available to serve minority populations in underserved areas.

(b) In determining the funding of applications approved under paragraph (a) of this section, the Secretary will consider any special factors relating to national needs as the Secretary may from time to time announce in the Federal Register.