2024-17560. Proposed Waiver and Extension of the Project Period for the Postsecondary Programs for Students With Intellectual Disabilities-National Technical Assistance and Dissemination Center (PPSID-NTAD) Program

Institution	State
University of Massachusetts at Boston	MA

The current project period for this grantee ends on September 30, 2024.

Waiver and Extension

We are proposing to extend the project period for the PPSID-NTAD FY 2021 grantee in order to align and coordinate the funding cycle of the PPSID-NTAD program with TPSID and the TPSID-Coordinating Center (TPSID-CC) program grant authorized under title VII, part D, subpart 2 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1140f et seq.), and title VII, part D, subpart 4 of the HEA (20 U.S.C. 1140q), respectively. Aligning the ends of the project periods across grants would allow the Department to better coordinate the TPSID program. While the technical assistance center and the coordinating center have different audiences for the dissemination of their research, aligning the funding for the grantees who are doing this work will improve the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the technical assistance and dissemination efforts, and will help ensure that both the TPSID grantees and other institutions that benefit from the research receive aligned supports from the centers.

For this reason, the Secretary proposes to waive the requirements in 34 CFR 75.261(a) and (c)(2), which allow the extension of a project period only if the extension does not involve the obligation of additional Federal funds. The waiver would allow the Department to issue a one-time FY 2024 continuation award to the current PPSID-NTAD program grantee estimated as follows:

Institution	State	Award
University of Massachusetts at Boston	MA	$1,543,686