The U.S Department of Education is accepting “preapplications” for its $3 million development grants, which are part of a larger $150 million Investing in Innovation grant contest. The deadline to apply is April 26.
It is the fourth round for the i3 grants, which started in 2009 with funding from the economic-stimulus package passed by Congress.
Applications for the larger i3 “scale-up” and “validation” grants—which require more evidence of past success but can win applicants up to $25 million—will be available later this spring.
This is the second time the federal department is using a pre-screening process to whittle down the potential applicants for development grants, which is one of its most popular grant categories. Last year, 650 applicants submitted a proposal for screening. Outside peer reviewers will help the department choose the strongest preapplications. Those applicants will then go on to submit full applications and compete in the main contest later this spring.
