Expanding Opportunities Through Quality Charter Schools Program (CSP) Grants to State Entities

What’s New

FY 2024 SE Grants Competition

On April 24, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Expanding Opportunity Through Quality Charter Schools Program – Grants to State Entities (SE Grants) published a Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) in the Federal Register.

The Department plans to award an estimated $46,000,000 for new SE grants this fiscal year. The deadline for submission of a grant application under this competition is 11:59:59 p.m., Eastern Time, on June 13, 2024.

For more information about the FY 2024 CSP SE Grants competition, please visit the FY 2024 SE Competition page.

For more information about previous awards, please visit the Awards page.

Program Description

The CSP State Entities program is authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) (20 U.S.C. 7221-7221j). Prior to enactment of the ESSA, the ESEA, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), authorized the Secretary to make awards to State educational agencies to enable them to conduct charter school subgrant programs in their States. The CSP State Entities program is under new law and has different eligibility requirements, priorities, definitions, application requirements, and selection criteria.

The major purposes of the CSP are to expand opportunities for all students, particularly traditionally underserved students, to attend charter schools and meet challenging State academic standards; provide financial assistance for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of public charter schools; increase the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the United States; evaluate the impact of charter schools on student achievement, families, and communities; share best practices between charter schools and other public schools; encourage States to provide facilities support to charter schools; and support efforts to strengthen the charter school authorizing process.

The CSP grants to State Entities (84.282A) is a competitive grant program that enables State entities to award subgrants to eligible applicants in their State to open and prepare for the operation of new charter schools and to replicate and expand high-quality charter schools. Grant funds must also be used by the State entity to provide technical assistance to eligible applicants and authorized public chartering agencies in opening and preparing for the operation of new charter schools, or replicating or expanding high-quality charter schools; and to work with authorized public chartering agencies to improve authorizing quality, including developing capacity for, and conducting, fiscal oversight and auditing of charter schools.