U.S. Education Dept. details June 26 deadline, priorities for special-education leadership doctoral grants

Celia Rosenquist, a project officer at the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) at the U.S. Department of Education, outlined application requirements, deadlines and review criteria on a webinar for a discretionary grant competition to prepare special education and early intervention administrators.

The notice inviting applications for the competition was published in the Federal Register on May 27, 2025, and "all applications are due on Thursday, 06/26/2025, no later than 11:59 and 59 seconds in the evening," Rosenquist said, adding that the deadline is Eastern Time and that applicants should confirm the corresponding time zone for their submission.

The competition targets doctoral-degree programs that train personnel to serve in leadership roles — examples Rosenquist gave include "special education administrators, special education directors, school-based special education directors, preschool coordinators and early intervention coordinators." She said OSEP anticipates making six awards to individual institutions of higher education, though the total number could vary depending on partnership applications.

Applicants must follow the notice and the application instructions on grants.gov.…