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Department of Education explains SF‑424A budget form, 8% indirect cap and reporting rules for civics grant applicants
Summary
Department officials walked applicants through the required SF‑424A budget form, the new budget narrative expectations, an 8% restricted indirect cost guidance for institutions without negotiated rates, restrictions on sub‑grants and required GPRA and project‑specific reporting.
The Department of Education used a webinar Q&A to walk applicants through this year’s budgeting and submission requirements for the FY2026 American History and Civics National Activities grants.
Donna DeFino, a program officer, said the competition requires the government‑wide SF‑424A budget form this year rather than the Department’s older ED‑524 form. Applicants should enter program name and assistance listing number (84.422B) in the indicated columns, provide three‑year totals in column E, and include quarterly drawdown estimates for year one. DeFino emphasized that there is no non‑federal match requirement for this competition.
DeFino and Orman Feres advised applicants to provide a detailed budget narrative that justifies each cost (personnel FTEs and percentages, fringe, travel, stipends, equipment, contractual costs and how totals align with the SF‑424A). Feres reiterated standard federal budget principles — costs must be allowable, allocable, reasonable and necessary — and warned that some categories (for example, student computers) are not allowable under this program.
Indirect costs and sub‑awards: Feres said the program uses a restricted indirect cost rate; institutions of higher education without a negotiated restricted rate may default to an 8% training indirect cost rate. He also said this competition does not allow grantees to award funds to sub‑grantees to directly carry out project activities (applicants may hire contractors for services under contractual line items).
Reasonableness and examples: presenters recommended a baseline fringe rate near 30 percent for budgeting purposes and asked applicants to itemize travel (number of trips, nights, travelers) and stipend calculations (number of recipients, amount per stipend, contact hours). Feres gave an example that paying a $2,000 stipend for a single eight‑hour event would likely be viewed as unreasonable.
Reporting and evaluation: Feres reviewed required reporting timelines — interim performance reports (IPR) mid‑year, annual performance reports (APR) and a final performance report (FPR) at project end — and said applicants must report on federal GPRA measures and any project‑specific performance measures they propose, tied to a logic model or evaluation plan. Officials clarified that neither an external evaluator nor a formal research study is required, though applicants may include external evaluation as part of evidence building.
Submission mechanics: DeFino reminded applicants that the grants.gov validation email is the official submission receipt and recommended submitting at least 48 hours early to avoid technical problems. Participants were told to maintain active SAM.gov registration and to keep help‑desk case numbers for any system issues.
Officials said they will publish the slide deck, webinar recording and a compiled Q&A on the program webpage and encouraged applicants to consult the full application notice on grants.gov for controlling instructions.
