Higher Education Challenge Grants Program

What the official notice requires

Pulled from the official notice FY26-HEC-NOFO-P-MOD1.pdf (37 pages) so you can see the requirements at a glance. Each item shows the notice's own words. Open the page to read it in context.

Award size and project length

• Award amounts here are per year · p. 12

  “Applicants may request a maximum of $150,000 total (not per year) for a Standard Grant application. b.” Open page 12

Registrations you need first (2)

• ASAP.gov (payments) · p. 12

  “The Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP), operated by the Department of Treasury, Bureau of Fiscal Service, is the designated payment system for awards resulting from this NOFO.” Open page 12

• Grants.gov · p. 16

  “The electronic application for this NOFO and additional resources are available on Grants.gov and Grants 101.” Open page 16

The deadline is in 8 days. If your registration isn't already active, it may not be ready in time, so check it today. Get-ready checklist

What to submit

• Form SF-424 · p. 17

  “Part IV Provide an accurate email address, where designated, on the SF-424 R&R.” Open page 17

• Project abstract or summary · p. 18

  “N/A Required N/A R&R Personal Data N/A Recommended N/A SF-424 (Budget) N/A Required N/A R&R Sub-award Budget Attachment N/A Required (for CG1 and CG2) N/A Attachment Uploads 1) Project Summary (PS) ProjectSummary.pdf Required 250 words 2) Project Narrative…” Open page 18

• Logic model · p. 18

  “Required (for resubmissions only) 2- pages 2c) Logic Model Include as final page of Project Narrative.” Open page 18

• Evaluation plan · p. 22

  “The project budget must include funds to hire an external evaluator, or the evaluation plan must provide compelling evidence that a qualified evaluator is already on staff and available to support assessment and evaluation activities throughout the duration…” Open page 22

• Budget narrative / justification · p. 23

  “In addition to the separate, required budget forms and budget justification, discuss how the budget specifically supports the proposed project activities.” Open page 23

• Timeline or schedule of completion · p. 24

  “These activities must be integrated into the overall project timeline.” Open page 24

Length limits

• PS: 250 words max · p. 19

  “The PS is limited to 250 words.” Open page 19

• Page limit (see quote): 5 pages max · p. 19

  “In addition, up to 5 double-spaced pages can be used for figures and tables.” Open page 19

• Page limit (see quote): 2 pages max · p. 20

  “(1) a double- spaced, 2-page maximum of two-page response to the previous review.” Open page 20

• Previous Review: 20 pages max · p. 20

  “The Response to Previous Review does not count against the 20-page limit of the PN. c.” Open page 20

Formatting rules

• 1-inch margins, double-spaced · p. 19

  “The maximum length for the PN is 20 pages of written text, double-spaced with 1-inch margins and a font size of 12.” Open page 19

• double-spaced · p. 19

  “In addition, up to 5 double-spaced pages can be used for figures and tables.” Open page 19

• single-spaced · p. 19

  “Tables and figures with accompanying written text (e.g., image caption or figure description) should have a font size of at least 11 points and can be single-spaced.” Open page 19

Cost share or match

• Cost share / match · p. 15

  “Cost Sharing or Matching No Match Required - The HEC program has no matching requirement.” Open page 15

• Cost share / match · p. 15

  “While not required, cost share is encouraged.” Open page 15

Mistakes that get applications rejected (1)

• Duplicate application: Planning Activity application resubmissions will not be accepted. · p. 12

  “Planning Activity application resubmissions will not be accepted.” Open page 12