Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2026: Title III, Part A: Immigrant Children and Youth

Fund Code: 0186

Purpose:

The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title III Immigrant grant provides supplemental resources to local school districts to provide enhanced instructional opportunities for immigrant children and youth.

Title III, Part A is one of four principal programs that are available to districts through formula grants under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the current reauthorization of ESEA. The other programs are Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; and Title IV, Part A.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is guided by its educational vision where:

  • All students in Massachusetts, particularly students from historically underserved groups and communities, will have equitable opportunities to excel in all content areas across all grades.

  • Culturally and linguistically sustaining classroom and school practices will support students to thrive by creating affirming environments where students have a sense of belonging, engage in deeper learning, and are held to high expectations with targeted support.

DESE partners with districts, schools, and programs to:

Cultivate systems to support the whole student and foster joyful, healthy, and supportive learning environments so that all students feel valued, connected, nourished, and ready to learn. Strategic Objective 1 — "Whole Student"

Promote deeper learning so that all students engage in grade-level work that is real-world, relevant, and interactive. Strategic Objective 2 — "Deeper Learning"

Develop and sustain a workforce that is diverse, culturally responsive, well-prepared, and committed to continuous improvement, so that all students have equitable access to effective educators. Strategic Objective 3 — "Diverse and Effective Workforce"

Applicants for this grant opportunity should be intentional in the use of grant funds to support at least one of these strategic objectives.

Priorities:

The priorities of Title III Immigrant grant are to provide enhanced instructional opportunities for immigrant children and youth that it serves. These include:

  • Family literacy, parent and family outreach, and training activities designed to assist parents and families to become active participants in the education of their children;
  • Recruitment of, and support for personnel, including teachers and paraprofessionals who have been specifically trained, or are being trained, to provide services to immigrant children and youth;
  • Provision of tutorials, mentoring, and academic or career counseling for immigrant children and youth;
  • Identification, development, and acquisition of curricular materials, educational software, and technologies to be used in the program;
  • Basic instruction services that are directly attributable to the presence of immigrant children and youth in the LEA, including the payment of costs of providing additional classroom supplies, costs of transportation, or other costs directly attributable to additional basic instruction services;
  • Other instructional services that are designed to assist immigrant children and youth to achieve in elementary and secondary schools in the U.S., such as programs of introduction to the educational system and civics education; and
  • Activities, coordinated with community-based organizations, institutions of higher education, private sector entities, or other entities with expertise in working with immigrants, to assist parents and families of immigrant children and youth by offering comprehensive community services.

In addition to the above priorities, the Title III program supports Massachusetts' goals and strategies (listed above) by enhancing grant recipients' capacity to increase students' academic achievement.

ESEA requires states and districts to implement "evidence-based" practices, activities, strategies, and interventions with demonstrated evidence of effectiveness. Evidence-based practices refer to interventions for which there is evidence of significant positive impact that may be found in published research papers, literature reviews, or MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) research briefs. Alternately, evidence-based practices can be those local practices that a district or state has previously instituted, measured, and found to be effective.

Eligibility:

Funds will be awarded to eligible districts that have met the following criteria:

  • Size of immigrant center: Needed to have 100 or more immigrant students in the district
  • Level of need among the immigrant population: The district's percentage of immigrant students who are low income needed to exceed 70%.
  • Increase in number: The number of immigrant students enrolled in school year 2026 must be at least 5 more than the average of the prior two years
  • Increase in percentage: The percentage of immigrant students enrolled in school year 2026 must be at least 5% higher than the average of the prior two years

Please note: ESSA defines "immigrant children and youth" as individuals, who were not born in the United States of America, and who are in his/her first three years of schooling in the United States. For making this determination, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are considered states. A student can be designated as both immigrant and EL for three years. After three years the student can still be designated as EL, if they meet EL eligibility criteria, but can no longer be designated as an immigrant student.

Funding Type:

Federal CFDA: 84.365

Federal grant funds must adhere to:

  • UGG (2 CFR 200)
  • EDGAR As Applicable
  • EDGAR General Fiscal Administration 34 CFR Part 76
Funding:

An estimated $893,563 will be available for immigrant subgrants to eligible entities. The list of districts eligible for the FY26 Immigrant grant and allocations will be posted on the Grants Management website when it becomes available.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available for allocations, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

Fund Use:

Under the statute, (ESEA Section 3115 (e)), a district must use the Title III Immigrant Grant to provide enhanced instructional opportunities for immigrant children and youth. Please see the list of activities in the section above labeled, "Priorities." We encourage a district that receives these funds to prioritize activities that will meet the unique needs of the immigrant children and youth enrolled in the district, as well as families of these students.

Title III funds, including the Immigrant grant, must be used to supplement the level of local, state, and federal funds that, in the absence of Title III funds, would otherwise be expended for programs for EL and immigrant children and youth and in no case supplant such federal, state, and local funds.

There is a maximum 2% cap on direct administrative costs, and a suggested maximum 20% for supplies and materials, and 15% for travel.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval (No Earlier than 7/1/2025)* – 9/30/2027**

*The grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable application submission as directed in the Submission Instructions of this RFP. Funds cannot be obligated beyond the project duration end date.

**The obligation end date on these grant funds covers multiple state fiscal years. Grantees should obligate and expend grant funding throughout the grant lifecycle. Grant balances can be liquidated on this award through November 30, 2027, using the reimbursement request form.

Grantees must file a Final Expenditure Report (FER) to close out the grant by December 31, 2027. Grantees may file FERs ahead of this deadline if grant funds have been paid in full across each section of the consolidated grant and/or the obligation end date has passed, whichever comes first. If grant funds are not liquidated by November 30, 2027, the FER filing can be used to claim final balances if it is submitted by December 31, 2027.

Program Unit:

Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning

Contact:

Federal Grants

Phone Number:

(781) 338-6230

Date Due:

Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Required Forms:

Title III, Part A Immigrant Grant Affirmation of Consultation with Participating Nonprofit Private Schools — If the private school chooses to participate in receiving equitable services, a completed and signed version of this form must be uploaded as part of the Immigrant Grant Application in the Grant Education Management System (GEM$).

Additional Information:

Non-Regulatory Guidance: English Learners and Title III of the ESEA, as amended by the ESSA.

Title III, Part A Immigrant Grant Quick Reference Guide

Title III, Part A Quick Reference Guide on allowable and unallowable costs

GEM$ Submission Instructions:

The FY26 Fund Code 0186 Immigrant Children & Youth Grant Application must be accessed and completed in the Grants for Education Management System (GEM$). GEM$ is a cloud-based fiscal and program management grant system that will be taking the place of EdGrants.

Please Note: Grant Submission at the LEA level requires roles to be established for Grant writer for the specific fund code, LEA fiscal for financial review/approval, and Superintendent/Chief Executive sign off. All these roles should be established prior to the grant due date and all appropriate forms should be either uploaded to GEM$, maintained at the C level, or sent in to the DESE RFP contact as described on the individual forms. The user guidance documents and forms are found on the GEM$ homepage under DESE Resources. These forms can be accessed without logging in to the system.

Last Updated: February 4, 2026

Top