CFDA Number: 84.376
Also Known As: AC Grants; ACG; SMART Grants

The Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 created two need-based grant programs to complement the Federal Pell Grant Program (# 84.063, also under topical heading Federal Student Aid):

1. Academic Competitiveness Grants (ACG), awarded to first- and second-year undergraduates who completed a rigorous high school curriculum (the Department posts a list of rigorous high school programs on the Web, see Links to Related Websites below). To receive an ACG, a first-year student must have completed secondary school after Jan. 1, 2006; and not have been enrolled in an ACG-eligible program while at or below the age of compulsory school attendance (unless the ACG-eligible classes were also part of his or her high school program). A second-year student must have completed secondary school after Jan. 1, 2005, and have at least a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) as of the end of the first year of undergraduate study.
2. National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grants, awarded to third-, fourth-, and fifth-year undergraduates who are majoring in technical fields, critical foreign languages, or who are in a qualifying liberal arts program. The student must have at least a 3.0 GPA for all classes taken in the program as of the most recently completed payment period.

To be eligible for either grant, a student must be eligible for a Pell Grant (see Federal Pell Grant Program, # 84.063, also under topical heading Federal Student Aid) for that award year (as indicated above) and be enrolled at least half-time.

For more information, visit http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/
students/english/SmartGrants.jsp.