Education Department Reopens the Grant-Priority Conversation for Public Comment
Published Date: 11/5/2026
Proposed Rule
Summary
The U.S. Department of Education wants to update its priorities to better support all kinds of learners and include new ideas from recent grant programs. These changes affect schools, educators, and organizations applying for federal education grants. You have until December 7, 2026, to share your thoughts before the updates take effect, which could influence how education funding is awarded.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Expanded education choice and STEM topics
The Expanding Education Choice priority would be revised to include technical, trade, and vocational schools in addition to public charter and other innovative school models. The Department would also expand STEM focus areas to explicitly include Super Intelligence (SI), SI literacy, and cybersecurity, and clarify that career and technical education can integrate pre-apprenticeship and Registered Apprenticeship pathways.
Strengthened apprenticeships and career pathways
Across multiple priorities, ED proposes to add or expand definitions and priorities for talent marketplaces, pre-apprenticeship, and Registered Apprenticeship; to encourage alignment of activities across the full career pathway continuum; to prioritize expansion of pre-apprenticeships and Registered Apprenticeships (including for adult learners); and to promote partnerships among employers, labor-management organizations, education and training providers, workforce boards, and community organizations to improve access, completion, credential attainment, and employment outcomes.
Federal shift from “AI” to “SI” terminology
The Department proposes to replace the terms “Artificial Intelligence” and “AI” with “Super Intelligence” and “SI” across the listed supplemental priorities and to adopt the Super Intelligence definition from President Trump’s E.O. dated September 29, 2026 (E.O. 14344). The Department would also rename related definitions (e.g., “AI literacy” to “SI literacy”) and add the SI/SI literacy definitions into the four priority notices described in this proposed rule.
More supports to access education options
The Department proposes to broaden priority language to support technical assistance for services available through scholarships supported by the Education Freedom Tax Credit (EFTC), add a new focus on expanding access to childcare and other supports for student-parents, and add a new focus promoting supports for children and youth in foster care or kinship care and their caregivers.
Governance, attendance, and workplace-aligned instruction
The Department proposes several new focuses: aligning mathematics instruction with workplace math skills identified through engagement with employers; supporting professional development and technical assistance for local school board members and superintendents to set and monitor measurable academic outcomes; building State and local capacity for governance centered on student outcomes; and adding a priority to support strategies to improve student attendance and engagement.
Explicit Tribal recognition in priorities
ED proposes to (1) include support for navigating Tribal statutes and regulations in technical assistance for charter schools and homeschooling, and (2) amend Returning Education to the States priority part (f) to allow projects carried out by entities identified, designated, or endorsed by an Indian Tribe's highest ranking elected official.
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Key Dates
Related Federal Register Documents
2026-17239, Education Department General Administrative Regulations
The Secretary of Education proposes to amend the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) and other provisions in 2 CFR parts 3474 and 3485 to update the regulations and better align them with other U.S. Department of Education (Department) regulations and procedures, and to include technical updates from the Office of Management and Budget's Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2024. The Department intends to finalize these regulations in late 2026.
2026-17001, Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization: The Secretary's Recognition of Accrediting Agencies: Institutional Eligibility Under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as Amended, Student Assistance General Provisions
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The Department of Education is changing its rules to stop punishing unintentional discrimination under Title VI, focusing only on intentional discrimination instead. This update, effective July 24, 2026, will make things clearer, cut costs for schools and organizations getting federal money, and follow a new executive order about fairness and opportunity. If you receive federal funds, these changes affect how you follow civil rights rules.
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Starting July 1, 2027, colleges must prove their programs help students earn enough money to keep getting federal student loans. This new rule affects schools offering Direct Loans and aims to stop loans for programs where graduates don’t make enough. Some parts kick in earlier on August 31, 2026, so schools better get ready to show they’re helping students succeed in the workforce!
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