Department of Education Uniform Administrative Grant Requirements — ED's Implementation of 2 CFR Part 200 for Education Grantees

Legal Authority

• 20 U.S.C. § 1221e-3 — General Education Provisions Act (GEPA): authorizes the Secretary of Education to prescribe regulations for all grant programs under the Secretary's jurisdiction; basis for ED's authority to adopt and supplement the Uniform Guidance
• 2 CFR Part 200 — OMB Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance): the government-wide framework that ED adopts by reference through Part 3474
• 2 CFR Part 3474 — Department of Education uniform administrative requirements: ED's adoption of the Uniform Guidance plus three ED-specific additions (faith-based organizations, open licensing, and exception authority)

Key Mechanics

Part 3474 functions as an overlay on the Uniform Guidance: it formally adopts 2 CFR Part 200 for all ED grantees while adding three significant ED-specific requirements. The faith-based organization rules (§ 3474.10) implement the principle of equal treatment while protecting religious autonomy — a balance that requires faith-based grantees to separate explicitly religious activities from federally funded services. The open licensing requirement (§ 3474.20) applies to competitively awarded grants announced after February 21, 2017, and requires a worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable open license on all new copyrightable works created with grant funds. The Secretary's exception authority (§ 3474.100) allows deviation from most Uniform Guidance requirements for individual grantees in unusual circumstances, but Single Audit requirements (Subpart F of Part 200) are never eligible for exceptions.

Current Rule (2026)

What This Rule Does

All federal agencies that award grants must follow the government-wide grants management framework established in 2 CFR Part 200 — the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (commonly called the "Uniform Guidance" or "Super Circular"). But agencies can — and often do — add additional requirements, grant exceptions, or modify certain provisions for their specific program contexts.

Two CFR Part 3474 is the Department of Education's implementation of this framework. By adopting 2 CFR Part 200, ED makes the government-wide grant management rules official requirements for all ED grantees. Part 3474 also adds three significant ED-specific provisions that apply on top of the baseline 2 CFR Part 200 framework: rules for faith-based organizations, open licensing requirements for competitively awarded grants, and ED's exception authority.

Any entity receiving ED grants — school districts, universities, states, nonprofits, and other educational organizations — must comply with both 2 CFR Part 200 and the additional ED-specific requirements in Part 3474.

Key Provisions

• § 3474.1 — Adoption of 2 CFR Part 200: ED formally adopts 2 CFR Part 200 (the Uniform Guidance) with two exceptions: (a) 2 CFR 200.102(a) (which allows agencies to establish exceptions to Part 200) is not adopted; and (b) 2 CFR 200.207(a) (certain high-risk determination provisions) is modified; the legal authority for the adopted rules is 20 U.S.C. §§ 1221e-3 and 3474 and 2 CFR Part 200
• § 3474.5 — High-risk conditions: the Secretary or a pass-through entity may designate specific program requirements listed in 2 CFR Part 200.207 as "high-risk conditions" for particular grantees; an organization can also be designated as "high-risk" if it must comply with specific conditions imposed under this provision
• § 3474.10 — Faith-based organizations: grantees and subgrantees must treat faith-based organizations the same as other private organizations when selecting contractors to provide federally funded direct services; award decisions must be merit-based, free of political influence, and free from discrimination based on religion; faith-based organizations retain their religious identity, name, symbols, governance, beliefs, and employment practices while receiving ED funds; the religious employer's exemption under Title VII (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-1, allowing religious organizations to hire co-religionists) is not waived by receipt of ED grants; however, contractors providing direct federal services must keep explicitly religious activities (worship, religious instruction, proselytization) separate from funded activities in time or place, and participation must be voluntary; beneficiaries may not be denied services because of their religion; grantees must monitor subgrantees for compliance; intermediaries selecting service providers must ensure subrecipients follow these rules
• § 3474.20 — Open licensing: grantees awarded competitive ED grants announced after February 21, 2017, must openly license any new copyrightable works created wholly or partly with those grant funds; the required license must be worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, and irrevocable; it must permit the public to access, copy, perform, display, distribute, and make derivative works, at minimum; grantees may choose any qualifying open license (including licenses that restrict to noncommercial use); the license must include a clear permissions symbol, machine-readable code for digital files, easily accessible legal terms, and required attribution and disclaimer; grantees must have a plan for sharing openly licensed works; exceptions to open licensing requirements apply for: grants for general operating expenses; individual awards (scholarships, fellowships); works not created with ED funds; peer-reviewed scholarly publications from funded scientific research; certain Ready To Learn Television program awards; joint grants where other federal agencies do not require open licensing; Secretary-approved exceptions; and situations where open licensing would conflict with existing intellectual property rights (trademark, trade secret, patent)
• § 3474.30 — Severability: if any provision is held invalid, the remaining provisions continue in effect and apply to other persons, actions, and circumstances
• § 3474.100 — Exception authority: the Secretary may approve exceptions to most provisions of 2 CFR Part 200 for specific groups of awards or recipients; OPM consultation is required before granting exceptions; exceptions may not be granted when prohibited by law; Subpart F (Single Audit requirements) is never eligible for exceptions; exceptions are available only in unusual situations to maintain uniformity; approved exceptions are posted on the OMB website

How It Affects You

Schools, school districts, states, and nonprofits receiving ED grants — Title I funds, IDEA grants, Pell Grant administration, TRIO program grants, and others — must comply with 2 CFR Part 200 (the Uniform Guidance) AND the additional ED requirements in Part 3474. If you were not previously familiar with 2 CFR Part 200, your ED grant agreement and program-specific regulations will reference it; Part 3474 confirms that ED has officially adopted those requirements.

Open licensing is a significant and often overlooked compliance requirement. If your organization received a competitive ED grant announced after February 21, 2017, any new copyrightable materials you create with those grant funds must be released under an open license. This includes curriculum materials, training resources, software, and other original works. The open license applies to the funded work itself — materials your organization owned before the grant and materials created without grant funds are not subject to the requirement.

Faith-based organizations receiving ED grants or subgrants must maintain clear separation between explicitly religious activities and the federally funded program. Curriculum materials, tutoring, counseling, and other direct services funded by ED grants must be provided without requiring religious participation. Your organization's religious hiring practices are not affected by the grant, but the services you deliver with ED funds must be available to all eligible beneficiaries regardless of their religion.

Pass-through entities (typically states or large districts) that distribute ED funds to local recipients are responsible for ensuring their subgrantees comply with Part 3474's faith-based and open-licensing requirements. Including compliance provisions in your sub-award agreements — and monitoring subgrantee compliance — is your responsibility as a pass-through entity.

High-risk designation under § 3474.5 can impose additional monitoring, reporting, and compliance requirements on grantees. If ED has designated you or your program as high-risk, you may face more frequent audits, prior approval requirements for certain expenditures, and enhanced reporting obligations.

Statutory Authority

This rule implements:

• 20 U.S.C. § 1221e — General Education Provisions Act; authorizes the Secretary of Education to prescribe regulations governing the administration of education programs and the expenditure of federal education funds
• 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb — Religious Freedom Restoration Act; the faith-based organization provisions in § 3474.10 reflect the constitutional and statutory framework governing the relationship between government funding and religious organizations

Recent Rulemakings

ED updated Part 3474 in 2020 (85 FR 82125, 82126) and 2021 (82 FR 7397). The 2020 update revised the faith-based organization requirements. Earlier amendments established the open licensing requirement (effective February 21, 2017).

Implementing Regulations

The companion federal education grants framework for state formula programs operates under 34 CFR Part 76 — State-Administered Formula Grant Programs (112 sections across 9 subparts). While 2 CFR Part 3474 establishes ED's baseline grant management requirements for all grantees, Part 76 applies specifically to the state-administered formula grant programs that constitute the bulk of federal K-12 education funding — Title I, IDEA state grants, Title II (teacher quality), Title III (English language acquisition), Title IV (student support and academic enrichment), and dozens of other programs. These formula programs collectively distribute over $35 billion annually to states, which then subgrant the funds to approximately 13,000 local educational agencies (school districts).

• § 76.1 — Programs covered: Part 76 applies to every state-administered formula grant program of the Department of Education; where a specific program's implementing regulations conflict with Part 76, the program-specific regulations control; Part 76 fills administrative gaps for programs that lack their own implementing regulations
• §§ 76.101–76.104 — State plans: a state making subgrants to local educational agencies must have an approved state plan on file with the Secretary before ED will obligate funds; the plan must meet the requirements of section 441 of GEPA (20 U.S.C. § 1231b) and include certifications that (a) the plan is submitted by the eligible state agency, (b) the agency has authority to receive and administer the funds, (c) the plan meets applicable legal requirements, (d) funds will be used as required, and (e) the state will comply with all conditions of the grant; state plans are multiyear documents — the Secretary determines the plan period unless statute or regulation specifies otherwise
• § 76.106 — Public inspection: states must make the following documents available for public inspection: all state plans and related official materials; all approved subgrant applications; and all documents the Secretary transmits to the state regarding the program; this transparency requirement enables community members to review how states plan to use federal education funds before and after those plans are implemented
• § 76.500 — Nondiscrimination conditions: every state and subgrantee must comply with a comprehensive set of civil rights and nondiscrimination statutes as a condition of receiving ED formula grants — including Title VI (race, color, national origin), Title IX (sex discrimination in education), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (disability), the Age Discrimination Act, IDEA (disability in special education), and any constitutional protections; compliance with these laws is enforced through the Office for Civil Rights review process and, ultimately, through fund termination proceedings under GEPA § 444
• § 76.532 — No use for religion: no state or subgrantee may use its grant or subgrant funds to pay for religious worship, instruction, or proselytization, or for equipment or supplies to be used for those activities; this reflects the constitutional establishment clause requirements that apply to any federally funded education program
• §§ 76.560–76.569 — Indirect cost rates and the "restricted rate": formula grant programs with statutory supplement-not-supplant requirements (prohibiting states from using federal funds to replace state or local funds that would otherwise be spent) must use a "restricted indirect cost rate" — a reduced rate that excludes general administrative costs that could otherwise be considered allowable overhead but would effectively allow indirect supplanting; the restricted rate formula (§ 76.564) equals general management costs plus fixed costs divided by other expenditures; this provision prevents the mechanical application of standard indirect cost rates from undermining the supplement-not-supplant requirements central to programs like Title I
• §§ 76.700–76.702 — Administrative responsibilities: states and subgrantees must (a) comply with all applicable statutes, regulations, plans, and approved applications; (b) directly administer or supervise each project funded under the grant (no delegation of administrative oversight to private parties); and (c) maintain fiscal control and fund accounting procedures that ensure proper disbursement of and accounting for federal funds — the standard federal financial accountability requirements that apply to every ED grantee
• § 76.703 — When states may obligate funds: the Secretary may establish a date by which a state must submit its state plan; a state may not obligate funds before the Secretary has approved the plan or before the date the state may begin obligating funds under the program's authorizing statute; this prevents states from spending federal education funds before committing to how those funds will be used
• §§ 76.707–76.709 — When obligations are made and carryover: obligations are made on the date a state makes a binding written commitment for property, or on the date of performance for services; if a state or subgrantee does not obligate all funds by the end of the fiscal year for which Congress appropriated them, the state may obligate the remaining funds during a one-year carryover period; unobligated funds at the end of the carryover period must be returned to the Secretary; carryover funds are subject to the statutes and regulations in effect during the carryover period, not necessarily the period of original appropriation

Subpart H — Charter school fund allocation (§§ 76.785–76.799): a state or local educational agency that receives formula grant funds under programs subject to Part 76 must allocate a proportionate share of those funds to public charter schools and the students they serve; the allocation must be equitable and proportionate to the charter school's share of the LEA's or state's student population; charter schools may not receive less than the proportionate share that would be required if they were a separate LEA; this subpart operationalizes the statutory requirement in numerous education laws to ensure charter school students have access to services funded by formula grants.

Part 76 governs the administrative pipeline through which virtually all federal K-12 education funding flows. The three-level chain — ED to state to LEA — creates layered compliance obligations: the state must have an approved plan, must pass through funds to LEAs through an equitable subgrant process, and must monitor LEA compliance while itself meeting all federal conditions. The interaction between Part 76 and 2 CFR Part 200 is managed by § 76.530, which cross-references Part 200's cost principles; for programs with supplement-not-supplant requirements, the restricted indirect cost rate under §§ 76.563–76.569 modifies the standard Part 200 indirect cost calculation. Program-specific regulations (34 CFR Parts 200, 300, 461, and others) add requirements on top of Part 76's general framework. Most recent major rulemaking: 34 CFR Part 76 has been amended incrementally as Congress has reauthorized programs — the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015) triggered the most recent significant updates; the charter school subpart (Subpart H) was amended by 34 CFR Part 76 rulemaking in 2019 (84 FR 57264).

Pending Action