The purpose of the Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions (NASNTI) Program is to support institutions of education in their effort to increase their self-sufficiency by improving academic programs, institutional management, and fiscal stability.
The NASNTI Title III, Part A and Part F Program provides grants and related assistance to Native American-Serving Nontribal Institutions to enable these institutions to improve and expand their capacity to serve Native Americans and low-income individuals by increasing their self-sufficiency in improving academic programs, institutional management, and fiscal stability.
For FY16, NASNTI has one absolute priority, two competitive preference priorities, and one invitational priority:
Absolute Priority: Supporting High-Need Students. Projects that are designed to improve: (i) Academic outcomes; (ii) Learning environments; or (iii) Both, (b) For one or more of the following groups of students: (i) High-need students. (ii) Students with disabilities. (iii) English learners. (iv) Disconnected youth or migrant youth. (v) Low-skilled adults. (vi) Students who are members of federally recognized Indian tribes.
High-need means students who are at risk of educational failure or otherwise in need of special assistance and support, such as students who are living in poverty, who attend high-minority schools, who are far below grade level, who have left school before receiving a regular high school diploma, who are at risk of not graduating with a diploma on time, who are homeless, who are in foster care, who have been incarcerated, who have disabilities, or who are English learners.
Competitive Preference Priority 1 (One additional point): Applications supported by evidence of effectiveness that meets the conditions set out in the definition of ‘‘evidence of promise.’’
Evidence of promise means there is empirical evidence to support the theoretical linkage(s) between at least one critical component and at least one relevant outcome presented in the logic model for the proposed process, product, strategy, or practice.
Competitive Preference Priority 2 (Three additional points): Applications supported by evidence of effectiveness that meets the conditions set out in the definition of ‘‘moderate evidence of effectiveness.’’
Moderate evidence of effectiveness means one of the following conditions is met: (i) There is at least one study of the effectiveness of the process, product, strategy, or practice being proposed that meets the What Works Clearinghouse Evidence Standards without reservations, found a statistically significant favorable impact on a relevant outcome (with no statistically significant and overriding unfavorable impacts on that outcome for relevant populations in the study or in other studies of the intervention reviewed by and reported on by the What Works Clearinghouse), and includes a sample that overlaps with the populations or settings proposed to receive the process, product, strategy, or practice. (ii) There is at least one study of the effectiveness of the process, product, strategy, or practice being proposed that meets the What Works Clearinghouse Evidence Standards with reservations, found a statistically significant favorable impact on a relevant outcome (with no statistically significant and overriding unfavorable impacts on that outcome for relevant populations in the study or in other studies of the intervention reviewed by and reported on by the What Works Clearinghouse), includes a sample that overlaps with the populations or settings proposed to receive the process, product, strategy, or practice, and includes a large sample and a multi-site sample.
Invitational Priority: Projects that support activities that strengthen Native American language preservation and revitalization