Program Overview

The Title IV, Part A (Title IV-A) Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program (SSAE) was authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015. The Title IV-A program is intended to improve students’ academic achievement by increasing the capacity of states, local education agencies (LEAs), schools, and local communities to (1) provide all students with access to a well-rounded education, (2) improve school conditions for student learning, and (3) improve the use of technology in order to improve the academic achievement and digital literacy of all students.

Program Administration

• State Use of Funds: States allocate at least 95 percent of their Title IV-A funds to LEAs. States may reserve up to 5 percent of the allocation for state-level activities, including no more than 1 percent for administrative costs.
• LEA Applications: States allocate funds to LEAs in proportion to their prior-year Title I, Part A allocations. If approved, LEAs receive a minimum of $10,000. LEAs receiving more than $30,000 must conduct a comprehensive needs assessment and use the results to justify spending requests in all three program areas in the following way: at least 20 percent for Well-Rounded Education (WRE), at least 20 percent for Safe and Healthy Schools (SHS), and some portion for Effective Use of Technology (EUT). LEAs may spend no more than 15 percent of EUT funds on technology infrastructure purchases.

Allocation Information

• Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Total Allocation: $400 million
• FY 2018 Total Allocation: $1.1 billion
• FY 2019 Total Allocation: $1.17 billion

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development released the report Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants: A First Look at Activities Supported Under Title IV, Part A, which provides an overview of the ways in which state education agencies (SEAs) and LEAs spend Title IV-A funds. This is the first available national snapshot on how these funds are spent. It found that

• 47 states collectively reserved $41 million for state-level activities.
• 29 states reported using funds for monitoring and other cross-cutting activities.
• Approximately 82 percent of LEAs received Title IV-A funds in FY 2018.
• 31 percent of LEAs receiving Title IV-A funds in FY 2018 received at least $30,000.

The study found that states used the funds in the following ways:

• 34 states used funds to support WRE.
• 39 states used funds to support SHS.
• 23 states used funds to support EUT.

Title IV - A Priority Content Areas

The information below provides sample activities as outlined in the Title IV-A statute that support the three priority content areas: WRE, SHS, and EUT.

Selected T4PA Center Resources:

• Developing Stakeholder Relationships to Support School Programming
• Effective Use of Technology Resource Guide for Local Education Agencies
• Preventing School Dropout Brief Resource Guide
• Selecting Evidence-Based Programs and Practices for Title IV, Part A Activities
• Key Approaches for Strengthening School Mental Health: A Primer & Resource Guide

T4PA Center