Title I, Part A Eligibility Dashboard

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About the Dashboard:

The dashboard below provides information on school system eligibility for Title I, Part A. Before using the dashboard, school systems are encouraged to review the following background information on Title I, Part A grant eligibility:

Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE)

The authorizing statute dictates that US Census Bureau ages 5 to 17 poverty and population counts are the primary data used to determine school system Title I, Part A eligibility and entitlement/allocation amounts. The US Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program releases this data annually in December/January.

SAIPE program estimates are based on data from the American Community Survey, Federal income tax returns, SNAP, decennial Census updates, Supplemental Security Income recipients, and economic data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. SAIPE program estimates are used to estimate the number of "formula children" from families whose income is below the federal definition of poverty within each school district.

Note: Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 (school year (SY) 2026-2027) Title I, Part A entitlements use "SAIPE School District Estimates for 2024" data.
Important: This data has not been adjusted to account for charter school and inter-district transfers.

Federal/Census Poverty vs. PEIMS low-income/Free and Reduced Priced Lunch

The federal definition of poverty is entirely different to the definition of PEIMS low-income/free and reduced priced lunch (FRPL).

Example: In FY 2027 (SY 2026-2027), a family of four must have an income of less than $33,000 to meet the federal (census) definition of poverty, but the same family with an income of less than $61,050 would meet the FRPL/PEIMS low-income definition.

Formula Children, Census Population, and Formula Children Percentage

Per federal statute, formula children are:

The number of children aged 5 through 17 that reside within a school district and whose family unit income is at or below the federal definition of poverty.
The number of state reported children living in foster care.
The number of state reported children served in institutions for neglected and delinquent children.

Per federal statute, census population is:

The number of children aged 5 through 17 that reside within a school district.

Per federal statute, formula children percentage is:

The number of formula children is divided by the census population.

Eligibility Criteria

Title I, Part A is comprised of four separate grants, each with their own eligibility criteria as outlined below:

Basic Grant
1. The school system must have at least 10 formula children; and,
2. The number of formula children must exceed 2% of the school system's total census population of children aged 5 through 17
Concentration Grant
1. The school system must be eligible for a Basic Grant; and
2. The number of formula children must exceed 6,500 or exceed 15% of the school system's total census population of children aged 5 through 17.
Targeted Grant
1. The school system must have at least 10 formula children; and
2. The number of formula children must be greater than 5% of the school system's total census population of children aged 5 through 17.
Education Finance Incentive Grant (EFIG)
1. The school system must have at least 10 formula children; and
2. The number of formula children must be greater than 5% of the school system's total census population of children aged 5 through 17.

Neglected Share
If a school system has an amount in the "neglected share" data field, this is the amount of its Title I, Part A entitlement generated by the neglected facility that the school system indicated it was serving on the SC9000 eGrants data collection form. If the school system elects not to serve the neglected facility, the school system will no longer be eligible to receive the neglected share, which will result in a reduction in the overall Title I, Part A entitlement for the school system.

Download 2026-2027 Title I, Part A Eligibility Data

Explanation of Notes Within Each Column

Eligibility (Yes/No) column

Yes: The school system is eligible for the individual grant, i.e., Basic, Concentrated, Targeted, and EFIG.
No: The school system is NOT eligible for the individual grant, i.e., Basic, Concentrated, Targeted, and EFIG.
Hold Harmless Year 1: This is the first year that the school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the Concentration grant (15 percent formula children or 6,500 formula children). If the school system does not regain eligibility for the Concentration grant, the school system will receive its hold-harmless amount this year, and for the next three years for a total of four years after the school system no longer meets the eligibility requirement for the concentration grant. However, in the fifth year that the school system does not meet the eligibility requirement, it will not receive an entitlement for the concentration grant, which will result in an approximately ten percent reduction in the school system's total Title I, Part A entitlement.
Hold Harmless Year 2: This is the second year that the school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the Concentration grant (15 percent formula children or 6,500 formula children). If the school system does not regain eligibility for the Concentration grant, the school system will receive its hold-harmless amount this year, and for the next two years for a total of four years after the school system no longer meets the eligibility requirement for the concentration grant. However, in the fifth year that the school system does not meet the eligibility requirement, it will not receive an entitlement for the concentration grant, which will result in an approximately ten percent reduction in the school system's total Title I, Part A entitlement.
Hold Harmless Year 3: This is the third year that the school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the Concentration grant (15 percent formula children or 6,500 formula children). If the school system does not regain eligibility for the Concentration grant, the school system will receive its hold-harmless amount this year, and next year for a total of four years after the school system no longer meets the eligibility requirement for the concentration grant. However, in the fifth year that the school system does not meet the eligibility requirement, it will not receive an entitlement for the concentration grant, which will result in an approximately ten percent reduction in the school system's total Title I, Part A entitlement.
Hold Harmless Year 4: This is the fourth year that the school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the Concentration grant (15 percent formula children or 6,500 formula children). The school system will receive its hold-harmless amount for this grant this year. However, if the school system does not meet the eligibility requirement next year, it will not receive an entitlement for the concentration grant, which will result in an approximately ten percent reduction in the school system's total Title I, Part A entitlement.

Grant Eligibility Change Compared to Prior Year column

N/A - No eligibility change: School system is eligible for the same grants as in the prior year.
Gained eligibility for Basic grant: School system gained eligibility for the Basic grant by increasing to at least ten formula children and two percent formula children. The school system will receive a Title I, Part A entitlement this year, when it did not in the prior year.
Gained eligibility for Targeted and EFIG grants: School system gained eligibility for the Targeted and EFIG grants by increasing to at least five percent formula children. This will result in a significant increase in the school system's Title I, Part A entitlement, compared to the prior year.
Gained eligibility for Concentration grant: School system increased to at least 15 percent formula children this year. This will result in an increase of approximately ten percent in the school system's Title I, Part A entitlement, compared to the prior year.
Not eligible for all four grants: The school system will not receive a Title I, Part A entitlement this year as it dropped below ten formula children or two percent formula children and is ineligible for all four grants.
Not eligible for all four grants but retain Concentration via Hold Harmless: School system is not eligible for all four grants as it has less than ten formula children and/or less than two percent formula children. However, the school system retains eligibility for the concentration grant via hold harmless. The school system will experience an approximately 90 percent reduction in their Title I, Part A entitlement compared to the prior year.
Not eligible for Concentration but retain funding via Hold Harmless: School systems should refer to the Hold Harmless Year 1/2/3/4 notes related to the "Eligibility" column outlined above.
Lost Concentration eligibility (but retain Basic, Targeted, and EFIG): This is the fifth year that the school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the Concentration grant (15 percent formula children/6,500 formula children). The school system will experience a reduction of approximately ten percent in their total Title I, Part A entitlement compared to the prior year.
Lost Targeted and EFIG eligibility (but retain Basic): The school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the Targeted and EFIG grants due to dropping below five percent formula children. This will result in the school system experiencing an approximately 50 percent reduction in their total Title I, Part A entitlement compared to the prior year.

Reason for Grant Eligibility Change column

N/A - No eligibility change: School system is eligible for the same grants as the prior year.
Less than 10 formula children: The school system has less than 10 formula children in the current year.
Less than 2% formula children: The school system has less than two percent formula children in the current year.
Less than 5% formula children: The school system has less than five percent formula children in the current year.
Increased to at least 15%/6,500 formula children: The school gained eligibility for the concentration grant in the current year by increasing to 6,500 formula children and/or 15 percent formula children.
First year below 15%/6,500 formula children: This is the first year the school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the concentration grant but will receive its hold harmless amount.
Second year below 15%/6,500 formula children: This is the second year the school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the concentration grant but will receive its hold harmless amount.
Third year below 15%/6,500 formula children: This is the third year the school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the concentration grant but will receive its hold harmless amount.
Fourth year below 15%/6,500 formula children: This is the fourth year the school system did not meet the eligibility criteria for the concentration grant but will receive its hold harmless amount. Note: If the school system does not regain eligibility for the concentration grant next year, then it will not receive an entitlement for the concentration grant, which will result in an approximately ten percent reduction in the school system's total Title I, Part A entitlement.
5th year below 15%/6,500 formula children: The school system did not receive an entitlement for the concentration grant as this is the fifth year that it did not meet the eligibility criteria.