Frequently Asked Questions

A: The main objective is to streamline equitable pathways from high school to postsecondary education and into the workforce.

A: The Regional K-16 Education Collaborative Grants are made possible by a $250 million appropriation to the Department of General Services (DGS) as stated in the California Budget Act of 2021.

A: The total award amount for the K-16 Inland Empire Educational Collaborative was $18,130,000 as part of Phase 1 Grant Awards. Learn more.

A: Yes, Phase 1 Grant Awards were awarded to a total of 9 regional collaboratives throughout the state of California. Learn more.

A: Inland Empire Regional K-16 Education Collaborative will focus on Business, Education, Engineering and Healthcare pathways.

A: The Inland Empire Regional K-16 Education Collaborative will seek to address the following Recovery with Equity Recommendations through this work:

● Cultivate inclusive, engaging, and equity-oriented learning environment

● Retain students through inclusive support

● Provide high-tech, high-touch advising

● Support college preparation and early credit

A: Leveraging the range of expertise, leadership and talents from throughout the region, the Inland Empire Regional K-16 Education Collaborative structure will include three core groups: The Steering Committee, an Interagency Council, and Individual Pathways Workgroups.

A: The Steering Committee serves as the Executive Leadership Team and consists of K-16 partners and workforce leaders. The Steering Committee provides final approval on sub-awards based on recommendations made by the Interagency Council.

A: The Interagency Council serves as the agency between the Steering Committee and the Individual Pathway Workgroups. The Interagency Council is responsible for developing the RFP process, reviewing sub-award applications proposals and making recommendations to the Steering Committee for final approval on funding.

A: Individual Pathway Workgroups are industry-specific (business, education, engineering, and healthcare) and composed of sub-award grantees who come together to discuss implementation of funded projects.

A: The Inland Empire K-16 Regional Education Collaborative’s goal is to streamline equitable pathways for students pursuing Business, Education, Engineering and Healthcare from high school to postsecondary education and into the workforce in the Inland Empire.

A: The Inland Empire K-16 Regional Education Collaborative will distribute the funds through subawards to K-16 institutions to build capacity and pathways, increase collaborative efforts, explore change ideas, develop student workforce opportunities, and expand services.

A: Examples of project proposals include pre-apprenticeship development, apprenticeship development, student internships, experiential learning trips, student technology, bussing for regional events, community outreach, adult and family events, curriculum redesign, transfer outreach and advising, and other innovative change ideas. There are many other examples and we encourage you to reach out to our collaborative for support as you write your application.

A: Eligible regional partners must meet the requirements outlined in the RFP guidelines and must complete the project proposal application. For more information see the RFP guidelines.

The budget template is made available through the project proposal application HERE. The budget template is the last question on the application form.

A quick link to the budget template can also be found HERE.

See page 5 of the RFP Guidelines HERE for information on eligible applicants.

No. The application deadline is Friday, November 17, 2023 and we do not anticipate extending the deadline.

This is possible, but requires consultation for approval. If the requested budget modification supports the overall project goal as approved in the application and the changes do not negatively impact the project implementation timeline, this could be considered.

No. The expectation is that each sub-award project proposal clearly identify the target pathways and implement project during the proposed period plan as indicated in the project proposal application. The sub-award lead recipient is expected to ensure such takes place.

No. Matching is not required.

Yes. For the pathway of education depending on the scope of the engagement with the industry partner, the industry partner and K-12 partner may be the same. The partnership and scope of work with the industry partner should be framed in such a way that the roles are distinct.

Yes. No restrictions have been set for applying for multiple rounds.

Additional rounds are likely, but will depend on the funder approving for additional rounds of funding. We have not determined deadlines for additional rounds.

Paid student apprentices/internships are permissible as long as they are connected to a career pathway selected in your proposal and linked to the workforce development industry in your proposal. Stipends for extracurricular experiential learning can also fall into this category, but once again should be tied to the pathway and workforce development industry selected.

No. Tuition, fees or scholarships are not allowed as a budgetary expense for this grant.

For proposals composed of a single K-12 district project proposals, one eligible post-secondary education partner (i.e., CCC or CSU or UC), the budget requested range can be between $100K and 500K.

Business management would be considered a business pathway. For the pathway of business, depending on the scope of the pathway curriculum and industry partners, the industry could include areas that include programs leading to business ownerships in the areas of construction, heating, ventilation and HVAC.

Yes. Funding can be used for stipends for career staff that support the program.

The proposal guidelines documents is essentially a comprehensive list of the project proposal application and includes additional information for each question. Access the proposal guidelines document HERE.

The project proposal application is a Google form that allows for auto-saving feature but the users must be logged into their Google account for this to work.

No. Letter of support are not required.

Yes. However, the proposal must be very specific about what the equipment helps to achieve; how the equipment upgrade contributes to the overall project goals; and how ongoing costs will be sustained after the grant period ends. Note that this grant program is not intended to be used as another funding source for general facilities funding.

No. We are not requiring lead applicants to disclose in the project proposal how they plan to administer the funds.  On our end, we will be administering subawards in a fixed cost process to the lead applicant and the lead applicant will be responsible for administering funds.

An individual charter school would not be eligible to apply as lead. K-12 partners are eligible to apply at the district-level

No, this scenario indicates only one K-12 district and would be eligible to apply for up to $500K. In this scenario, adding one additional K-12 district as a partner would make the partnership eligible to apply for $1M.

Yes they can be non-CTE pathways. A good example is a teacher/education pathway that includes non-CTE courses and non-CTE partners.

Round 1 Subaward Recipients can be viewed HERE.

Request for Proposals for Round 2 will launch February 1 and the deadline for submission will be April 1, 2024.

At this time, it is not certain that there will be additional rounds of funding beyond Round 2. All interested are encouraged to apply during the current round.