The purpose of the Rural and Low-Income School - Specially Qualified Agency Program (RLIS-SQA) program is to provide rural districts with financial assistance for initiatives aimed at improving student achievement. The grant is non-competitive, and eligibility is determined by statute. Awards are issued annually to local educational agencies (LEAs) that meet the applicable requirements.
Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) Program vs. Rural and Low-Income School - Specially Qualified Agency Program (RLIS-SQA)
If a State elects to not participate in the Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) program, eligible LEAs from that State are considered specially qualified agencies (SQAs) and can apply directly to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for RLIS awards. In order to be eligible, school districts must have at least 20% of the children they serve come from families with incomes below the poverty line and be located in a rural area.
Eligibility
Who is Eligible?
An LEA is eligible to participate in the RLIS-SQA program if it meets the statutory RLIS eligibility criteria described in ESEA section 5221(b)(1), and its corresponding SEA has opted not to administer the Title V-B RLIS program at the State level.
- To be considered low-income, 20% or more of the children ages five to 17 served by the LEA must be from families with incomes below the poverty line, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE). Rural non-geographic LEAs for which SAIPE data are not available that are eligible based on the same State-derived equivalent of SAIPE data that the State uses to make allocations under Part A of Title I of the ESEA, consistent with 34 C.F.R. § 200.72, are also eligible for RLIS funds.
- To be considered rural, all schools comprising the LEA must have a school locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43 (assigned by NCES), or be located in an area of the State defined as rural by a governmental agency of the State.
Master Eligibility Spreadsheet
The U.S. Department of Education annually produces a REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet (MES) to determine which LEAs are eligible for SRSA and RLIS.
Access the current FY2026 REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet
Review the MES information and contact your REAP State Coordinator with updates, if necessary. For primary and secondary contact changes for your LEA, please send updates to REAP@ed.gov. When making a contact change, send the full name and email of the person being replaced, the full name and email of the person who will be the new contact, and indicate if the new contact will be the primary or secondary contact for your LEA. Note that it may take up to a week to see that change reflected on the MES posted here.
Prior Year REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheets
Note: These historical MES spreadsheets also include final award information.
- Historical REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet FY23
- Historical REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet FY24
- Historical REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet FY25
Questions About Eligibility
If you have a question about REAP eligibility, follow the steps below:
- Locate your LEA on the FY26 Master Eligibility Spreadsheet (MES) to determine its eligibility status for the two REAP grant programs (SRSA and RLIS).
- Review the eligibility criteria for SRSA
- Review the eligibility criteria for RLIS
- If your LEA is dual-eligible, please review Frequently Asked Questions: REAP Dual-Eligible LEAs
Appropriations
View a history of congressionally-approved funding amounts for the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) by year, including a breakdown of how the REAP team distributes the funds between SRSA and RLIS.
Legislation
Regulations
The Office of Rural, Insular, and Native Achievement Programs (RINAP) is committed to supporting RLIS-SQA program grantees as they implement federal grant programs. Part of this commitment includes a monitoring process designed to not only address RINAP's responsibilities for fiscal and programmatic oversight, but to also identify areas in which grantees need assistance and support to meet their goals and obligations. The monitoring process is anchored around ongoing conversations between RINAP program officers and grantees and is conducted using both off-site (desk) monitoring, as well as on-site monitoring visits to grantees.
The goal of the monitoring process is to conduct a program-centered, performance-focused review of fiscal and program requirements through a single, streamlined process that results in improved and strengthened partnerships between the Department and grantees. To accomplish this, the RINAP monitoring process is organized into specific grant performance topics, which reflect the programmatic and fiscal requirements of the RLIS-SQA program.
Monitoring reports are provided below and assess an SQA's grant administration and fiscal management processes based on information provided through the review process, and other relevant qualitative and quantitative data. Monitoring reports are designed to communicate to SQAs and stakeholders the status of program implementation, noting areas where the SQA is excelling and areas that require attention.
Monitoring Reports: Specially Qualified Agencies (SQA)
The purpose of the Rural and Low-Income School - Specially Qualified Agency Program (RLIS-SQA) program is to provide rural districts with financial assistance for initiatives aimed at improving student achievement. The grant is non-competitive, and eligibility is determined by statute. Awards are issued annually to local educational agencies (LEAs) that meet the applicable requirements.
Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) Program vs. Rural and Low-Income School - Specially Qualified Agency Program (RLIS-SQA)
If a State elects to not participate in the Rural and Low-Income School (RLIS) program, eligible LEAs from that State are considered specially qualified agencies (SQAs) and can apply directly to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for RLIS awards. In order to be eligible, school districts must have at least 20% of the children they serve come from families with incomes below the poverty line and be located in a rural area.
Eligibility
Who is Eligible?
An LEA is eligible to participate in the RLIS-SQA program if it meets the statutory RLIS eligibility criteria described in ESEA section 5221(b)(1), and its corresponding SEA has opted not to administer the Title V-B RLIS program at the State level.
- To be considered low-income, 20% or more of the children ages five to 17 served by the LEA must be from families with incomes below the poverty line, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE). Rural non-geographic LEAs for which SAIPE data are not available that are eligible based on the same State-derived equivalent of SAIPE data that the State uses to make allocations under Part A of Title I of the ESEA, consistent with 34 C.F.R. § 200.72, are also eligible for RLIS funds.
- To be considered rural, all schools comprising the LEA must have a school locale code of 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43 (assigned by NCES), or be located in an area of the State defined as rural by a governmental agency of the State.
Master Eligibility Spreadsheet
The U.S. Department of Education annually produces a REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet (MES) to determine which LEAs are eligible for SRSA and RLIS.
Access the current FY2026 REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet
Review the MES information and contact your REAP State Coordinator with updates, if necessary. For primary and secondary contact changes for your LEA, please send updates to REAP@ed.gov. When making a contact change, send the full name and email of the person being replaced, the full name and email of the person who will be the new contact, and indicate if the new contact will be the primary or secondary contact for your LEA. Note that it may take up to a week to see that change reflected on the MES posted here.
Prior Year REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheets
Note: These historical MES spreadsheets also include final award information.
- Historical REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet FY23
- Historical REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet FY24
- Historical REAP Master Eligibility Spreadsheet FY25
Questions About Eligibility
If you have a question about REAP eligibility, follow the steps below:
- Locate your LEA on the FY26 Master Eligibility Spreadsheet (MES) to determine its eligibility status for the two REAP grant programs (SRSA and RLIS).
- Review the eligibility criteria for SRSA
- Review the eligibility criteria for RLIS
- If your LEA is dual-eligible, please review Frequently Asked Questions: REAP Dual-Eligible LEAs
Appropriations
View a history of congressionally-approved funding amounts for the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) by year, including a breakdown of how the REAP team distributes the funds between SRSA and RLIS.
Legislation
Regulations
The Office of Rural, Insular, and Native Achievement Programs (RINAP) is committed to supporting RLIS-SQA program grantees as they implement federal grant programs. Part of this commitment includes a monitoring process designed to not only address RINAP's responsibilities for fiscal and programmatic oversight, but to also identify areas in which grantees need assistance and support to meet their goals and obligations. The monitoring process is anchored around ongoing conversations between RINAP program officers and grantees and is conducted using both off-site (desk) monitoring, as well as on-site monitoring visits to grantees.
The goal of the monitoring process is to conduct a program-centered, performance-focused review of fiscal and program requirements through a single, streamlined process that results in improved and strengthened partnerships between the Department and grantees. To accomplish this, the RINAP monitoring process is organized into specific grant performance topics, which reflect the programmatic and fiscal requirements of the RLIS-SQA program.
Monitoring reports are provided below and assess an SQA's grant administration and fiscal management processes based on information provided through the review process, and other relevant qualitative and quantitative data. Monitoring reports are designed to communicate to SQAs and stakeholders the status of program implementation, noting areas where the SQA is excelling and areas that require attention.