Small, Rural School Achievement Program

The purpose of the Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) program is to provide rural local educational agencies (LEAs) with financial assistance to fund initiatives aimed at improving student academic achievement.

LEAs are entitled to funds if they meet basic eligibility and application requirements. Awards are issued annually, and award amounts are determined using a formula.

Uses of Funds

Grantees may use SRSA funds to carry out activities authorized under any of the following federal programs:

• Title I, Part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Education Agencies)
  • Example: A school district develops an entrepreneurial education program to supplement its civics curriculum.
• Title II, Part A (Supporting Effective Instruction)
  • Example: A school district pays the stipend for a prospective teacher to work alongside an effective teacher, who is the teacher of record, for a full academic year.
• Title III (Language Instruction for English Learners and Immigrant Students)
  • Example: A school district offers an afterschool enrichment program for English learners.
• Title IV, Part A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment)
  • Example: A school district purchases a bully prevention program for all schools.
• Title IV, Part B (21st Century Community Learning Centers)
  • Example: A school district purchases instruments to supplement schools' band and orchestra programs.

See the Uses of Funds Guide for the SRSA and and RLIS programs to better understand the allowable uses of funds specific to each program.

Alternative Fund Use Authority (AFUA)

The Alternative Fund Use Authority allows SRSA-eligible LEAs greater flexibility in spending the funds they receive under Title II, Part A and Title IV, Part A to best address the LEA's particular needs. Under AFUA, LEAs are able to use their Title II, Part A and Title IV, Part A funds to pay for activities under any of the allowable uses for SRSA grant funds. (See Section 5211(a) of the ESEA, as amended, for more information.)

• An SRSA-eligible LEA does not have to apply for SRSA funds may exercise AFUA.
• An LEA that is eligible for both SRSA and RLIS funds may exercise AFUA even if the LEA chooses to participate in RLIS instead of SRSA.
• Before exercising AFUA, an eligible LEA must notify its SEA of its intent to do so by the deadline established by the SEA.  Eligible LEAs should reach out to their REAP State Coordinator contact for more information about the SEA's reporting requirements deadline.

If you have a question about REAP eligibility, follow the steps below: 

1. Locate your LEA on the FY26 Master Eligibility Spreadsheet (MES) to determine its eligibility status for the two REAP grant programs (SRSA and RLIS).
2. Review eligibility criteria for SRSA by visiting the SRSA Eligibility tab. 
3. Review eligibility criteria for RLIS by visiting the RLIS Eligibility webpage.
4. If your LEA is dual-eligible, please visit the Considerations for Dual-Eligible LEAs webpage.

Reminder: Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) Requirement

Having a validated and active UEI registration is a requirement for accessing SRSA grant funds. Review this UEI Support Guide to ensure your LEA has an active UEI registered in the System for Award Management’s online platform, SAM.gov.

SRSA Funding Formula and Allocation Information

SRSA grant funds are allocated to eligible LEAs that submit an application based on the following formula:​

• The number of students in average daily attendance, subtract 50​
• Multiply this number by 100​
• Add $20,000 — total amount may not exceed $60,000​
• From the total above, subtract the amount of funding under Title II, Part A and Title IV, Part A the LEA received in the previous fiscal year

Congress determines the amount of funds available for REAP on an annual basis. Per ESEA section 5234, the REAP appropriation from Congress is divided equally between the SRSA and the RLIS programs.

The actual size of an LEA's allocation depends on several factors including: the amount of funds Congress appropriates for REAP, the number of LEAs that are eligible and apply for SRSA funds, the LEA's ADA for a preceding year, and the LEA's Title II, Part A and Title IV, Part A award amounts for a preceding fiscal year. The Department collects information on the Title II, Part A and Title IV, Part A award amounts from the SEAs when collecting eligibility data each year. The maximum amount of SRSA funds an LEA may receive in any year is $60,000.

Some LEAs that meet the eligibility criteria of the SRSA program (i.e., being both small and rural), may not receive an SRSA grant award due to the funding formula described above. If the combined amount of Title II, Part A and Title IV, Part A funding for a preceding fiscal year exceeds the LEA's initial SRSA award amount, the resulting final SRSA award amount would be $0. In these cases, LEAs are not invited to submit an SRSA application for that fiscal year.

If the amount appropriated for SRSA is not sufficient to award the calculated allocations, all awards are ratably decreased. Alternatively, all award amounts are ratably increased if the amount of funds made available by Congress is more than the total of the calculated allocations.

SRSA Post-Application Information

The following resource is available to support SRSA applicants who have already applied and are waiting to receive an FY 2026 award: FY 2026 Small, Rural School Achievement (SRSA) Grant Post-Application Information

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 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

Who is Eligible?

An LEA is eligible to participate in the SRSA program if it meets the statutory criteria of being both small and rural (see ESEA section 5211(b)).

1. To be considered small, an LEA must have a total average daily attendance (ADA) of fewer than 600 students or exclusively serve schools that are located in counties with a population density of fewer than 10 persons per square mile.
2. To be considered rural, all schools within the LEA must have a school locale code of 41, 42, or 43 (assigned by the Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)) or be located in an area of the State defined as rural by a governmental agency of the State.

In some States, the entity legally established to administer the SRSA program is an educational service agency (ESA), which is defined in section 8101(18) of the ESEA as "a regional public multiservice agency authorized by State statute to develop, manage, and provide services or programs to [LEAs]." Section 5211(b)(1)(C) of the ESEA clarifies that an individual LEA within an ESA may apply for and receive SRSA grant funds if that LEA meets the SRSA eligibility criteria and the ESA to which it belongs does not itself receive an SRSA award on its behalf.

Being eligible for the SRSA program does not guarantee that the LEA will receive an award. If the LEA wishes to receive a grant award, it must comply with any requirements established by the Department to receive an SRSA award for a fiscal year (FY), including any application requirements. Additionally, an LEA may be eligible for SRSA but receive an allocation of $0 based on the funding formula (i.e., may not receive an SRSA award).

To find your LEA's locale code, visit the National Center for Education Statistics' locale lookup tool on their website. For more information on how locale codes are determined, visit the NCES Locale Boundaries User Manual.

To see how SRSA differs from RLIS, view the SRSA-RLIS Comparison Table.

Monitoring

Purpose

The Rural Education Achievement Program is committed to supporting LEAs as they implement Federal grant programs. Part of this commitment includes implementing a monitoring process designed to not only address REAP's responsibilities for fiscal and programmatic oversight, but to also identify areas in which LEAs need assistance and support to meet their goals and obligations.

The REAP monitoring process for LEAs receiving Title V, Part B funds is intended to be LEA-centered and is conducted either on-site or virtually. As part of regular monitoring, the REAP team reviews an LEA's grant administration and fiscal management processes, based on information provided through the monitoring process, and other relevant qualitative and quantitative data. The primary goal of monitoring is to ensure that implementation of the SRSA program is consistent with the fiscal, administrative, and select program requirements contained in the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance: 2 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) Part 200), the Education Department General Administrative Requirements (EDGAR), and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended.

Monitoring Reports

All monitoring reports are provided in the table below and assess an LEA'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 LEAs and stakeholders the status of program implementation, noting areas where the LEA is excelling and areas that require attention.

REAP Informational Document

• The REAP Informational Document is a comprehensive resource for recipients of the SRSA and RLIS grants and other stakeholders that includes essential information on relevant REAP processes, such as grant eligibility criteria, application process, allowable uses of funds, and the monitoring process.
  • REAP Informational Document 

REAP FAQ

• REAP FAQ

REAP Use of Funds

• REAP Uses of Funds Guide
• REAP Grant Performance Periods

UEIs and the System for Award Management (SAM)

• The Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) is a 12-character alphanumeric ID assigned to an LEA by SAM.
• All grantee LEAs need a UEI that is active and registered in SAM.gov to access REAP funds.
• The UEI registration and annual reactivation processes in SAM.gov are completely free.
• To check the registration status of your LEA's UEI, use the SAM.gov Status Tracker.
• To reactivate your LEA's UEI registration, log into your SAM.gov account or call 1-866-606-8220.
• You may also use the FSD.gov Live Chat to connect with a SAM agent directly.
• For more support, please visit REAP's UEI and SAM Support webpage.

Accessing Grant Awards in G5

• G5 is the U.S. Department of Education's (Department) online platform for grant management. Creating an account, logging in, and obtaining Payee Access allows SRSA grantees to view and draw down awarded grant funds across multiple fiscal years.
• To log in or create a new account, please visit www.G5.gov  
• For a step-by-step guide for accessing SRSA funds in G5, visit our G5 Support webpage.
• For questions about this transition, you may reach out to the Department's Office of Business Support Services helpdesk by calling 1-888-336-8930 or sending an email to obsshelpdesk@ed.gov. 

Webinars

• FY 2026 SRSA Application Webinar
  • Webinar Recording | Slides
• FY 2025 SRSA Welcome and Orientation Webinar
  • Webinar Recording | Slides
• UEI Registration and Validation for Rural LEAs (Webinar by GSA)
  • Webinar Recording | Slides
• Strategic Use of Funds: Title IV, Part A and REAP Funds Presentation
  • Slides

General Education Provisions Act (GEPA)

• REAP Guide to GEPA Statements for SRSA Grantees
   

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

• NCES Homepage
• Rural Education Resources
• NCES locale codes of individual schools
• NCES Locale Lookup Interactive Map

Additional Contact Information

• REAP State Coordinator Contacts
• To reach your U.S. Department of Education REAP Program Officer please email REAP@ed.gov

Appropriations

Amount of funding Congress approved for the Rural Education Achievement Program, by year. Also see how the REAP team distributes the funds between its two grant programs; SRSA and RLIS.