Opportunity Overview
The Arizona Department of Education 9th Grade On Track Grant Project is a multi-year Arizona education funding opportunity for local education agencies and charter schools designed to improve ninth-grade student success, help students advance to tenth grade on time, and increase high-school completion. ADE identifies four core implementation areas: highly effective ninth-grade success teams, proactive and data-driven interventions, high-quality instruction, and comprehensive transition supports.
Current Status and Deadline Control
ADE’s current program page states that available grant funding will be awarded to complete applications on a first-come, first-served basis and that applications are completed through Grants Management Enterprise (GME). However, the controlling linked guidance states that grant opening dates, application deadlines, and notification dates are To Be Determined. No authoritative exact application deadline, closing clock time, or time zone is currently published. Atlas therefore treats the exact deadline as unverified and blocks new cold applicant outreach until ADE publishes an authoritative deadline and time zone.
Eligible Applicants and Requirements
Eligible applicants are Arizona LEAs that identify participating schools, subject to a maximum of 3,500 ninth-grade students per LEA. ADE’s current page requires an in-person ninth-grade class, excludes AOI students, requires a partnership with an organization having at least five years of experience providing ninth-grade on-track programs and services, and requires an uploaded Intent to Apply approved by a majority vote of the district governing board or charter-school governing body.
The linked Year 1 guidance additionally describes the competitive eligibility framework, including the program’s focus on districts with an in-person ninth-grade class and a graduation rate below the guidance threshold, together with the experienced partner requirement. Applicants should rely on the live GME application and current ADE instructions if they differ from older guidance language.
Available Funding
The linked guidance states that approximately $3.4 million is available for the 2025-2030 school years. Awards are calculated at $150 per current or projected ninth-grade student, applications are capped at 3,500 students per LEA, and the statewide program is capped at 22,650 students. Carryover is available within the performance period, and funds are expected to be expended by June 30, 2030. Future funding levels are not guaranteed.
Allowable and Unallowable Costs
Examples of allowable expenses include a grant coordinator or ninth-grade success leader, intervention curriculum, training or coaching, staff planning time to review data and plan interventions, and professional development, conferences, or training supporting implementation of ninth-grade success components.
The guidance identifies capital equipment and capital improvements, including building, utility, or IT infrastructure upgrades, as unallowable. Maintenance and gift-card, cash-award, personal-gift, and similar incentive costs are also identified as unallowable. Grant funds must supplement and not supplant qualifying programs, opportunities, and strategies.
Evaluation, Reporting, and Data Privacy
Awarded LEAs must provide fiscal and performance reporting to ADE and maintain capacity to evaluate implementation and impact. ADE’s guidance defines an on-track ninth-grade student using credit-completion and course-performance criteria and requires aggregate reporting. Application and reporting materials must not contain personally identifiable student or educator information, and small aggregate counts must be redacted under ADE’s stated privacy thresholds.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 88/100. This is a substantial Arizona school-system opportunity with a clear program model, quantified funding framework, defined eligibility, and current ADE administration, but its exact application deadline and time zone remain unpublished.
N9+ Fit Score: 0/100. The current program is focused on ninth-grade success teams, data-driven intervention, instruction, transition support, training, coaching, and capacity building. Capital equipment and IT infrastructure are expressly identified as unallowable, and no defensible N9+ device acquisition pathway is established by the current guidance.
QC Healthcare Fit: 5/100 conditional. Student mental-health or social-work personnel may participate in ninth-grade success teams, but the opportunity is not a healthcare procurement and no independent QC Healthcare role is established by the current materials.
Dr. Miltie direct-applicant/vendor fit: 0/100. The direct applicants are eligible Arizona LEAs, and no direct Dr. Miltie applicant or vendor pathway has been verified.
Submission and Atlas Control
Applications are submitted through ADE’s Grants Management Enterprise. Publication of this opportunity does not authorize outreach. Atlas will not begin new applicant outreach until ADE publishes an authoritative exact deadline and time zone and all applicant eligibility, recipient identity, CRM deduplication, and send controls pass.
Official ADE program page: Arizona 9th Grade On Track Grant Project.
Official ADE guidance: 9th Grade On Track Grant Guidance.