Opportunity Overview
The Florida Department of Education published the 2026-27 Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE) Fund, a competitive nursing-workforce grant designed to expand high-quality nursing education through collaboration between eligible nursing programs and qualifying contributors.
Status verification alert: As of September 18, 2026, FDOE’s live LINE page states that the 2026-27 program has been moved to the Archives even though the same page still publishes a September 16, 2026 Notice of Intent deadline and an October 14, 2026 application deadline. Because the September 16, 2026 Notice of Intent deadline has now passed, Atlas treats the 2026-27 round as closed to new applicants. Applicants that timely filed an NOI and received Submittable access may continue toward the October 14 full-application deadline, subject to the unresolved 4:00 PM versus 11:59 PM Eastern cutoff conflict described below.
Funding and Deadlines
FDOE’s official September 2, 2026 LINE RFP memorandum states that the 2026 General Appropriations Act provided $24 million for the FDOE-administered LINE Fund and that an additional $25.9 million was reappropriated or reverted from previous years, for a total of $49.9 million available for FY2026-27.
A completed Notice of Intent to Apply is due September 16, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern by email to LINE_Fund@fldoe.org. After the NOI is submitted, FDOE provides access to its Submittable Grant Application System. FDOE’s current LINE webpage now lists the full application deadline as October 14, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern. FDOE currently publishes conflicting full application cutoff times for October 14, 2026: the September 2, 2026 memorandum states 4:00 PM Eastern, while the current LINE webpage states 11:59 PM Eastern. Because both are authoritative FDOE sources and no explicit amendment resolving the conflict has been identified, Atlas treats the exact full application cutoff as unresolved and requires applicants to verify the controlling time directly with FDOE or in Submittable before submission.
Eligibility
Eligible applicants include qualifying Florida school-district postsecondary technical career centers, charter technical career centers, Florida College System institutions, qualifying independent nonprofit colleges or universities, and qualifying independent schools, colleges or universities with accredited nursing programs. CNA programs must document at least a 70% prior-year completion rate. LPN, associate nursing and bachelor nursing programs must document at least a 75% first-time NCLEX passage rate for the prior year based on at least 10 testing participants.
Match and Allowable Uses
Under current Florida law and the amended LINE rule, LINE provides a dollar-for-dollar state match, subject to available funds, for qualifying monetary or nonmonetary contributions. Current law and rule amendments expanded potential contributors beyond Florida healthcare organizations and permit qualifying nonmonetary contributions, while the proposal still must satisfy the controlling RFP and statutory requirements. Funds may support scholarships, additional faculty and clinical preceptors, strategies that increase enrollment, completion and licensure passage, equipment, simulation centers, internships, and certain expansion, retrofit or modernization of existing educational or simulation space. New-building construction remains prohibited.
Atlas Analysis
Atlas Opportunity Score: 98/100. This is a high-priority Florida nursing-workforce opportunity because equipment, simulation and nursing-program expansion are expressly supported and the available FY2026-27 funding is materially larger than the current-year appropriation alone.
N9+ Fit Score: 96/100 conditional. N9+ can be a strong applicant-side nursing physical-assessment, connected-care and telehealth-skills equipment/simulation component when tied to a qualifying program’s curriculum, contributor structure, workforce outcomes and approved budget. Dr. Miltie is not the applicant. Any N9+ role must be structured through an eligible nursing program and a verified qualifying contribution or vendor arrangement consistent with the controlling FDOE requirements. QC Healthcare Fit: 20/100 conditional; the program should not be treated as a general physician-coverage reimbursement source.
Immediate Next Step
Applicants that timely filed the September 16 NOI should confirm that their Submittable access remains active and that FDOE is continuing to accept full applications despite the live page’s Archives notice. Applicants that timely submitted the NOI should verify current performance eligibility, document the qualifying contributor and contribution, confirm active Submittable access, and complete the application around measurable nursing-capacity and workforce outcomes. Because FDOE’s official sources conflict on the October 14 full application cutoff, Atlas does not treat that time as resolved. Applicants should verify the controlling cutoff directly with FDOE or in Submittable before submission. The Notice of Intent intake closed on September 16, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern; no new applicant outreach should begin for organizations that did not timely file an NOI. N9+ should be positioned only where it directly advances approved nursing education, clinical-skills, simulation or connected-care training objectives.
Verified sources: Florida Department of Education LINE Fund webpage; FDOE Memorandum 2026-12 dated September 2, 2026; 2026 Florida Statutes section 1009.8962; rechecked September 14, 2026.