Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS): Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA): Braille Training Program, Assistance Listing Number 84.235E | ED GRANTS 122925 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for ED GRANTS 122925 001

The U.S. Department of Education, through the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) and its Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA), is offering a discretionary grant opportunity under the Braille Training Program (Assistance Listing Number 84.235E). This competition is intended to strengthen the capacity of professionals and organizations that serve youth and adults who are blind by improving braille instruction, expanding high-quality training resources, and supporting wider adoption of braille and related nonvisual access tools. The funding supports projects that directly address real-world needs in vocational rehabilitation and education settings where braille literacy and access technology can be essential for independence, employment preparation, and lifelong learning.

The program’s purpose centers on four main types of activities. First, it funds efforts to provide training in braille use for personnel who deliver vocational rehabilitation services or educational services to individuals who are blind, including both youth and adults. Second, it supports the development of braille training materials, which can include instructional content and resources designed to improve learning outcomes and consistency of instruction. Third, it encourages the development and refinement of methods used to teach braille, which can involve improving instructional approaches, curricula, or instructional design practices aimed at making braille learning more effective and accessible. Fourth, it supports activities that promote broader knowledge and use of braille and nonvisual access technology, recognizing that braille literacy often works hand-in-hand with assistive and access technologies that help people who are blind read, write, study, and work.

Eligible applicants are broad and include states, public agencies and organizations, nonprofit agencies and organizations, and public or nonprofit institutions of higher education. In practical terms, this means the competition is open to many of the entities that commonly provide or support braille instruction, rehabilitation training, teacher preparation, professional development, or research-based improvements in instructional practice, as long as their proposed project aligns with the program’s focus on braille training, materials, methods, and promotion of braille and nonvisual technology.

This is a grant (not a loan or contract) and is categorized as an education-related funding activity. The opportunity is identified as ED GRANTS 122925 001, with an original application closing date of March 27, 2026. The award ceiling is $300,000, and the Department expects to make approximately seven awards, indicating a competitive process where proposals will likely need to be clearly scoped, outcomes-focused, and well-justified in terms of need, approach, and impact. Applicants should plan proposals with budgets and activities that fit under the ceiling while still demonstrating meaningful reach, sustainability, and measurable improvements for the target audiences.

Application submission and the official addresses or methods for obtaining and submitting an application are not listed directly in the opportunity summary itself; instead, applicants are instructed to follow the Department of Education’s “Common Instructions for Applicants to Department of Education Discretionary Grant Programs,” published in the Federal Register on August 29, 2025 (90 FR 42234). The notice is available at the provided Federal Register link and is meant to serve as the authoritative source for the standard submission requirements, procedural rules, and application logistics that apply across many Education discretionary grant competitions.

• The Department of Education in the education sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS): Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA): Braille Training Program, Assistance Listing Number 84.235E" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 84.235.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-12-29.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2026-03-27. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for ED GRANTS 122925 001

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