EL (English Language) Civics is a federally funded, competitive, categorical grant program intended to provide non-native English speaking adults with instruction in a civics context.  The Minnesota Department of Education Adult Basic Education office administers this program and issues an annual RFP (Request for Proposal) to eligible providers.  Eligible providers include nonprofit and community based organizations, public schools and other entities that are defined in the annual RFP.

Annually, about fifteen to twenty programs are selected through a competitive process to deliver EL Civics services to eligible adults.  Grants typically have a maximum award of $40,000 and a duration of from ten to twelve months.  Federal policy on EL Civics requires a multi-year funding approval process and therefore preference in program selection is given to currently funded programs through the proposal scoring process.  In this manner, many current EL Civics programs operate as ongoing, multi-year grant programs.

The specific civics content focus may change from year to year, so potential applicant programs are advised to carefully read the new RFP.  For the most recent RFP, select here.

For a summary of the currently funded EL Civics programs, select here.