21st Century Community Learning Center Grants: 2026 Status

21st CCLC source review, Grantsights, November 6, 2026: Grantsights checked ED's 21st CCLC program page and funding table against the statute at 20 U.S.C. 7174 on govinfo.gov (opens in a new tab), ED's FY2026 and FY2027 budget tables, the Congressional Research Service's FY2026 appropriations report, federal award records and four state competition pages. ED's site refused automated requests on November 6, 2026, so ED's pages were read from the Internet Archive's October 26, 2026 copy. Where official sources stop: no federal page says what Congress will do for FY2027, and none sets your state's deadline, award ceiling or local priorities. Your state's request for proposals answers those.

21st Century Community Learning Center Grants Status on November 6, 2026

Congress has held 21st CCLC at $1,329,673,000 for four straight years, FY2023 through FY2026, according to ED's funding table on its 21st CCLC program page (opens in a new tab). Because the program is forward funded, each fiscal year's money pays for the school year that starts the following July.

The FY2026 money arrived through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, Public Law 119-75 (opens in a new tab), dated February 3, 2026. According to the Congressional Research Service's FY2026 Labor-HHS-Education report (opens in a new tab), the enacted level was $1,330 million (rounded), the same figure the House and Senate committee bills carried, while the President's FY2026 request was $0. The same report says that law added a new general provision, section 312, requiring ED to award formula funds for specified K-12 programs on the date the money becomes available. Grantsights' view: section 312 is the likely reason the FY2026 awards went out on time, on July 1, 2026.

FY2027 is where the risk sits. ED's FY2027 President's Budget table (opens in a new tab) lists 21st CCLC at $0, a cut of $1,329,673,000, and proposes $2,000,000,000 for "Make Education Great Again grants," which its notes say could support activities from 21st CCLC and 16 other programs. Grantsights checked public laws published on govinfo.gov through Public Law 119-136 (October 22, 2026) and found no full-year FY2027 education appropriation. The only FY2027 funding law, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027 (Public Law 119-103 (opens in a new tab), September 2, 2026), runs through December 11, 2026, according to CRS's overview of that stopgap (opens in a new tab). Any state competition held this winter is for grants that start July 1, 2027, paid for with FY2027 money nobody has appropriated yet.

The program's spending authorization in 20 U.S.C. 7176 (opens in a new tab) lists amounts only through FY2020. That's common for education programs; Congress keeps funding them through annual spending bills. It does mean there's no multiyear funding promise to point to.

How the Money Moves: ED to 53 Grantees, Then Local Subgrants

According to USASpending.gov (opens in a new tab) records, ED made 53 federal awards under Assistance Listing 84.287 for FY2026, worth $1,318,231,470: one to each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, plus one to the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) for $8,503,565. No school district or nonprofit gets a direct federal award. The statute sets the path in 20 U.S.C. 7172 (opens in a new tab):

• ED's share. Up to 1% for national activities such as technical assistance and evaluation, and up to 1% for the outlying areas and BIE. ED's table shows national activities cut in half from $12,596,730 in FY2024 to $6,648,365 in FY2025 and FY2026.
• State allotments. The rest goes out in proportion to what each state got under Title I, Part A the year before, with a floor of one-half of 1% of the total. In FY2026 that floor was $6,548,640, and 13 states plus the District of Columbia sat on it, from Alaska to Wyoming.
• State spending. A state must put at least 93% of its allotment into local subgrants. It may keep up to 2% for administration, including running peer review, and up to 5% for monitoring, evaluation and training.

The largest FY2026 state awards went to California ($160,426,335), Texas ($126,692,717), New York ($104,534,498) and Florida ($68,586,504). Those totals aren't all new money. Subgrants run 3 to 5 years, so most of a state's allotment pays continuing grants, and the amount open to new applicants depends on how many old grants end that year.

This table is illustrative, not data. It shows how a mid-size state's allotment might split under the statute's percentages.

Who Can Apply and What a State Application Asks For

The statute's definition of an eligible entity has 5 parts: a local educational agency, a community-based organization, an Indian tribe or tribal organization, another public or private entity, or a consortium of 2 or more of them, according to 20 U.S.C. 7171 (opens in a new tab). "Another public or private entity" is why for-profit companies, universities and city agencies show up as subgrantees. States repeat that list and sometimes widen the examples. Ohio's Ohio After School page (opens in a new tab) names traditional public schools, community schools, community-based and faith-based organizations, colleges, city and county agencies, and for-profit corporations.

According to 20 U.S.C. 7174 (opens in a new tab), every application must cover 14 items. Seven of them shape a proposal most:

1. Where and how students get there. An assurance of a safe, accessible facility and a plan for getting students safely to and from the center and home.
2. Which students. An assurance that the program targets students who mainly attend schools eligible for Title I schoolwide programs, and their families.
3. Collaboration with the schools. An assurance that the program was built with the schools students attend, including data sharing, and lines up with state academic standards.
4. Need and evidence. A community needs assessment and a description of the research or evidence-based practices behind the program.
5. Supplement, not supplant. An assurance that the grant adds to, and never replaces, other federal, state, local or private money for the same activities.
6. Sustainability. A preliminary plan for keeping the center running after the grant ends.
7. Public notice. Notice to the community that you intend to apply, and public availability of the application after you submit.

A program located somewhere other than a school building can be approved only if it's at least as available and accessible to students as a school site would be. Before you apply anywhere, get a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) through the federal System for Award Management, since states pass that requirement down to subrecipients; the guide to registering for a UEI walks through it. Then find your state's office from the state contact list on ED's program page and ask to join its mailing list, which is how most states announce competitions.

How States Pick Winners: The Priorities in the Statute

Three statutory priorities shape every state's scoring, and the law requires a state to give them, according to 20 U.S.C. 7174(i):

• Targeted schools. Proposals serving students who mainly attend schools identified for support and improvement under Title I, or schools the district says need intervention, and that enroll students at risk of academic failure, dropping out or delinquency.
• Joint applications. Proposals submitted jointly by at least one Title I school district and another eligible entity. A district gets the same priority if it shows it can't find a community partner of good quality nearby.
• New access. Proposals that bring services students can't get now, or expand access to good services that exist.

States add their own priority points on top. Ohio's FY28 request for applications (opens in a new tab) adds points for schools named Science of Reading Champions and for schools with a chronic absence rate of 20% or more on the 2025-2026 state report card. North Carolina's Cohort 19 request gives points when at least 51% of proposed feeder schools meet its student need, proficiency, chronic absence or suspension indicators.

Two limits are easy to miss. A state can't give priority to proposals that use the money to lengthen the regular school day. And the review must be a rigorous peer review or a similar method; the statute defines peer reviewers as people with expertise in academic, enrichment and youth development services who aren't applicants in the same round. Grantsights' view: the joint-application priority is the single best reason for a nonprofit and a district to apply together. A community group applying alone gives up points the law hands to partnerships.

What 21st CCLC Pays For, and the Rules That Come With It

The statute lists 14 kinds of allowable activities in 20 U.S.C. 7175 (opens in a new tab), and states narrow them in their own budget rules. The left column is from the statute; the right column is illustrative, not data.

The match rule comes from the statute, and each state decides whether to use it. A state may require a match, but it can't exceed the subgrant, can't come from other federal or state funds, must follow a sliding scale based on poverty and ability to pay, and may be met fully in kind. The state also can't consider your ability to match when it picks winners. States may also let subgrantees use the money for expanded learning programs that add at least 300 program hours before, during or after the school day.

Some rules come from the states. North Carolina's Cohort 19 request for proposals (opens in a new tab) pays on a reimbursement basis only and requires every academic-year program to enroll at least 50 students and run at least 300 student contact hours a year. Ohio's request for applications says Ohio won't continue a grant into year 2 unless the grantee met at least 85% of its participation and operation requirements in year 1. And private school students count: Wisconsin's competition page (opens in a new tab) says every applicant and recipient must consult with eligible private school officials about equitable services.

State Competitions Checked on November 6, 2026

Grantsights checked 4 state pages on November 6, 2026. Two states have live competitions; two don't. Other states set different dates, ceilings and terms, so use these as examples, not as your state's rules.

North Carolina. According to the NC Department of Public Instruction's 21st CCLC page (opens in a new tab), the State Board approved the Cohort 19 competition on October 1, 2026, open to public school units and to nonprofits, community and faith-based groups, for-profits, colleges and city or local governments. The request for proposals says applications are due through the state's CCIP online grants system by noon Eastern on November 18, 2026, with reviews in January 2027. It also notes that North Carolina usually runs competitions in two consecutive years followed by a year without one.

Ohio. Ohio runs 21st CCLC under the name Ohio After School and targets schools where 40% or more of students are economically disadvantaged. Its request for applications, posted October 15, 2026, sets the due date at December 28, 2026 through the EDSteps One Funding Application, expects at least 16 awards, limits each applicant to one application of up to 10 centers, and anticipates announcing awards on February 26, 2027 for a July 1, 2027 start. It also says awards depend on Ohio receiving its federal grant award notice each year.

Washington. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction's competition page (opens in a new tab) says there will be no 21st CCLC competition for the 2026-2027 school year, because the state will use its whole allocation for cohorts 18, 19 and 20. Its last round opened May 1, 2025, closed July 25, 2025 and awarded on September 2, 2025, a window of 85 days.

Wisconsin. The Department of Public Instruction's page lists 5-year awards and requires every applicant to serve a qualifying school that's eligible for Title I schoolwide programs and in improvement status or named by the district as needing support. Its application materials section read "Coming soon!" on November 6, 2026; the page asks interested groups to join the program's email list.

What ED's 21st CCLC Pages Don't Tell You

ED's program page carries a 4-year funding table, a contact list and performance measures, but 5 things that matter to a local applicant sit elsewhere.

1. The program's future is a budget fight, not a settled fact. ED's own FY2026 and FY2027 budget tables proposed $0 both years. Congress said no for FY2026. FY2027 isn't decided, and the program page doesn't mention either request.
2. A late July can happen. According to the CRS FY2026 appropriations report, ED departed in FY2025 from its practice of making forward funds available on July 1 for 21st CCLC and four other K-12 programs. According to USASpending award records, the FY2025 state awards were signed July 21, 2025.
3. Your state's competition may not run this year. Washington skipped 2024-25 and 2026-27, and North Carolina skips one year in three. A group that misses a round may wait two years.
4. Grants.gov won't help. Grantsights searched the Grants.gov (opens in a new tab) listings for 84.287 on November 6, 2026 and found only 3 notices, all archived, for national technical assistance and demonstration projects. No local competition is ever posted there.
5. Subaward data is patchy. In the November 6, 2026 pull, North Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut reported no subawards under any of their 2024, 2025 or 2026 state awards, so state-by-state comparisons undercount those states.

Appropriations and state totals come from ED's funding table and the FY2027 budget table; signing dates come from USASpending award records, such as California's FY2026 award (opens in a new tab), pulled November 6, 2026. Grantsights' view: plan a FY2027 application as if the money will come, because every past Congress has funded it, but don't hire staff against a July 1, 2027 start until your state has its federal award notice.

Who Wins: Grantsights Analysis of Local Subawards

Local 21st CCLC subgrants added up to $1,079,137,623 across 2,714 positive-amount records in 48 states, in Grantsights analysis of USASpending.gov (opens in a new tab) subaward data dated in federal FY2025 (October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025). The median record was $250,000, and the middle half ran from $105,088 to $454,167.

The records under $50,000 don't break the statute's $50,000 floor; most are partial-year or amended amounts. Wisconsin's 30 records dated in FY2025 had a median of $9,750, while its records dated in FY2026 include a single $1,785,000 record for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee.

States differ more than the national median suggests. Texas reported 147 records worth $202,341,131, a median of $1,632,491, while Massachusetts reported 148 records with a median of $72,200. Florida reported the most records, 228. A Texas applicant and a Massachusetts applicant are applying to very different programs under the same federal name.

Grantsights sorted the 2,714 records by recipient name. This is a name heuristic, so treat the split as approximate:

Boys & Girls Clubs alone accounted for 258 records worth $97,664,574. For example, Think Together received $5,178,196 and After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles received $4,942,754 from California in February 2025, next to Los Angeles Unified's $11,182,323. Communities In Schools of North Texas received $1,908,910 and Boys and Girls Clubs of Austin and Travis County $1,568,310 from Texas in August 2025. Smaller examples are more typical: Martha O'Bryan Center in Nashville received $218,750 from Tennessee, Springfield Urban League in Illinois $300,000, the City of Brockton, Massachusetts $190,130, and After School Kids Inc in Riggins, Idaho $70,000.

Faith-based groups win too. One organization in Florida, First United Methodist Church of Eastpoint, received $490,000 from the Florida Department of Education in August 2025, and the Jewish Institute of Queens received $420,000 from New York in December 2024 and again in September 2025. YMCAs held 35 records, including $600,000 for the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati. Grantsights' view: a nonprofit with a school partner competes on even terms with districts here, and the higher nonprofit median suggests states fund community groups at full program scale, not as add-ons.

Foundation Money for Out-of-School Programs

Private foundations can't replace a $250,000 subgrant, but they fill the gaps 21st CCLC leaves: the planning year before a state competition, transportation, snacks beyond what meal programs cover, and the year your state skips. According to Grantsights analysis of 990-PF filings pulled October 29, 2026, youth giving is broad and mostly small: California foundations filed 25,920 youth grants with a $10,000 median, and most of the large states below sit near $5,000.

Each row is statewide youth giving of every kind, not after-school grants only. The Grantsights youth funder list lists private foundations that gave to youth causes, state by state, drawn from their 990-PF filings. You can preview your own state free, and there's a 30-day refund. It's foundation money, not federal grants. Fit is good for a nonprofit or church that runs a center; a school district gets fewer foundation grants and usually does better through a school foundation or a local community foundation, covered in the community foundation grants guide. For open federal and state notices, the Grantsights grant search lists current opportunities. Use how to read a 990-PF to see what a funder actually gave before you ask.

Common Mistakes in 21st CCLC Applications

These 7 mistakes come straight from the statute and the state rules above.

• Waiting for ED. There's no federal application for local groups. Watching the federal grant listings means missing your state's window.
• Applying alone. The law gives priority to joint applications from a Title I district and another entity. A nonprofit without a signed district partner gives up those points.
• Picking the wrong schools. Ohio requires schools at 40% or more economically disadvantaged, and Wisconsin requires Title I schoolwide eligibility plus improvement status. Check the school list before you write.
• Proposing a longer school day. States can't give priority to that use, and it reads as supplanting.
• Underestimating attendance rules. North Carolina sets a 50-student, 300-hour minimum, and Ohio cuts off continuation below 85% of requirements. Plan staffing for real attendance, not enrollment.
• Skipping private school consultation. Wisconsin requires it from every applicant; it's a red flag in monitoring when it's missing.
• Budgeting for cash up front. North Carolina pays by reimbursement only. A small nonprofit needs cash or a line of credit to cover the first months.

Related Guides

These 8 guides cover what this program doesn't. For the full menu of after-school money, start with grants for after school programs. Districts weighing 21st CCLC against Title I and other formula money can read federal grants for K-12 schools, and schools building family and health services alongside a center should compare full-service community schools grants.

For program content, see grants for tutoring programs, grants for STEM education programs and grants for mentoring programs. Summer-only operators should read grants for summer camps, and congregations can compare church youth program grants and grants for youth programs.

FAQ: Common Questions

Are 21st Century Community Learning Center grants open right now? Only through states. North Carolina's are due November 18, 2026; Ohio's run November 16 to December 28, 2026.

Is the 21st CCLC program being eliminated? Not yet. Budgets for FY2026 and FY2027 asked for $0; Congress funded FY2026 at $1,329,673,000, and FY2027 isn't settled.

How much is a 21st CCLC grant? At least $50,000 for 3 to 5 years; states set ceilings. FY2025 subaward records had a $250,000 median.

Can a nonprofit or church apply for 21st CCLC? Yes. Community and faith-based groups are eligible, and joint applications with a Title I district get priority.

Does 21st CCLC require a match? Only if your state requires one, capped at the subgrant amount and payable in kind.

How do you apply for a 21st Century Community Learning Center grant? Through your state education agency's competition, with a UEI and a school partnership in hand.

Sources

These 18 sources, checked November 6, 2026, back the federal, state and award claims above.

• ED's Title IV, Part B program page, with the FY2023 to FY2026 funding table and state contacts (opens in a new tab) (read from the Internet Archive copy of October 26, 2026)
• U.S. Department of Education: FY2027 President's Budget table (opens in a new tab) (Internet Archive copy)
• U.S. Department of Education: FY2026 President's Budget Request table (opens in a new tab) (Internet Archive copy)
• govinfo.gov: 20 U.S.C. 7171, purpose and definitions (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: 20 U.S.C. 7172, allotments to states (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: 20 U.S.C. 7174, local competitive subgrant program (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: 20 U.S.C. 7175, local activities (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: 20 U.S.C. 7176, authorization of appropriations (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: Public Law 119-75, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
• govinfo.gov: Public Law 119-103, Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2027 (opens in a new tab)
• Congressional Research Service: Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education: FY2026 Appropriations (R48970), May 28, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
• Congressional Research Service: Overview of Continuing Appropriations for FY2027 (R49353) (opens in a new tab)
• Grants.gov: 21st CCLC National Technical Assistance Center notice (84.287E), one of 3 archived 84.287 listings (opens in a new tab)
• USASpending.gov: California FY2026 21st CCLC award (S287C260005) (opens in a new tab) and Grantsights pull of all 84.287 prime awards and subawards, November 6, 2026
• Ohio Department of Education and Workforce: Ohio After School (21st CCLC) (opens in a new tab) and its FY28 Request for Applications (opens in a new tab)
• North Carolina Department of Public Instruction: 21st CCLC page (opens in a new tab) and Cohort 19 Request for Proposals (opens in a new tab)
• Washington OSPI: Nita M. Lowey Grant Competition (opens in a new tab)
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: 21st CCLC Grant Program Competition Information (opens in a new tab), plus Grantsights' statewide youth 990-PF pull, October 29, 2026