Grants / Department of Health and Human Services / Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

ED-GRANT-26-055: Ready To Learn Programming

Closed Closed July 8, 2026 Opportunity ED-GRANT-26-055 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. Who won this program's grants before is below, and similar open grants are at the end of the page. It is in our archive of Office of Elementary and Secondary Education notices from 2026.

• Total funding$31.0 million
• Expected awards3
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

To receive funding under this competition, an entity must be a public telecommunications entity that is able to demonstrate—(a) A capacity for the development and national distribution of educational and instructional television programming of high quality that is accessible by a large majority of disadvantaged preschool and elementary school children; (b) A capacity to contract with the producers of children’s television programming for the purpose of developing educational television programming of high quality;(c) A capacity, consistent with the entity’s mission and nonprofit nature, to negotiate such contracts in a manner that returns to the entity an appropriate share of any ancillary income from sales of any program-related products; and (d) A capacity to localize programming and materials to meet specific State and local needs and to provide educational outreach at the local level. Note: If two or more public telecommunications entities wish to form a consortium and jointly submit a single application, they must follow the procedures for group applications described in 34 CFR 75.127 through 75.129.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Most of the program's money (72% over five years) went to nonprofits.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

Description: RTL is designed to: (1) promote school readiness and academic achievement through the development and dissemination of accessible instructional programming for preschool and elementary school children and their families; (2) develop and disseminate programming and digital content containing Ready to Learn programming that is specially designed for nationwide distribution over public television stations’ digital broadcasting channels and the Internet; and (3) Produce educational outreach materials and programs that are designed to deepen and extend the effectiveness of the educational television and interactive. RTL accomplishes this by providing grants to support the creation of nationally distributed educational media content that meets the highest standards of educational quality. RTL television and digital media products focus on developmentally appropriate curriculum frameworks that align with widely accepted learning standards.

Category: Education.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Agencies often post the same opportunity again under a new number, so check the program's notices on Grants.gov and the similar open grants below.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.