GrantQuick

education · HHS-OESE

Ready To Learn Programming

Office of Elementary and Secondary Education · ED-GRANT-26-055

Closed

Total Program Funding

$31.0M

Expected Awards

3

Deadline

July 8, 2026

GRANTQUICK SUMMARYPlain-English Overview

Dept of Education funds 3 grants for Ready To Learn Programming — developing educational television and digital media content for children from low-income families, focusing on literacy and STEM skills.

Who Should Apply

Major children's media producers (PBS, Sesame Workshop-scale organizations) with educational content development and distribution capacity.

Who Should NOT Apply

Small production companies, individual creators, organizations without national children's media distribution.

Key Requirements (Plain English)

  • Must develop educational media for low-income children
  • 3 awards
  • Must focus on literacy and STEM
  • Must have national distribution

💡 GrantQuick Tip

Ready To Learn is a prestige program with very few awards going to major children's media organizations. If you're not PBS or equivalent, this isn't accessible. Shows must be research-based and freely available to low-income families.

Competitiveness: Very high — 3 awards for major children's media organizations.

What This 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. 

Attachments

Who Can Apply

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.

Eligible Applicant Types

Other (see NOFO for details)

Funding Details

Total Program Funding
$31.0M
Expected Number of Awards
3
Cost Sharing Required?
No
Funding Instrument
grant

Key Dates

Posted: May 11, 2026
Application Deadline: July 8, 2026 (0 days remaining)

Agency Contact

Tammy Proctor Supervisory Education Prog. Spec. Phone 202-260-7803

Readytolearn@ed.gov

Ready to apply?

View the full NOFO and submit your application on Grants.gov