21st CCLC Information

What is the 21st CCLC Program?  

The Nita M Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Center Program (21st CCLC) is a federally funded grant program that supports afterschool, out-of-school time (OST), summer programs, and extended learning programs for youth. The program focuses on students from low-income families and low-performing schools. 

For more information about Ohio's 21st CCLC Program, visit the Ohio Department of Education's 21CCLC webpage. 

 To learn more about the federal program and how funds are distributed to each state, visit the US Department of Education's 21CCLC webpage. 

Grant Requirements 

Many types of organizations can apply for a 21st CCLC grant, including school districts, schools, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education, city or county government agencies, for-profit corporations, and other public or private entities. Individuals are not allowed to apply. 

All applicants must have a partner. Partners may be local education agencies (like a school district, a charter school, or a private school) or community-based organizations (such as non-profit organization). The grant requires you to submit signed partnership agreements each year, and to collaborate at a minimum on a monthly basis regarding how your program is doing. 

The 21st CCLC Grant also mandates a minimum number of additional hours of learning opportunities per week to students during the school year. It allows for summer programming, too, in addition to what takes place during the school year. 

Grant recipients should expect to attend statewide 21st CCLC conferences, complete student assessments, undergo an audit, work with the state-selected evaluator, and hire an external evaluator to assess the performance of their own program. These items represent some of the requirements associated with 21st CCLC grants; they do not represent a comprehensive list of grant requirements. 

• For more information of the 21st CCLC program, visit the Ohio Department of Education's webpage. 

How and When Can I Apply?   

Typically, the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) accepts grant applications via an online portal from February to April each year.   

Applications are entered through ODE’s online OHID portal, where organizations use the "CCIP" module ( Comprehensive Continuous Improvement Plan) to enter their grant(s) applications Prior to the submission deadline, ODE hosts trainings to teach grant-seekers how to use and navigate CCIP. 

New grantees are announced during the summer, typically in late July or early August.  

Follow ODE’s blog to stay updated on 21st CCLC and grant application timelines.