Welcome to the National Center on Service Obligations
The Personnel Development Program, authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), is a federal program aimed at increasing the supply of qualified personnel in the field of special education. This program awards competitive grants to Institutions of Higher Education to support scholars receiving training to provide special education and related services to children and youth with disabilities. Scholars/obligees who receive funding agree to work in the field of special education or related services for two years for each year of support they receive. To learn more about the program's service obligation component, please click on the Service Obligation Requirements link.
In 2007, OSEP contracted Optimal Solutions Group, LLC to establish and maintain the National Center on Service Obligations (NCSO). NCSO is responsible for tracking the service obligations of scholars/obligees funded by OSEP Personnel Development Program grants awarded in federal fiscal year 2005 and any year thereafter. The Center's primary responsibility is to track the eligible employment of scholars/obligees who have been awarded scholarships from the Personnel Development Program grants until their service obligations are fulfilled or they are referred to the Secretary for repayment of part or all of the funding received. In order to facilitate this process Optimal developed the Service Obligation Tracking System a secure, online database used to collect scholar/obligee contact and service obligation information for tracking the fulfillment of service obligations. To update service obligation information, please click on the Service Obligation Tracking System link.
For more information on your role in the service obligation tracking process click on the Institutions of Higher Education, Scholars/Obligees, or Employers link.
