"Interest in the federal government's Academic Competitiveness and Smart Grant programs is likely to increase next year, the Government Accountability Office reported today, largely because of recent legislation simplifying the programs' eligibility requirements," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "Participation rates in the programs, which supplement Pell Grants for high-achieving, low-income students, were lower than expected during their first few years, partly because of complicated eligibility requirements and a limited amount of time to set up the programs, the report says. In the programs' first year, they awarded roughly $430-million to about 361,000 students, well short of the estimate of $790-million for 505,000 students. Last year the government awarded grants to 465,000 students. Critics said the Education Department still did not reach its goal partly because it failed to promote the grants and explain them in detail to colleges."