---
kind: "section"
citation: "34 C.F.R. § 300.101"
title: "34"
number: "300.101"
heading: "Free appropriate public education (FAPE)."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/34/300.101"
---

# §300.101. Free appropriate public education (FAPE).

- (a) **General.** A free appropriate public education must be available to all children residing in the State between the ages of 3 and 21, inclusive, including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school, as provided for in [§ 300.530(d)](/cfr/34/300.530.md?p=d).
- (b) **FAPE for children beginning at age 3.**
  - (1) Each State must ensure that—
    - (i) The obligation to make FAPE available to each eligible child residing in the State begins no later than the child's third birthday; and
    - (ii) An IEP or an IFSP is in effect for the child by that date, in accordance with [§ 300.323(b)](/cfr/34/300.323.md?p=b).
  - (2) If a child's third birthday occurs during the summer, the child's IEP Team shall determine the date when services under the IEP or IFSP will begin.
- (c) **Children advancing from grade to grade.**
  - (1) Each State must ensure that FAPE is available to any individual child with a disability who needs special education and related services, even though the child has not failed or been retained in a course or grade, and is advancing from grade to grade.
  - (2) The determination that a child described in [paragraph (a)](#a) of this section is eligible under this part, must be made on an individual basis by the group responsible within the child's LEA for making eligibility determinations.

## Notes

### Authority

Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3, 1406, 1411-1419, and 3474; Pub. L. 111-256, 124 Stat. 2643; unless otherwise noted.

### Source

Source: 71 FR 46753, Aug. 14, 2006, unless otherwise noted.