(a) The Secretary awards a grant to provide race, sex, national origin, and religion desegregation assistance under this program to regional EACs serving designated geographic regions.

(b) The Secretary announces in the Federal Register the number of centers and geographic regions for each competition.

(c) The Secretary determines the number and boundaries of each geographic region for each competition on the basis of one or more of the following:

(1) Size and diversity of the student population;

(2) The number of LEAs;

(3) The composition of urban, city, and rural LEAs;

(4) The history and frequency of the EAC and other Department technical assistance activities;

(5) Geographic proximity of the States within each region; and

(6) The amount of funding available for the competition.