The Grant Progress Assessment program was established by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in 2005 with the purpose of ensuring that grantees were properly documenting their efforts and spending the funds they received according to congressional and NIJ guidelines. The program provided free assessments to grant recipients during the period from mid-2005 through 2011. The program was suspended in September 2011 due to budget constraints. The goals of the program were to 1) assist NIJ in its administrative oversight of forensic science awards; and 2) educate grantees on proper grant administration. Through the program, a trained assessor visited each grant site on a 2-year cycle. During the visit, the assessors reviewed the status of the laboratory's grant and assessed the grantee's use of Federal funds to increase the lab's capabilities and capacities. The article discusses not only the findings from the early years of the program, but the lessons learned as well. Two sidebars in the article provide information on resources for managing laboratory grants, and a list of typical assessment findings.