Notice Expanding an Experiment Under the Experimental Sites Initiative; Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs Under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as Amended, 72052-72055 [2015-29437]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 222 / Wednesday, November 18, 2015 / Notices
meeting is available at the Council’s
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Dated: November 13, 2015.
Emily H. Menashes,
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[FR Doc. 2015–29451 Filed 11–17–15; 8:45 am]
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Aaron Siegel,
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[FR Doc. 2015–29401 Filed 11–17–15; 8:45 am]
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regulations implementing the
Government in the Sunshine Act, notice
is hereby given of the Board’s closed
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DATES: 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m., December 1,
2015.
ADDRESSES: Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board, 625 Indiana Avenue NW.,
Room 425, Washington, DC 20004.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
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Dated: November 13, 2015.
Joyce L. Connery,
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[FR Doc. 2015–29497 Filed 11–16–15; 11:15 am]
DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES
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BILLING CODE 3670–01–P
Sunshine Act Notice
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Defense Nuclear Facilities
Safety Board.
ACTION: Notice of closed meeting.
Notice Expanding an Experiment
Under the Experimental Sites Initiative;
Federal Student Financial Assistance
Programs Under Title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965, as Amended
AGENCY:
Pursuant to the provisions of
the Government in the Sunshine Act (5
U.S.C. 552b), and the Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board’s (Board)
SUMMARY:
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Office of Postsecondary
Education, Department of Education.
AGENCY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 222 / Wednesday, November 18, 2015 / Notices
ACTION:
Notice.
The Secretary is expanding
the Competency-Based Education
experiment, which was announced in a
previous Federal Register notice, to
provide additional flexibility in how
institutions provide Federal student aid
to students who are enrolled in
competency-based education programs,
including providing waivers and
modifications to statutory and
regulatory requirements designed to
support competency-based education
programs that charge a flat fee for a
period of time rather than charging by
course or by competency. The
expansion of the Competency-Based
Education experiment provides two
additional sets of waivers that are
available to both institutions currently
approved for the experiment and
institutions that may be approved based
on their submission of a letter of
interest. These sets of waivers are
described in this notice below, under
‘‘The Experiment.’’
In a Federal Register notice published
on July 31, 2014, the Secretary invited
postsecondary educational institutions
(institutions) that participate in the
student financial assistance programs
authorized under title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965, as amended
(HEA), to apply to participate in
institutionally-based experiments,
including the Competency-Based
Education experiment, under the
Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI).
DATES: Institutions that have not already
received approval to participate in the
Competency-Based Education
experiment must submit a letter of
interest following the instructions
included in this notice. Letters of
interest must be received by the
Department no later than January 19,
2016 in order for an institution to
receive priority to be considered for
participation in the experiment. Letters
received after January 19, 2016 may
still, at the discretion of the Secretary,
be considered for participation.
The Department will contact those
institutions that have already received
approval to participate in the
Competency-Based Education
experiment to determine which of the
three sets of waivers, discussed below in
the ‘‘The Experiment’’ section of this
notice, the institution wishes to apply to
their competency-based education
programs. Based upon each institution’s
response, the Department will amend
the institution’s Program Participation
Agreement (PPA) to reflect the specific
waivers and modifications to statutory
or regulatory provisions included in the
set of waivers chosen by the institution.
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SUMMARY:
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Letters of interest must be
submitted by electronic mail to the
following email address:
experimentalsites@ed.gov. The subject
line of the email should read ‘‘ESI
2015—Competency-Based Education.’’
For formats and other required
information, see ‘‘Instructions for
Submitting Letters of Interest’’ under
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Warren Farr, U.S. Department of
Education, Federal Student Aid, 830
First Street NE., Washington, DC 20002.
Telephone: (202) 377–4380 or by email
at: Warren.Farr@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay
Service (FRS), toll free, at 1–800–877–
8339.
ADDRESSES:
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Instructions for Submitting Letters of
Interest
Letters of interest for the CompetencyBased Education experiment should
take the form of a PDF attachment to an
email message as described in the
ADDRESSES section of this notice. The
letter of interest should be on
institutional letterhead and be signed by
at least two officials of the institution—
one of these officials should be the
institution’s financial aid administrator,
and the other should be an academic
official of the institution who is familiar
with the institution’s competency-based
educational programs. The letter of
interest must include the institution’s
official name and Department of
Education Office of Postsecondary
Education Identification (OPEID), as
well as a mailing address, email
address, FAX number, and telephone
number of a contact person at the
institution. The letter should indicate
which of the three sets of waivers,
discussed below in the ‘‘The
Experiment’’ section of this notice, the
institution wishes to apply to their
competency-based education programs.
Background
The Secretary, under the
Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI)
authority of section 487A(b) of the HEA,
published a Federal Register notice (79
FR 44429) dated July 31, 2014 (July 31,
2014, notice), inviting institutions to
participate in four experiments that
would waive certain statutory and
regulatory requirements related to the
title IV, HEA programs. One of those
experiments was the Competency-Based
Education experiment.
Under the Competency-Based
Education experiment, the Secretary
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provided limited waivers of certain
statutory and regulatory requirements to
remove some of the time-based
restrictions to the disbursement of
student assistance under title IV of the
HEA (title IV aid) so that funds are
available to a student to pay
institutional charges as the student
progresses through a program at the
student’s own pace. Specifically, the
Secretary allowed for the disbursement
of title IV aid for direct costs as soon as
the student completed a required
number of competencies, regardless of
how many weeks of instructional time
have elapsed, and for disbursement of
title IV aid for indirect costs at regular
calendar intervals, regardless of how
many competencies the student had
completed, all within award maximums.
The Secretary also modified the
requirements for monitoring satisfactory
academic progress to permit institutions
to evaluate a student’s pace in a
competency-based education program
by calculating competencies completed
over calendar time, rather than by
dividing the hours the student
completed by the hours the student
attempted. Detailed information
regarding these requirements is
provided in the Competency-Based
Education Experiment Reference Guide,
which is available at: https://
experimentalsites.ed.gov/exp/
guidance.html.
In the July 31, 2014, notice, the
Secretary described the application,
selection, reporting, and evaluation
requirements for the Competency-Based
Education experiment. All of those
requirements remain in effect regardless
of which set of waivers, as described in
this notice, is chosen by an institution.
Since the publication of the July 31,
2014, notice, the Department has
learned that there are challenges
associated with the waivers discussed in
that notice for institutions that charge
students who are enrolled in
competency-based programs a set
amount for a defined period of time, as
opposed to charging an amount for each
competency. This is often referred to as
a ‘‘subscription period model.’’ Some
institutions have suggested that
financial aid for programs that charge
using subscription periods rather than
by competency can be administered
more effectively by using term-based
disbursements, with flexibilities to
allow students to begin and complete
their competencies outside of the start
and end dates of terms, rather than
using a nonterm model as described in
the July 31, 2014, notice.
Other institutions stated that they
were primarily interested in the
satisfactory academic progress waivers
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 222 / Wednesday, November 18, 2015 / Notices
noted in the July 31, 2014, notice and
did not need the full set of waivers
included in that notice.
Selection
For institutions that, in response to
this notice, submit letters of interest for
the Competency-Based Education
experiment, the Secretary’s process for
selecting participating institutions will
remain the same as was described in the
July 31, 2014, notice.
The Experiment
Background
The Department’s regulations at 34
CFR 668.4(a) and (b) describe
requirements for payment periods for
eligible programs that measure progress
in credit hours and use standard or
nonstandard terms. A term is a period
during which all classes are scheduled
to begin and end within a set timeframe.
The Department’s regulations for
satisfactory academic progress at 34 CFR
668.34 require institutions to measure a
student’s progress at least once
annually, though an institution is
permitted to check more often. Those
regulations also require an institution to
determine a student’s academic progress
pace by dividing the cumulative number
of hours the student has successfully
completed by the cumulative number of
hours the student has attempted.
Some institutions offering
competency-based programs charge
students using ‘‘subscription periods,’’
in which the institution charges the
student a single fee for all of the
student’s competency-based instruction
during each subscription period. In
some instances, students begin and
complete a subscription period within
the dates of the term. However, because
competency-based programs are
generally self-paced, the requirement
under a term-based program that
coursework must begin and end within
the timeframe of the term is often a
significant impediment to the students
enrolled in such programs.
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Description
In response to the above, the Secretary
is expanding the current CompetencyBased Education experiment to provide
two additional sets of statutory and
regulatory waivers. Institutions must
choose a single set of waivers from
among the three sets available that will
apply to all of the competency-based
education programs that it includes
under the experiment. The sets of
waivers are as follows:
(1) Split Disbursement: This set of
waivers includes all of the
disbursement, satisfactory academic
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progress, and Return of Title IV Funds
waivers described in the July 31, 2014,
notice and explained in the
Competency-Based Education
Experiment Reference Guide.
(2) Satisfactory Academic Progress
Only: A second set of waivers will
include only the waivers to the
satisfactory academic progress
requirements described in the July 31,
2014, notice and explained in the
Competency-Based Education
Experiment Reference Guide.
(3) Subscription Period Disbursement:
The third set of waivers is intended for
institutions offering competency-based
programs using subscription periods
and is described below.
Under the Subscription Period
Disbursement set of waivers, the
institution may include in its
determination of a student’s enrollment
status competencies that begin prior to
the start of the subscription period, as
long as it does not include those
competencies in enrollment status for
two different payment periods.
Institutions will disburse title IV aid
based on the student’s anticipated
enrollment for a subscription period
(which is equivalent to a payment
period) rather than requiring completion
of a specific number of competencies
prior to making subsequent
disbursements of title IV aid. While an
institution will determine a student’s
title IV aid amounts based on the
student’s anticipated enrollment status,
the institution will be required to
perform a satisfactory academic progress
evaluation for the student at the end of
each subscription period (payment
period) to ensure that the student has
completed the appropriate number of
competencies in that payment period,
given the student’s enrollment status.
Program Eligibility: An institution
participating in the Competency-Based
Education experiment could choose to
use the Subscription Period
Disbursement set of waivers only if it
charges students in a competency-based
education program using subscription
periods, as described above.
Payment Periods: Subscription
periods under this set of waivers will be
considered to be term-based payment
periods, as payment periods are defined
under 34 CFR 668.4(a) and (b).
Institutions disbursing under this set of
waivers will generally follow existing
rules for standard and nonstandard
terms, as appropriate, except that
nonstandard terms that are not
substantially equal will have the same
payment periods for Direct Loans as
they do for Pell Grants, with similar
proration based on the length of the
payment period.
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Enrollment Status: For each payment
period, students will be assigned by the
institution an enrollment status (fulltime, half-time, three-quarter time, less
than half-time) based on the student’s
expected enrollment in and completion
of competencies for the payment period.
After consulting with the student, the
institution will determine the student’s
enrollment status based on a realistic
assessment by the institution of the
number of competencies that the
student will complete during the
payment period. However, unlike under
existing regulations for standard and
nonstandard term programs, an
institution will not be permitted to
count a unique competency or course
toward a student’s enrollment status for
more than one payment period.
In addition, under this set of waivers,
a student’s enrollment status may not be
changed for title IV purposes once it has
been established for the payment
period, except that an institution must
increase a student’s enrollment status to
reflect any competencies completed by
the student during the payment period
that were not originally assigned to that
payment period or to a previous
payment period. If the additional
competencies that were completed in
the payment period were expected to be
completed in a subsequent payment
period(s), an adjustment to the student’s
enrollment status for that subsequent
payment period(s) is required.
For Pell Grant purposes, students will
still be required to begin working on at
least the number of competencies used
in the determination of the student’s
enrollment status for each payment
period. Therefore, to use this set of
waivers, an institution must have a
mechanism for determining that a
student has been participating in a
competency during a payment period.
Satisfactory Academic Progress: As in
the Split Disbursement set of waivers,
the Subscription Period Disbursement
set of waivers will modify the statutory
and regulatory requirements for
monitoring satisfactory academic
progress so that an institution will be
required to evaluate a student’s pace by
using competencies completed over
calendar time, rather than by dividing a
student’s completed credit hours by
attempted credit hours. However, two
additional requirements will be added
for institutions using Subscription
Period Disbursement.
First, the institution must evaluate a
student’s satisfactory academic progress
after every subscription period
(payment period), rather than at least
once annually, even if the program is
more than one academic year in length.
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 222 / Wednesday, November 18, 2015 / Notices
Second, the institution must evaluate
a student’s pace using two separate
measures:
(1) The student’s progress for the
payment period immediately prior to
the evaluation, calculated using the
number of credit hours or equivalents
completed over the number of credit
hours or equivalents included in the
student’s enrollment status for that
payment period; and
(2) The student’s cumulative rate of
progress, calculated by dividing the
aggregate number of credit hours or
equivalents completed as of the end of
the payment period by the total number
of credit hours or equivalents expected
to be completed as of the end of that
payment period in order for the student
to complete the program within the
maximum timeframe. The maximum
timeframe is based on the published
length of the program, expressed in
calendar time (i.e., weeks, months,
years).
To make satisfactory academic
progress under the payment period
measure, a student must complete the
minimum number of credit hours or
equivalents associated with the
enrollment status that was assigned to
the student for the payment period
under review. For example, if an
institution’s definition of a ‘‘full-time
academic workload’’ in a competencybased education program is 12 semester
hours and a student enrolled in that
program is assigned a full-time
enrollment status in a payment period,
the student would need to complete
competencies with an equivalent of at
least 12 semester hours in that payment
period to make satisfactory academic
progress. Similarly, if a student in the
same program is assigned a half-time
enrollment status in a payment period,
the student would need to complete at
least 6 semester hours in that payment
period in order to make satisfactory
academic progress.
For its evaluation of a student’s
cumulative rate of progress, the
institution could use different standards
for students on different enrollment
tracks—for example, there could be a
different maximum timeframe for a
student on a half-time enrollment track,
for whom the normal time for
completion of the program is longer
than for a student on a full-time
enrollment track.
If a student fails either of the two
satisfactory academic progress
evaluations, the student will have failed
to make satisfactory academic progress
and will, based on the institution’s
satisfactory academic progress policies,
either be assigned to a financial aid
warning period or immediately lose
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eligibility for title IV funds. Institutions
will have the same flexibility to
establish options for appeals, probation
periods, and academic plans as they do
under the current regulations.
Return of title IV Funds (R2T4):
Under the Subscription Period
Disbursement set of waivers, R2T4
calculations will be required, and will
follow the normal requirements under
34 CFR 668.22 when a student
withdraws.
Waivers
For all of the competency-based
education programs that it offers under
the experiment, the institution must
select one of the following sets of
waivers.
(1) Split Disbursement:
• This set of waivers was described in
the July 31, 2014, notice and explained
in the Competency-Based Education
Experiment Reference Guide.
(2) Satisfactory Academic Progress
Only:
• This set of waivers includes only
the waivers to the satisfactory academic
progress requirements described in the
July 31, 2014, notice and explained in
the Competency-Based Education
Experiment Reference Guide.
(3) Subscription Period Disbursement:
• 34 CFR 668.4(a), to the extent that
the regulation requires the coursework
undertaken within a standard term or a
nonstandard term to begin within the
term start and end dates.
• 34 CFR 668.4(b), to the extent that
the regulation requires the coursework
undertaken within a nonstandard term
to begin within the term start and end
dates.
• HEA section 484(c) and 34 CFR
668.34(a)(3)(ii), (a)(5)(ii), and (b), related
to the timeframe when the institution
must determine whether a student is
making satisfactory academic progress
and the method by which an institution
must calculate the pace of a student’s
academic progression.
• 34 CFR 685.303(d)(5), to the extent
that the regulations provide that Direct
Loan proceeds must be disbursed in
substantially equal installments. The
modification will require the institution
to make disbursements of Direct Loan
funds in accordance with the provisions
of the Pell Grant program under the
same rules used in the calculation of
disbursement amounts in the Pell Grant
program under 34 CFR 690.63.
• 34 CFR 690.80(b)(2)(i), which
permits an institution to recalculate a
student’s enrollment status during a
payment period after the student has
begun all of the coursework for the
payment period.
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72055
All other provisions and regulations
of the title IV student assistance
programs will remain in effect.
Accessible Format: Individuals with
disabilities can obtain this document in
an accessible format (e.g. braille, large
print, audiotape, or compact disc) on
request to the contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document:
The official version of this document is
the document published in the Federal
Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register
and the Code of Federal Regulations is
available via the Federal Digital System
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you
can view this document, as well as all
other documents of this Department
published in the Federal Register, in
text or Adobe Portable Document
Format (PDF). To use PDF, you must
have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is
available free at the site.
You may also access documents of the
Department published in the Federal
Register by using the article search
feature at: www.federalregister.gov.
Specifically, through the advanced
search feature at this site, you can limit
your search to documents published by
the Department.
Delegation of Authority: The Secretary
of Education has delegated authority to
Jamienne S. Studley, Deputy Under
Secretary, to perform the functions and
duties of the Assistant Secretary for
Postsecondary Education.
Program Authority: HEA, section 487A(b);
20 U.S.C. 1094a(b).
Dated: November 13, 2015.
Jamienne S. Studley,
Deputy Under Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015–29437 Filed 11–17–15; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee
Office of Nuclear Energy,
Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
AGENCY:
This notice announces a
meeting of the Nuclear Energy Advisory
Committee (NEAC). The Federal
Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 94–
463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public
notice of these meetings be announced
in the Federal Register.
DATES: Friday, December 11, 2015, 8:30
a.m.–4:00 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Westin Crystal City, 1800
Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA
22202.
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 222 (Wednesday, November 18, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72052-72055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-29437]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Notice Expanding an Experiment Under the Experimental Sites
Initiative; Federal Student Financial Assistance Programs Under Title
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as Amended
AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.
[[Page 72053]]
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Secretary is expanding the Competency-Based Education
experiment, which was announced in a previous Federal Register notice,
to provide additional flexibility in how institutions provide Federal
student aid to students who are enrolled in competency-based education
programs, including providing waivers and modifications to statutory
and regulatory requirements designed to support competency-based
education programs that charge a flat fee for a period of time rather
than charging by course or by competency. The expansion of the
Competency-Based Education experiment provides two additional sets of
waivers that are available to both institutions currently approved for
the experiment and institutions that may be approved based on their
submission of a letter of interest. These sets of waivers are described
in this notice below, under ``The Experiment.''
In a Federal Register notice published on July 31, 2014, the
Secretary invited postsecondary educational institutions (institutions)
that participate in the student financial assistance programs
authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended (HEA), to apply to participate in institutionally-based
experiments, including the Competency-Based Education experiment, under
the Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI).
DATES: Institutions that have not already received approval to
participate in the Competency-Based Education experiment must submit a
letter of interest following the instructions included in this notice.
Letters of interest must be received by the Department no later than
January 19, 2016 in order for an institution to receive priority to be
considered for participation in the experiment. Letters received after
January 19, 2016 may still, at the discretion of the Secretary, be
considered for participation.
The Department will contact those institutions that have already
received approval to participate in the Competency-Based Education
experiment to determine which of the three sets of waivers, discussed
below in the ``The Experiment'' section of this notice, the institution
wishes to apply to their competency-based education programs. Based
upon each institution's response, the Department will amend the
institution's Program Participation Agreement (PPA) to reflect the
specific waivers and modifications to statutory or regulatory
provisions included in the set of waivers chosen by the institution.
ADDRESSES: Letters of interest must be submitted by electronic mail to
the following email address: experimentalsites@ed.gov. The subject line
of the email should read ``ESI 2015--Competency-Based Education.'' For
formats and other required information, see ``Instructions for
Submitting Letters of Interest'' under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Warren Farr, U.S. Department of
Education, Federal Student Aid, 830 First Street NE., Washington, DC
20002. Telephone: (202) 377-4380 or by email at: Warren.Farr@ed.gov.
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Instructions for Submitting Letters of Interest
Letters of interest for the Competency-Based Education experiment
should take the form of a PDF attachment to an email message as
described in the ADDRESSES section of this notice. The letter of
interest should be on institutional letterhead and be signed by at
least two officials of the institution--one of these officials should
be the institution's financial aid administrator, and the other should
be an academic official of the institution who is familiar with the
institution's competency-based educational programs. The letter of
interest must include the institution's official name and Department of
Education Office of Postsecondary Education Identification (OPEID), as
well as a mailing address, email address, FAX number, and telephone
number of a contact person at the institution. The letter should
indicate which of the three sets of waivers, discussed below in the
``The Experiment'' section of this notice, the institution wishes to
apply to their competency-based education programs.
Background
The Secretary, under the Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI)
authority of section 487A(b) of the HEA, published a Federal Register
notice (79 FR 44429) dated July 31, 2014 (July 31, 2014, notice),
inviting institutions to participate in four experiments that would
waive certain statutory and regulatory requirements related to the
title IV, HEA programs. One of those experiments was the Competency-
Based Education experiment.
Under the Competency-Based Education experiment, the Secretary
provided limited waivers of certain statutory and regulatory
requirements to remove some of the time-based restrictions to the
disbursement of student assistance under title IV of the HEA (title IV
aid) so that funds are available to a student to pay institutional
charges as the student progresses through a program at the student's
own pace. Specifically, the Secretary allowed for the disbursement of
title IV aid for direct costs as soon as the student completed a
required number of competencies, regardless of how many weeks of
instructional time have elapsed, and for disbursement of title IV aid
for indirect costs at regular calendar intervals, regardless of how
many competencies the student had completed, all within award maximums.
The Secretary also modified the requirements for monitoring
satisfactory academic progress to permit institutions to evaluate a
student's pace in a competency-based education program by calculating
competencies completed over calendar time, rather than by dividing the
hours the student completed by the hours the student attempted.
Detailed information regarding these requirements is provided in the
Competency-Based Education Experiment Reference Guide, which is
available at: https://experimentalsites.ed.gov/exp/guidance.html.
In the July 31, 2014, notice, the Secretary described the
application, selection, reporting, and evaluation requirements for the
Competency-Based Education experiment. All of those requirements remain
in effect regardless of which set of waivers, as described in this
notice, is chosen by an institution.
Since the publication of the July 31, 2014, notice, the Department
has learned that there are challenges associated with the waivers
discussed in that notice for institutions that charge students who are
enrolled in competency-based programs a set amount for a defined period
of time, as opposed to charging an amount for each competency. This is
often referred to as a ``subscription period model.'' Some institutions
have suggested that financial aid for programs that charge using
subscription periods rather than by competency can be administered more
effectively by using term-based disbursements, with flexibilities to
allow students to begin and complete their competencies outside of the
start and end dates of terms, rather than using a nonterm model as
described in the July 31, 2014, notice.
Other institutions stated that they were primarily interested in
the satisfactory academic progress waivers
[[Page 72054]]
noted in the July 31, 2014, notice and did not need the full set of
waivers included in that notice.
Selection
For institutions that, in response to this notice, submit letters
of interest for the Competency-Based Education experiment, the
Secretary's process for selecting participating institutions will
remain the same as was described in the July 31, 2014, notice.
The Experiment
Background
The Department's regulations at 34 CFR 668.4(a) and (b) describe
requirements for payment periods for eligible programs that measure
progress in credit hours and use standard or nonstandard terms. A term
is a period during which all classes are scheduled to begin and end
within a set timeframe.
The Department's regulations for satisfactory academic progress at
34 CFR 668.34 require institutions to measure a student's progress at
least once annually, though an institution is permitted to check more
often. Those regulations also require an institution to determine a
student's academic progress pace by dividing the cumulative number of
hours the student has successfully completed by the cumulative number
of hours the student has attempted.
Some institutions offering competency-based programs charge
students using ``subscription periods,'' in which the institution
charges the student a single fee for all of the student's competency-
based instruction during each subscription period. In some instances,
students begin and complete a subscription period within the dates of
the term. However, because competency-based programs are generally
self-paced, the requirement under a term-based program that coursework
must begin and end within the timeframe of the term is often a
significant impediment to the students enrolled in such programs.
Description
In response to the above, the Secretary is expanding the current
Competency-Based Education experiment to provide two additional sets of
statutory and regulatory waivers. Institutions must choose a single set
of waivers from among the three sets available that will apply to all
of the competency-based education programs that it includes under the
experiment. The sets of waivers are as follows:
(1) Split Disbursement: This set of waivers includes all of the
disbursement, satisfactory academic progress, and Return of Title IV
Funds waivers described in the July 31, 2014, notice and explained in
the Competency-Based Education Experiment Reference Guide.
(2) Satisfactory Academic Progress Only: A second set of waivers
will include only the waivers to the satisfactory academic progress
requirements described in the July 31, 2014, notice and explained in
the Competency-Based Education Experiment Reference Guide.
(3) Subscription Period Disbursement: The third set of waivers is
intended for institutions offering competency-based programs using
subscription periods and is described below.
Under the Subscription Period Disbursement set of waivers, the
institution may include in its determination of a student's enrollment
status competencies that begin prior to the start of the subscription
period, as long as it does not include those competencies in enrollment
status for two different payment periods. Institutions will disburse
title IV aid based on the student's anticipated enrollment for a
subscription period (which is equivalent to a payment period) rather
than requiring completion of a specific number of competencies prior to
making subsequent disbursements of title IV aid. While an institution
will determine a student's title IV aid amounts based on the student's
anticipated enrollment status, the institution will be required to
perform a satisfactory academic progress evaluation for the student at
the end of each subscription period (payment period) to ensure that the
student has completed the appropriate number of competencies in that
payment period, given the student's enrollment status.
Program Eligibility: An institution participating in the
Competency-Based Education experiment could choose to use the
Subscription Period Disbursement set of waivers only if it charges
students in a competency-based education program using subscription
periods, as described above.
Payment Periods: Subscription periods under this set of waivers
will be considered to be term-based payment periods, as payment periods
are defined under 34 CFR 668.4(a) and (b). Institutions disbursing
under this set of waivers will generally follow existing rules for
standard and nonstandard terms, as appropriate, except that nonstandard
terms that are not substantially equal will have the same payment
periods for Direct Loans as they do for Pell Grants, with similar
proration based on the length of the payment period.
Enrollment Status: For each payment period, students will be
assigned by the institution an enrollment status (full-time, half-time,
three-quarter time, less than half-time) based on the student's
expected enrollment in and completion of competencies for the payment
period. After consulting with the student, the institution will
determine the student's enrollment status based on a realistic
assessment by the institution of the number of competencies that the
student will complete during the payment period. However, unlike under
existing regulations for standard and nonstandard term programs, an
institution will not be permitted to count a unique competency or
course toward a student's enrollment status for more than one payment
period.
In addition, under this set of waivers, a student's enrollment
status may not be changed for title IV purposes once it has been
established for the payment period, except that an institution must
increase a student's enrollment status to reflect any competencies
completed by the student during the payment period that were not
originally assigned to that payment period or to a previous payment
period. If the additional competencies that were completed in the
payment period were expected to be completed in a subsequent payment
period(s), an adjustment to the student's enrollment status for that
subsequent payment period(s) is required.
For Pell Grant purposes, students will still be required to begin
working on at least the number of competencies used in the
determination of the student's enrollment status for each payment
period. Therefore, to use this set of waivers, an institution must have
a mechanism for determining that a student has been participating in a
competency during a payment period.
Satisfactory Academic Progress: As in the Split Disbursement set of
waivers, the Subscription Period Disbursement set of waivers will
modify the statutory and regulatory requirements for monitoring
satisfactory academic progress so that an institution will be required
to evaluate a student's pace by using competencies completed over
calendar time, rather than by dividing a student's completed credit
hours by attempted credit hours. However, two additional requirements
will be added for institutions using Subscription Period Disbursement.
First, the institution must evaluate a student's satisfactory
academic progress after every subscription period (payment period),
rather than at least once annually, even if the program is more than
one academic year in length.
[[Page 72055]]
Second, the institution must evaluate a student's pace using two
separate measures:
(1) The student's progress for the payment period immediately prior
to the evaluation, calculated using the number of credit hours or
equivalents completed over the number of credit hours or equivalents
included in the student's enrollment status for that payment period;
and
(2) The student's cumulative rate of progress, calculated by
dividing the aggregate number of credit hours or equivalents completed
as of the end of the payment period by the total number of credit hours
or equivalents expected to be completed as of the end of that payment
period in order for the student to complete the program within the
maximum timeframe. The maximum timeframe is based on the published
length of the program, expressed in calendar time (i.e., weeks, months,
years).
To make satisfactory academic progress under the payment period
measure, a student must complete the minimum number of credit hours or
equivalents associated with the enrollment status that was assigned to
the student for the payment period under review. For example, if an
institution's definition of a ``full-time academic workload'' in a
competency-based education program is 12 semester hours and a student
enrolled in that program is assigned a full-time enrollment status in a
payment period, the student would need to complete competencies with an
equivalent of at least 12 semester hours in that payment period to make
satisfactory academic progress. Similarly, if a student in the same
program is assigned a half-time enrollment status in a payment period,
the student would need to complete at least 6 semester hours in that
payment period in order to make satisfactory academic progress.
For its evaluation of a student's cumulative rate of progress, the
institution could use different standards for students on different
enrollment tracks--for example, there could be a different maximum
timeframe for a student on a half-time enrollment track, for whom the
normal time for completion of the program is longer than for a student
on a full-time enrollment track.
If a student fails either of the two satisfactory academic progress
evaluations, the student will have failed to make satisfactory academic
progress and will, based on the institution's satisfactory academic
progress policies, either be assigned to a financial aid warning period
or immediately lose eligibility for title IV funds. Institutions will
have the same flexibility to establish options for appeals, probation
periods, and academic plans as they do under the current regulations.
Return of title IV Funds (R2T4): Under the Subscription Period
Disbursement set of waivers, R2T4 calculations will be required, and
will follow the normal requirements under 34 CFR 668.22 when a student
withdraws.
Waivers
For all of the competency-based education programs that it offers
under the experiment, the institution must select one of the following
sets of waivers.
(1) Split Disbursement:
This set of waivers was described in the July 31, 2014,
notice and explained in the Competency-Based Education Experiment
Reference Guide.
(2) Satisfactory Academic Progress Only:
This set of waivers includes only the waivers to the
satisfactory academic progress requirements described in the July 31,
2014, notice and explained in the Competency-Based Education Experiment
Reference Guide.
(3) Subscription Period Disbursement:
34 CFR 668.4(a), to the extent that the regulation
requires the coursework undertaken within a standard term or a
nonstandard term to begin within the term start and end dates.
34 CFR 668.4(b), to the extent that the regulation
requires the coursework undertaken within a nonstandard term to begin
within the term start and end dates.
HEA section 484(c) and 34 CFR 668.34(a)(3)(ii),
(a)(5)(ii), and (b), related to the timeframe when the institution must
determine whether a student is making satisfactory academic progress
and the method by which an institution must calculate the pace of a
student's academic progression.
34 CFR 685.303(d)(5), to the extent that the regulations
provide that Direct Loan proceeds must be disbursed in substantially
equal installments. The modification will require the institution to
make disbursements of Direct Loan funds in accordance with the
provisions of the Pell Grant program under the same rules used in the
calculation of disbursement amounts in the Pell Grant program under 34
CFR 690.63.
34 CFR 690.80(b)(2)(i), which permits an institution to
recalculate a student's enrollment status during a payment period after
the student has begun all of the coursework for the payment period.
All other provisions and regulations of the title IV student
assistance programs will remain in effect.
Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this
document in an accessible format (e.g. braille, large print, audiotape,
or compact disc) on request to the contact person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. Free
Internet access to the official edition of the Federal Register and the
Code of Federal Regulations is available via the Federal Digital System
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well
as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF,
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the
site.
You may also access documents of the Department published in the
Federal Register by using the article search feature at:
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Delegation of Authority: The Secretary of Education has delegated
authority to Jamienne S. Studley, Deputy Under Secretary, to perform
the functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary
Education.
Program Authority: HEA, section 487A(b); 20 U.S.C. 1094a(b).
Dated: November 13, 2015.
Jamienne S. Studley,
Deputy Under Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-29437 Filed 11-17-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
