State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Program and Discretionary and Other Formula Grant Programs, 59074-59085 [2011-24563]
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59074
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 185 / Friday, September 23, 2011 / Proposed Rules
Services, Central Intelligence Agency,
Washington, DC 20505, or fax to (703)
613–3020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joseph W. Lambert, (703) 613–1379.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Consistent
with the Privacy Act (PA), the CIA has
undertaken and completed a review of
its public PA regulations. As a result of
this review, the Agency proposes to
revise its PA regulations to update the
title of the head of the CIA and to
streamline the appeals structure.
List of Subjects in 32 CFR Part 1901
Classified information, Privacy Act.
As stated in the preamble, the CIA
proposes to amend 32 CFR part 1901 as
follows:
PART 1901—PUBLIC RIGHTS UNDER
THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974
1. The authority citation for part 1901
is revised to read as follows:
Authority: National Security Act of 1947,
as amended; Central Intelligence Agency Act
of 1949, as amended; Privacy Act, as
amended.
2. Amend § 1901.02, by adding
paragraphs (o) and (p) to read as
follows:
§ 1901.02
Definitions.
*
*
*
*
*
(o) Director of Central Intelligence
Agency means the head of the Central
Intelligence Agency.
(p) Agency Release Panel (ARP) refers
to the Agency’s forum for reviewing
information review and release policy,
the adequacy of resources available to
all Agency declassification and release
programs, and hearing appeals in
accordance with this section.
§ 1901.41
[Amended]
3. Revise § 1901.41 to read as follows:
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§ 1901.41
appeals.
Designation of authority to hear
(a) Agency Release Panel (ARP).
Appeals of initial adverse decisions
under the Privacy Act shall be reviewed
by the ARP which shall issue the final
Agency decision.
(b) ARP Membership. The ARP is
chaired by the Chief, Information
Review and Release Group, Information
Management Services, and composed of
the Information Review Officers from
the various Directorates and the
Director, Central Intelligence Agency
(D/CIA) areas, as well as the
representatives of the various release
programs and offices. The Information
and Privacy Coordinator also serves as
Executive Secretary of the ARP.
4. In § 1901.42, revise paragraph (d) to
read as follows:
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§ 1901.42 Right of appeal and appeal
procedures.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
*
34 CFR Subtitle B, Chapter II
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(d) Receipt, recording, and tasking.
The Agency shall promptly record each
administrative appeal, acknowledge
receipt to the requester in writing, and
thereafter affect the necessary taskings
to the Director(s) in charge of the
directorate(s) which originated or has an
interest in the record(s) subject to the
appeal. As used herein, the term
Director in charge of a directorate
includes an equivalent senior official
within the D/CIA area, as well as a
designee known as the Information
Review Officer for a directorate or area.
§ 1901.43
[Removed and Reserved]
5. Remove and reserve § 1901.43
6. In § 1901.44, revise paragraph (b)
and remove and reserve paragraph (c) to
read as follows:
§ 1901.44
Action by appeals authority.
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(b) Decision. The Agency Review
Panel (ARP) shall meet on a regular
schedule and may take action when a
simple majority of the total membership
is present. In all cases of a divided vote,
before the decision of the ARP becomes
final, any member of the ARP may by
written memorandum to the Executive
Secretary of the ARP, refer such matters
to the Director, Information
Management Services (D/IMS) for
decision. In the event of a disagreement
with any decision by D/IMS, Directorate
heads may appeal to the Associate
Deputy Director, CIA (ADD) for
resolution. The final Agency decision
shall reflect the vote of the ARP, unless
changed by the D/IMS or the ADD.
§ 1901.45
[Amended]
7. In § 1901.45, revise paragraph (a) to
read as follows:
§ 1901.45 Notification of decision and right
of judicial review.
(a) In general. The Executive
Secretary of the Agency Review Panel
shall promptly prepare and
communicate the final Agency decision
to the requester. With respect to any
decision to deny a request, that
correspondence shall state the reasons
for the decision and include a notice of
a right to seek judicial review.
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Dated: August 10, 2011.
Joseph W. Lambert,
Director, Information Management Services.
[FR Doc. 2011–21575 Filed 9–22–11; 8:45 am]
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[Docket ID ED–2011–OS–0005]
RIN 1894–AA02
State Fiscal Stabilization Fund
Program and Discretionary and Other
Formula Grant Programs
Department of Education.
Notice of proposed revisions to
certain data collection and reporting
requirements, and proposed priority.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education
(Secretary) established requirements for
the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund
(SFSF) program in a notice of final
requirements, definitions, and approval
criteria published in the Federal
Register on November 12, 2009
(November 2009 Notice). In this notice,
the Secretary proposes to revise some of
those requirements. In a separate notice
of interim final requirement, the
Secretary is extending to January 31,
2012, the deadline by which a State
must collect and publicly report data
and information under the SFSF
program.
In addition, the Secretary proposes in
this notice to establish a priority that the
U.S. Department of Education
(Department) may use, as appropriate,
in any future discretionary grant
competitions. The Department would
give a priority to States that have
developed and implemented the
statewide longitudinal data system
(SLDS) required under SFSF Indicator
(b)(1) on or before the applicable
deadline.
Through this notice, we also remind
grantees that under its current authority,
the Department may identify grantees as
high risk and impose sanctions on them
for failing to meet programmatic
requirements. In addition, the
Department is proposing that it may
take enforcement action against a State
educational agency (SEA) under certain
circumstances where a State fails to
meet the requirements of Indicators
(b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12).
DATES: We must receive your comments
on or before October 24, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments
through the Federal eRulemaking Portal
or via postal mail, commercial delivery,
or hand delivery. We will not accept
comments by fax or by e-mail. To ensure
that we do not receive duplicate copies,
please submit your comments only one
time. In addition, please include the
Docket ID and the term ‘‘State Fiscal
Stabilization Fund—Proposed
Revisions’’ at the top of your comments.
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 185 / Friday, September 23, 2011 / Proposed Rules
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov to submit
your comments electronically.
Information on using Regulations.gov,
including instructions for accessing
agency documents, submitting
comments, and viewing the docket, is
available on the site under ‘‘How To Use
This Site.’’
• Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery,
or Hand Delivery: If you mail or deliver
your comments about these proposed
revisions to certain data collection and
reporting requirements and proposed
priority, address them to Office of the
Deputy Secretary (Attention: State
Fiscal Stabilization Fund Proposed
Revisions Comments), U.S. Department
of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW., room 7E214, Washington, DC
20202–6200.
• Privacy Note: The Department’s
policy for comments received from
members of the public (including
comments submitted by mail,
commercial delivery, or hand delivery)
is to make these submissions available
for public viewing in their entirety on
the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore,
commenters should be careful to
include in their comments only
information that they wish to make
publicly available on the Internet.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
James Butler, State Fiscal Stabilization
Fund Program, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW.,
room 7E214, Washington, DC 20202–
0008. Telephone: (202) 260–9737 or by
e-mail: SFSFcomments@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.
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SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you
to submit comments regarding this
notice. To ensure that your comments
have maximum effect in developing the
notice of final revisions to certain data
collection and reporting requirements,
and final priority, we urge you to
identify clearly the specific proposal
that each comment addresses.
We invite you also to assist us in
complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Order 12866
and Executive Order 13563 and their
overall requirements of reducing
regulatory burden that might result from
these proposed revisions to certain data
collection and reporting requirements
and proposed priority. Please suggest
further ways we could reduce potential
costs or increase potential benefits
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while preserving the effective and
efficient administration of the program.
During and after the comment period,
you may inspect all public comments
about this notice by accessing
Regulations.gov. You may also inspect
the public comments in person in room
7E214, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC, between the hours of
8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., Washington, DC
time, Monday through Friday of each
week except Federal holidays.
Assistance to Individuals with
Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record: On request, we will
provide an appropriate accommodation
or auxiliary aid to an individual with a
disability who needs assistance to
review the comments or other
documents in the public rulemaking
record for this notice. If you want to
schedule an appointment for this type of
accommodation or auxiliary aid, please
contact the person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Purpose of Program: The SFSF
program provided approximately $48.6
billion in formula grants to States to
help stabilize State and local budgets in
order to minimize and avoid reductions
in education and other essential
services, in exchange for a State’s
commitment to advance education
reform in four key areas: (1) Achieving
equity in the distribution of teachers; (2)
improving the collection and use of
data; (3) standards and assessments; and
(4) supporting struggling schools.
Program Authority: American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Division A,
Title XIV—State Fiscal Stabilization Fund,
Pub. L. 111–5; 20 U.S.C. 1221e–3 and 3474.
Proposed Revisions to Reporting
Requirements
Background
Section 14005(d) of Division A of the
American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009 (ARRA) requires a State
receiving funds under the SFSF program
to provide assurances in four key areas
of education reform: (1) Achieving
equity in teacher distribution; (2)
improving collection and use of data; (3)
standards and assessments; and (4)
supporting struggling schools. In the
November 2009 Notice (74 FR 58436),
we established specific data and
information requirements (assurance
indicators and descriptors) that a State
must meet with respect to the statutory
assurances. We also established specific
requirements for the plans that a State
had to submit as part of its application
for the second phase of funding under
the SFSF program, describing the steps
it would take to collect and publicly
report the required data and other
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59075
information. As we explained in the
November 2009 Notice, these two sets of
requirements provide transparency on
the extent to which a State is
implementing the actions for which it
provided the assurances. Increased
access to and focus on these data better
enable States and other stakeholders to
identify strengths and weaknesses in
education systems and to determine
where concentrated reform effort is
warranted.
We are taking this action in response
to the January 18, 2011 Executive Order
13563 entitled ‘‘Improving Regulation
and Regulatory Review’’ and the
February 28, 2011 Memorandum from
the President to executive departments
and agencies entitled ‘‘Administrative
Flexibility, Lower Costs, and Better
Results for State, Local, and Tribal
Governments.’’ These documents direct
each Federal executive department and
agency to review periodically its
existing significant regulations in order
to determine whether any of those
regulations should be modified,
streamlined, expanded, or repealed so
as to make the department’s or agency’s
regulatory program more effective or
less burdensome in achieving regulatory
objectives. These proposed
modifications would address concerns
raised by some States regarding their
capacity to meet the requirements in the
November 2009 Notice.
As a result of a regulatory review of
the SFSF program requirements, the
Secretary is publishing elsewhere in this
issue of the Federal Register an IFR that
extends to January 31, 2012 the deadline
for States to collect and publicly report
data and information under the
program. In addition, in this notice, the
Secretary proposes to: (1) Eliminate the
requirement for States to report data
annually for Indicators (c)(1) through
(c)(9) and (d)(1) through (d)(6); (2)
extend to December 31, 2012, upon
submission of an approvable request by
a State, the deadline for meeting the
requirements under Indicators (b)(1) and
(c)(12); (3) extend to December 31, 2012,
upon submission of an approvable
request by a State, the deadline for
publicly reporting or developing the
capacity to collect and publicly report
student enrollment data under Indicator
(c)(11) for high school graduates who
enroll in an in-State public institution of
higher education (IHE); and (4) apply an
alternative standard, upon submission
of an approvable request by a State, by
which a State may meet the Indicator
(c)(11) data collection and reporting
requirements for high school graduates
who enroll in private or out-of-State
public IHEs. The Secretary proposes to
establish December 31, 2012 as the
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 185 / Friday, September 23, 2011 / Proposed Rules
deadline by which a State must meet the
requirements of the Indicator (c)(11)
alternative standard.
In addition to these revisions, the
Secretary proposes to establish a
priority that the Department may use in
future discretionary grant competitions,
for States that have met the
requirements of Indicator (b)(1) on or
before the applicable deadline. The
Secretary also is reminding States of
possible sanctions that may be imposed
on them for failing to meet SFSF
collection and reporting requirements.
Further, the Secretary is proposing to
have the authority to extend those
sanctions to SEAs in States that have
received an extension of the deadline to
December 31, 2012 for Indicators (b)(1),
(c)(11), or (c)(12) but fail to meet the
revised deadline or that have received
permission to use the alternative
standard for Indicator (c)(11) but fail to
meet the requirements of that standard
by the deadline.
We note that other than the revised
January 31, 2012 deadline for collecting
and publicly reporting data that has
been established in the IFR, or unless
specifically referenced in this notice, we
are not proposing to modify any other
SFSF requirements and those
requirements remain in effect as
originally established.
In addition, we note that where the
SFSF indicators make use of
information in ‘‘Existing Collections’’
(see column 4 of the table in Section I
of State Fiscal Stabilization Fund:
Summary of Final Requirements at
https://www2.ed.gov/programs/
statestabilization/summaryrequirements.doc), the modification of
an SFSF indicator does not affect other
Federal requirements for those
collections that are established under
separate legal authority. Some of the
data that States submit through the
Department’s EDFacts system to meet
requirements established under other
authorities (e.g., Title I accountability
data) are also reported publicly by
States to meet the requirements of
certain SFSF indicators. Those
requirements established by other
authorities are not affected by the
modification of any SFSF indicator.
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Proposed Revisions
Proposed Elimination of Annual
Reporting Requirements for Indicators
(c)(1) Through (c)(9) and (d)(1) Through
(d)(6)
Currently, each State is required to
collect and publicly report, at least
annually, the data and other information
required by Indicators (c)(1) through
(c)(9) and (d)(1) through (d)(6).
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Indicators (c)(1) through (c)(9)
(standards and assessments indicators)
require each State to collect and
publicly report data and other
information annually on, among other
things, whether students are provided
high-quality State assessments; whether
students with disabilities and limited
English proficient students are included
in State assessment systems; and
whether the State makes information
available regarding student academic
performance in the State compared to
the academic performance of students in
other States.
Indicators (d)(1) through (d)(6)
(supporting struggling schools
indicators) require a State to collect and
publicly report data and other
information annually on, among other
things, the progress of certain groups of
schools in the State on State
assessments in reading/language arts
and mathematics and on the extent to
which reforms to improve student
academic achievement are implemented
in the persistently lowest-achieving
schools in the State.
A majority of States have collected
and publicly reported the data and
information required by Indicators (c)(1)
through (c)(9) and (d)(1) through (d)(6).
The data and information highlight the
progress each State is making to address
potential inequities in standards and
assessments and to inform the public on
the extent to which reforms to improve
student academic achievement are
implemented in the persistently lowestachieving schools in the State. However,
much of these data are now also
collected through other Department
information collections. For example,
data on the participation of students
with disabilities, by assessment type, is
provided by States as part of the
Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (ESEA) Consolidated State
Performance Report (CSPR) and the
annual assessment data reporting under
the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. The CSPRs are available
at https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/
account/consolidated/sy08-09part1/
index.html. Data are also available to the
public about the participation of
students with disabilities by assessment
type at https://www.ideadata.org/
PartBData.asp. In addition, data about
the performance of students on
statewide assessments, by subgroup
(including students with disabilities and
limited English proficient students), are
publicly available at https://
www.eddataexpress.ed.gov/.
Under the IFR, States have until
January 31, 2012, to collect and publicly
report the data and information required
under the SFSF indicators and
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descriptors, including Indicators (c)(1)
through (c)(9) and (d)(1) through (d)(6).
However, given the availability of these
data through other sources, we do not
believe it continues to be necessary to
have States separately collect and report
data for Indicators (c)(1) through (c)(9)
and Indicators (d)(1) through (d)(6) more
than one time under the SFSF program.
Any State that has already collected and
publicly reported these data would not
be required to take any further actions
relative to these indicators for the
purposes of the SFSF program. Any
State that has not already provided data
under these Indicators must do so by the
January 31, 2012 deadline.
Proposed Extension of Deadline for
Indicators (b)(1) and (c)(12)
Indicator (b)(1) requires a State to
identify which of the 12 elements in
section 6401(e)(2)(D) of the America
COMPETES Act are included in its
SLDS. Any State that did not have an
SLDS that included all 12 elements was
required to provide the Department, as
part of its SFSF Phase 2 application, a
plan for fully developing and
implementing such a system by
September 30, 2011.
Indicator (c)(12) requires each State to
collect and publicly report course
completion data for high school
graduates who enroll in a public IHE in
the State.1 If, at the time of submission
of its SFSF Phase 2 application, a State
lacked the capacity to collect and
publicly report the specified course
completion data it had to provide the
Department with a plan for how it
would collect and report those data or
develop the capacity to do so by
September 30, 2011.
As the Department noted in its
November 2009 Notice, timely and
reliable information from across sectors
will facilitate program evaluation and
help determine whether a program is
improving outcomes for students. Thus,
it is imperative that States complete the
development and implementation of an
SLDS that includes the 12 elements
required under the America COMPETES
Act. Further, a State must have an SLDS
to be able to report the course
1 Specifically, Indicator (c)(12) requires each State
to provide for the State, for each LEA in the State,
for each high school in the State and, at each of
these levels, by student subgroup (consistent with
section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the ESEA), of the
students who graduate from high school consistent
with 34 CFR 200.19(b)(1)(i) who enroll in a public
IHE (as defined in section 101(a) of the Higher
Education Act) in the State within 16 months of
receiving a regular high school diploma, the
number and percentage (including numerator and
denominator) who complete at least one year’s
worth of college credit (applicable to a degree)
within two years of enrollment in the IHE.
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completion data required under
Indicator (c)(12) that provides
information on how effectively schools
in the State are preparing their students
for postsecondary education.
The Department recognizes the
challenges and competing priorities that
many States have faced in trying to meet
the requirements of Indicators (b)(1) and
(c)(12) by the September 30, 2011
deadline. During program monitoring,
States have expressed concerns about
their ability to fully develop and
implement an SLDS by the established
deadline. In addition, many States
indicated in their March 2011 Amended
Application for Funding Under the State
Fiscal Stabilization Fund Program that
they still had not fully incorporated the
following elements into their SLDS: (1)
Student-level transcript information,
including data on courses completed
and grades earned (Element 9); (2)
information regarding the extent to
which students transition successfully
from secondary school to postsecondary
education, including whether students
enroll in remedial coursework (Element
11); and (3) other information
determined necessary to address
alignment and adequate preparation for
success in postsecondary education
(Element 12). Further, most States
reported in their amended SFSF
application that they do not yet have the
capacity to collect and publicly report
the course completion data required
under Indicator (c)(12).
As a result, in the IFR, the Department
is extending to January 31, 2012 the
deadline by which States must meet the
requirements of the SFSF indicators and
descriptors, including Indicators (b)(1)
and (c)(12). Further, the Department
proposes in this notice to extend to
December 31, 2012, upon submission of
an approvable request by a State, the
deadline for the development and
implementation of an SLDS that
includes the 12 elements included in
the America COMPETES Act. In
addition, the Department proposes to
extend to December 31, 2012, upon
submission of an approvable request by
a State, the deadline by which a State
must have the capacity to collect and
publicly report the required course
completion data under Indicator (c)(12).
The Department proposes that, to be
approvable, an extension request must
provide the specific information
described under the heading Proposed
Requirements for Requests for
Extensions to December 31, 2012, of
Deadlines for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or
(c)(12) or Use of the Indicator (c)(11)
Alternative Standard.
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Proposed Revisions to Requirements
Under Indicator (c)(11)
Under the requirements for Indicator
(c)(11) established in the November
2009 Notice, each State must (1) Collect
and publicly report, by September 30,
2011, data on the number and
percentage of high school graduates who
enroll in IHEs—public or private, inState or out-of-State; or (2) submit to the
Department a plan describing how the
State would develop, by September 30,
2011, the capacity to do so. Further,
under those requirements, each State
must submit to the Department, by
September 30, 2011, evidence
demonstrating that it has developed the
capacity to collect and publicly report
the data.
A number of States have raised
concerns about the challenges in
collecting and publicly reporting
student enrollment data. In their March
2011 SFSF amended applications, 43
States indicated that they did not yet
have the capacity to collect and publicly
report those data. Therefore, in the IFR,
the Department is extending until
January 31, 2012, the deadline for States
to comply with the SFSF indicators and
descriptors, including Indicator (c)(11).
Further, in this notice the Department
proposes to extend to December 31,
2012, upon submission of an approvable
request by a State, the deadline by
which a State must collect and publicly
report or have the capacity to collect
and publicly report the student
enrollment data required under
Indicator (c)(11) for high school
graduates who attend an in-State public
IHE. The Department would grant an
extension to December 31, 2012 only to
a State that submits a request that
contains the specific information
proposed under the heading Proposed
Requirements for Requests for
Extensions to December 31, 2012, of
Deadlines for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or
(c)(12) or Use of the Indicator (c)(11)
Alternative Standard.
The Department acknowledges that
obtaining student enrollment data from
private and out-of-State public IHEs can
be particularly challenging. Therefore,
the Department also proposes to
establish an alternative standard by
which a State may meet the Indicator
(c)(11) data collection and reporting
requirements with respect to high
school graduates who enroll in private
or out-of-State public IHEs. While such
data are essential in determining how
well an LEA or secondary school is
preparing its students for postsecondary
education, some States may need
additional time to develop fully the
capacity to collect and report these data.
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59077
Under the alternative standard, a State
would have to increase, by December
31, 2012, its current capacity to collect
and publicly report the required student
enrollment data for high school
graduates who attend a private or an
out-of-State public IHE. A State would
not be required to be fully capable of
collecting and reporting these data by
December 31, 2012. For the purposes of
the alternative standard, a State would
be considered to be making acceptable
progress in increasing its capacity to
collect and publicly report student
enrollment data for high school
graduates who enroll in private or outof-State public IHEs through such
activities as: (1) Entering into data
reciprocity agreements with private inState IHEs that receive any State funds,
including those for student financial
aid, research, or any other activities;
(2) entering into data reciprocity
agreements with private in-State IHEs
over which the State exercises
significant oversight, such as serving as
an accrediting body; (3) entering into
data reciprocity agreements with
geographically contiguous States or
States with which it has tuition
reciprocity agreements; or (4)
conducting a data analysis to determine
the out-of-State IHEs where large
numbers of the State’s high school
graduates enroll.
The Department proposes that States
that use the alternative standard for
Indicator (c)(11) be required to publicly
report, by December 31, 2012, the
following—
(1) For each in-State private IHE—
(a) Whether the State provides
funding to the IHE;
(b) Whether the State has a datasharing agreement in place with the IHE
and, if so, whether the data-sharing
agreement enables the State to track its
recent high school graduates; and
(2) For each out-of-State private or
out-of-State public IHE with which the
State has a data-sharing agreement—
(a) Whether the State provides
funding to the IHE; and
(b) Whether the data-sharing
agreement enables the State to track its
recent high school graduates.
The Department proposes to permit a
State that provides the specific
information described under the
heading Proposed Requirements for
Requests for Extensions to December 31,
2012, of Deadlines for Indicator (b)(1),
(c)(11), or (c)(12) or Use of the Indicator
(c)(11) Alternative Standard to use the
alternative standard.
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Proposed Requirements for Requests for
Extensions to December 31, 2012, of
Deadlines for Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11),
or (c)(12) or Use of the Indicator (c)(11)
Alternative Standard
Because of an SEA’s significant role in
carrying out education reform activities
in a State, including developing and
implementing an SLDS, the Department
proposes that any request for an
extension to December 31, 2012, of the
deadline for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or
(c)(12), as well as any request to use the
alternative standard for Indicator (c)(11),
must be submitted jointly by the
Governor and the Chief State School
Officer. Further, the Secretary proposes
that an extension request or a request to
use the alternative standard must be
submitted by the deadline that the
Department will establish in the notice
of final revisions to certain data
collection and reporting requirements,
and final priority. The additional
requirements for these requests are as
follows:
A. Indicator (b)(1) Extension Requests
The Secretary proposes that a State
must provide the following information
when requesting an extension of the
deadline for developing and
implementing an SLDS under Indicator
(b)(1) that includes the 12 elements
required by the America COMPETES
Act:
(1) An identification of the elements
in the America COMPETES Act that the
State has implemented to date as part of
its SLDS; and
(2) An assurance signed by the
Governor and the Chief State School
Officer that the State will—
(i) Incorporate the remaining elements
into its SLDS by the December 31, 2012,
deadline; and
(ii) Provide, within 60 days of
submission of the request, a revised
plan for incorporating those elements by
the deadline.
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B. Indicator (c)(11) Extension Requests
The Secretary proposes that a State
must provide the following information
when requesting an extension of the
deadline for collecting and publicly
reporting under Indicator (c)(11) student
enrollment data for high school
graduates who enroll in an in-State
public IHE:
(1) A description of the State’s current
capacity to collect and publicly report
such student enrollment data; and
(2) An assurance signed by the
Governor and the Chief State School
Officer that the State will—
(i)(A) Collect and publicly report by
December 31, 2012, student enrollment
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data for high school graduates who
attend an in-State public IHE; or
(B) Develop the capacity to collect
and publicly report those data by
December 31, 2012; and
(ii) Provide, within 60 days of
submission of the request, a revised
plan for how the State will—
(A) Collect and publicly report the
data by December 31, 2012; or
(B) Develop the capacity to collect
and publicly report those data by
December 31, 2012.
C. Indicator (c)(12) Extension Requests
The Secretary proposes that a State
must provide the following information
when requesting an extension of the
deadline for collecting and publicly
reporting under Indicator (c)(12) course
completion data for high school
graduates who enroll in an in-State
public IHE:
(1) A description of the State’s current
capacity to collect and publicly report
such course completion data; and
(2) An assurance signed by the
Governor and the Chief State School
Officer that the State will—
(i)(A) Collect and publicly report, by
December 31, 2012, course completion
data for high school graduates who
attend an in-State public IHE; or
(B) Develop the capacity to collect
and publicly report, by December 31,
2012, such data; and
(ii) Provide, within 60 days of
submission of the request, a revised
plan for how the State will—
(A) Collect and publicly report the
data by December 31, 2012; or
(B) Develop the capacity to collect
and publicly report such data by
December 31, 2012.
D. Indicator (c)(11) Alternative Standard
Requests
The Secretary proposes that a State
must provide the following information
when requesting permission to use the
alternative standard to satisfy the
Indicator (c)(11) requirements to collect
and publicly report student enrollment
data for high school graduates who
enroll in private or out-of-State public
IHEs:
(1) A description of the State’s current
capacity to collect and publicly report
such student enrollment data; and
(2) An assurance signed by the
Governor and the Chief State School
Officer that the State will—
(i)(A) Collect and publicly report, by
December 31, 2012, student enrollment
data for high school graduates who
enroll in private or out-of-State public
IHEs; or
(B) Increase its current capacity to
collect and publicly report such data by
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December 31, 2012, and, by that date,
publicly report, the following—
(1) For each in-State private IHE—
(a) Whether the State provides
funding to the IHE;
(b) Whether the State has a datasharing agreement in place with the IHE
and, if so, whether the data-sharing
agreement enables the State to track its
recent high school graduates; and
(2) For each out-of-State private or
out-of-State public IHE with which the
State has a data-sharing agreement,
whether individually or through a State
agency or consortium—
(a) Whether the State provides
funding to the IHE; and
(b) Whether the data-sharing
agreement enables the State to track its
recent high school graduates;
(ii) Provide, within 60 days of
submission of the request, a revised
plan for how the State will—
(A) Collect and publicly report the
data by December 31, 2012; or
(B) Increase its current capacity to
collect and report those data by
December 31, 2012.
Proposed Requirements for Revised
Plans for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or
(c)(12)
The Department proposes that the
revised plans for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11),
or (c)(12) must include the following
information:
(a) A detailed description of the steps
that the State will take to ensure that the
requirements of the indicator will be
met by December 31, 2012, including a
reasonable timeline for those actions;
(b) Identification of the agency or
agencies in the State responsible for the
development and implementation of the
revised plan; and
(c) An overall budget, including the
funding sources, that is sufficient to
support the development and
implementation of the revised plan.
Proposed Priority
This notice contains one proposed
priority.
Proposed Priority—Developing and
Implementing a Statewide Longitudinal
Data System That Includes the 12
Required Elements
Background: A State that develops
and implements an SLDS that includes
the 12 elements required under the
America COMPETES Act is more likely
to effectively implement education
reforms. As a result, a State that meets
the SLDS requirements of the SFSF
program is more likely to meet the goals
of other Federal programs that support
efforts to improve the quality of
instruction and raise student academic
achievement.
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Given the importance of full
implementation of a complete SLDS
system, the Secretary is proposing a
priority for a State that has met the
requirements of Indicator (b)(1) as
established under the SFSF program.
Proposed Priority: The Secretary is
proposing a priority for a State that has
met the requirements of SFSF Indicator
(b)(1) on or before the applicable
deadline.
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Types of Priorities
When inviting applications for a
competition using one or more
priorities, we designate the type of each
priority as absolute, competitive
preference, or invitational through a
notice in the Federal Register. The
effect of each type of priority follows:
Absolute priority: Under an absolute
priority, we consider only applications
that meet the priority (34 CFR
75.105(c)(3)).
Competitive preference priority:
Under a competitive preference priority,
we give competitive preference to an
application by (1) awarding additional
points, depending on the extent to
which the application meets the priority
(34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2) selecting
an application that meets the priority
over an application of comparable merit
that does not meet the priority (34 CFR
75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
Invitational priority: Under an
invitational priority, we are particularly
interested in applications that meet the
priority. However, we do not give an
application that meets the priority a
preference over other applications (34
CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
Enforcement of SFSF Requirements;
Proposed Authority To Take
Enforcement Action Against SEAs
The Department only extends the
deadline for complying with program
requirements when appropriate. The
Department is proposing to extend the
deadline under this notice to ensure full
implementation of key SFSF program
requirements. For example, the
development and implementation of an
SLDS are integral to State and local
efforts to improve student academic
achievement. In light of the proposed
deadline extension, we remind States
that the Department has a wide range of
actions that it can take to enforce
program requirements. For example, the
Department has the authority under the
provisions of Part E of the General
Education Provisions Act (GEPA) (20
U.S.C. 1234 et seq.) to take the following
enforcement actions: the recovery of
funds (section 452 of GEPA), the
withholding of funds (section 455 of
GEPA), or the establishment of a
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compliance agreement (section 457 of
GEPA). Additionally, under 34 CFR
80.12, the Department may designate a
grantee as high risk for a number of
reasons, including failure to comply
with the terms and conditions of an
award. We also note that, under 34 CFR
75.217, the Department may consider
the performance of a grantee when
awarding funds in future discretionary
grant programs.
As stated previously, the Department
proposes that the SEA must jointly
request with the Office of the Governor
an extension to December 31, 2012, of
the January 31, 2012 deadline for
Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), and (c)(12) or
the authority to use the alternative
standard for Indicator (c)(11). In those
cases in which the State has received an
extension of a deadline to January 31,
2012 or the authority to use the
alternative standard for Indicator (c)(11)
but fails to meet the extended deadline
or alternative standard, the Department
also proposes that it may take
enforcement actions against the SEA,
including designation as high risk. In
such instances the Department would
have the authority also to elect not to
award funds in a future discretionary
grant competition to the SEA.
When implementing enforcement
actions, the Department takes into
account the specific circumstances of
the grantee and the severity of the noncompliance.
Final Revisions to Certain Data
Collection and Reporting Requirements
and Final Priority
We will announce the final revisions
to the SFSF requirements and final
priority in a notice in the Federal
Register. We will determine the final
revisions to the requirements and the
final priority after considering any
comments submitted in response to this
notice and other information available
to the Department. This notice does not
preclude us from proposing additional
revisions to the requirements or
additional priorities, subject to meeting
applicable rulemaking requirements.
Note: This notice does not solicit
applications. In any year in which we choose
to use the priority proposed in this notice, we
invite applications through a notice in the
Federal Register.
Executive Order 12866
Regulatory Impact Analysis
Under Executive Order 12866, the
Secretary must determine whether this
regulatory action is significant and,
therefore, subject to the requirements of
the Executive Order and to review by
the Office of Management and Budget
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59079
(OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive Order
12866 defines ‘‘significant regulatory
action’’ as an action likely to result in
a rule that may—
(1) Have an annual effect on the
economy of $100 million or more, or
adversely affect a sector of the economy,
productivity, competition, jobs, the
environment, public health or safety, or
State, local or tribal governments or
communities in a material way (also
referred to as an economically
significant rule);
(2) Create serious inconsistency or
otherwise interfere with an action taken
or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary
impacts of entitlement grants, user fees,
or loan programs or the rights and
obligations of recipients thereof; or
(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues
arising out of legal mandates, the
President’s priorities, or the principles
stated in the Executive Order.
It has been determined that this
regulatory action is significant under
paragraph (f)(4) of the Executive order.
Accordingly, we have assessed the
potential costs and benefits—both
quantitative and qualitative—of this
proposed regulatory action and
determined that the benefits justify the
costs. Additionally, the Department has
determined that this regulatory action
would not unduly interfere with State,
local, and tribal governments in the
exercise of their governmental
functions.
In this regulatory impact analysis, we
discuss the need for regulatory action,
the regulatory alternatives we
considered, and the potential costs and
benefits of the proposed action.
Need for Federal Regulatory Action
The proposed revisions in this notice
are the result of a regulatory review 2 of
the SFSF requirements established in
the November 2009 Notice and also a
response to concerns raised by States
regarding their capacity to implement
those requirements fully. The proposed
revisions would eliminate requirements
that have been identified through the
regulatory review as overly burdensome
or unnecessary for the achievement of
the intended purposes of the SFSF
program. The proposed revisions would
also modify requirements that have been
identified by certain States as not
2 As discussed elsewhere in this notice, the
regulatory review was conducted in response to the
January 18, 2011 Executive Order 13563 entitled
‘‘Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review’’ and
the February 28, 2011 Memorandum from the
President to executive departments and agencies
entitled ‘‘Administrative Flexibility, Lower Costs,
and Better Results for State, Local, and Tribal
Governments.’’
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feasible to meet by the currently
established deadline, by extending the
deadline for establishing compliance or
providing an alternative compliance
standard for States that seek that
flexibility. The Secretary believes that
these revisions are needed in order for
the Department to administer the SFSF
program in a manner that enables States
to provide sufficient transparency on
the extent to which they are
implementing education reform actions
consistent with the assurances provided
in their SFSF applications while
affording them an appropriate amount
of time and flexibility to implement
those actions. The Secretary further
believes that this notice’s proposed
requirements for requesting an
extension of the deadline for Indicator
(b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) or using the
Indicator (c)(11) alternative standard, as
well as the proposed requirements for
revising plans for those indicators, are
necessary to ensure that States’ actions
are consistent with the requirements for
those indicators.
Regulatory Alternatives Considered
An alternative to promulgation of the
proposed revisions in this notice would
be to take no regulatory action and,
instead, take enforcement action, such
as recovering or withholding
Department funds or establishing
compliance agreements, against States
that fail to comply with the relevant
SFSF requirements established in the
November 2009 Notice. In general, the
Secretary believes that the latter
approach would unfairly punish States
that the Department believes, based on
available information on
implementation of SFSF plans, are
making a good-faith effort to fully
develop their statewide longitudinal
data systems and their capacity to
collect and report data on student
postsecondary enrollment and
persistence, but need more time to
comply with the SFSF requirements.
That said, the Secretary believes, for
reasons discussed elsewhere in this
notice, that States must fully develop
statewide longitudinal data systems and
may place on high-risk status those
States that fail to comply with the
requirements of Indicator (b)(1) by the
current or (if approved for the State)
extended deadline.
With respect to Indicator (c)(11), the
Department considered proposing only
an extension of the deadline for
collecting and reporting student
enrollment data for high school
graduates who attend IHEs, but
concluded that extending the deadline
for the public, in-State IHEs and
providing additional flexibility with the
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proposed alternative standard for
collecting and publicly reporting
student enrollment data for high school
graduates who attend private and out-ofState public IHEs would better address
the capacity concerns raised by States.
Summary of Costs and Benefits
Proposed Revisions to SFSF Indicator
Requirements
In the November 2009 Notice, the
Department provided detailed estimates
of the costs to States, LEAs, and IHEs of
complying with the SFSF requirements.
We have assessed the potential costs
and benefits of the proposed revisions to
those requirements in this notice and
determined that they would impose no
net additional costs to States, LEAs, or
IHEs.
On the contrary, the proposed
revisions would produce potential net
cost savings.3 For instance, the
proposed elimination of the annual
reporting requirements for Indicators
(c)(1) through (c)(9) and (d)(1) through
(d)(6) would confer savings by reducing
collection and reporting burden on
States and LEAs. Although it would
confer some new cost (as discussed in
more detail later in this section), the
proposed Indicator (c)(11) alternative
standard would confer net savings to
States using the standard (and to
affected LEAs and IHEs) by no longer
requiring that those States, at a
minimum, fully develop the capacity to
collect and report, by September 30,
2011, enrollment data for high school
graduates who enroll in private or outof-State public IHEs. The proposed
extensions of the compliance deadlines
for Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), and (c)(12)
would not add to the costs of complying
with the associated requirements and
might result in marginal savings
(calculated on a present-value basis) as
States would be able to spread the
compliance costs over a longer period of
time.
Apart from potential cost savings, the
benefits of the proposed revisions are, as
discussed elsewhere in this notice,
simplified and more streamlined SFSF
requirements that still provide the
Department and the public with useful
information on whether States are
implementing education reforms
consistent with the statutorily required
assurances.
States using the proposed Indicator
(c)(11) alternative standard would incur
minimal new costs. Under the standard,
a State would be required to publicly
3 We have not provided estimates of potential cost
savings in this notice because we cannot reasonably
estimate the amount of funds States have already
spent to meet the applicable SFSF requirements.
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report, by December 31, 2012,
information on the extent to which it
has data-sharing agreements with
private and out-of-State public IHEs that
enable the State to track its recent high
school graduates and demonstrate
certain concrete steps it had taken to
increase its capacity to track its high
school graduates who enrolled in
private and out-of-State public IHEs. We
estimate that a State would need, on
average, 40 hours to collect and report
this information. At $30 per hour, the
average cost of doing so is an estimated
$1,200.
Based on information available from
States on implementation of their SFSF
plans, we estimate that 43 States will
request use of the Indicator (c)(11)
alternative standard. The total estimated
cost to States for complying with the
proposed Indicator (c)(11) alternative
standard reporting requirements is
accordingly $51,600 ($1,200 times 43
States).
Proposed Requirements for Requests for
Extensions of Deadlines for Indicator
(b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) or Use of the
Indicator (c)(11) Alternative Standard,
and Proposed Requirements for Revised
Plans for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or
(c)(12)
The costs for complying with these
proposed requirements would, in
general, be minimal. Because States that
do not meet the requirements associated
with an SFSF indicator or descriptor
were already required to submit a plan
for achieving compliance that includes
progress tracking and providing regular
public progress reports, we do not
believe that any new effort would be
needed in order for a State to determine
whether to request an extension of the
deadline for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or
(c)(12) or use of the Indicator (c)(11)
alternative standard.
In requesting a deadline extension or
use of the alternative standard, a State
would be required to provide a
description of its current capacity with
respect to the applicable indicator and
a signed assurance that it will comply
with the revised requirements for the
indicator and will submit its plan for
doing so to the Department within 60
days of the request. The level of effort
needed to meet these requirements
would be minimal. We estimate that a
State would need, on average, eight
hours to complete such a request. At
$30 per hour, the average cost of
completing a request is an estimated
$240.
Based on information available from
States on implementation of their SFSF
plans, we estimate that 40 States will
request an extension of the deadline for
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Indicator (b)(1), 43 States will request an
extension of the deadline for Indicator
(c)(11), 47 States will request an
extension of the deadline for Indicator
(c)(12), and 43 States will request use of
the Indicator (c)(11) alternative
standard. In total, States will complete
an estimated 173 requests. At $240 per
request, the total estimated cost to States
for complying with the proposed
requirements for requests is $41,520
($240 times 173 requests).
A State requesting a deadline
extension or the use of the Indicator
(c)(11) alternative standard would then
be required to submit to the Department,
within 60 days, a revised plan with
respect to the applicable indicator that
includes the specific steps the State will
take to meet the revised requirements
for the indicator, the budget for
developing and implementing the
revised plan, and the responsible agency
or agencies. The cost of meeting these
proposed plan revision requirements
should also be minimal. We estimate
that a State would need, on average,
eight hours to complete a plan revision
consistent with the requirements. At
$30 per hour, the average cost of
completing a plan revision is an
estimated $240.
As discussed above, States will
complete an estimated 173 total requests
for deadline extensions or for use of the
Indicator (c)(11) alternative standard.
Accordingly, we estimate that States
will complete, at most, 173 plan
revisions.4 At $240 per revision, the
total estimated cost to States for
complying with the proposed plan
revision requirements is $41,520 ($240
per revision times 173 requests).
The total estimated cost for complying
with the proposed requirements for
requests and for plan revisions is
accordingly $83,040.
The November 2009 notice detailed
the cost of collecting and reporting the
information and data associated with
Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), and (c)(12) on
an annual basis. We expect that the cost
of meeting these requirements will be
reduced because most States have
completed a substantial amount of the
work related to collecting and reporting
the required information. However,
States requesting an extension of
Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) will
need to report the information and data
4 A State requesting both an extension of the
deadline for Indicator (c)(11) (as it applies to data
on student enrollment in in-State public IHEs) and
use of the alternative standard for that indicator (as
it applies to data on student enrollment in private
and out-of-State public IHEs) could address both of
these requests in a single plan revision for the
indicator. Consequently, the total number of
completed plan revisions will almost certainly be
lower than this estimate.
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for an additional year. We discuss the
costs associated with reporting these
indicators for an additional year below.
We estimate that, on average, a State
would need one hour to collect and
report the information associated with
Indicator (b)(1). This is a one hour
reduction from the estimate in the
November 2009 Notice because States
have indicated that, on average, they
have completed 50 percent of the work
associated with collecting and reporting
this information. Based on information
available from States on implementation
of their SFSF plans, we expect that 40
States will need to collect and report
this information. At $30 per hour, the
average cost for collecting and reporting
this information is $30. The total
estimated cost for complying with the
Indicator (b)(1) reporting requirements
is $1,200 ($30 per hour times 40 States).
As 9 States have already met the
requirement for Indicator (c)(11), we
expect that 43 States will need to collect
and report the information associated
with it, or provide evidence that they
have developed the capacity to do so,
for students who attend in-State, public
IHEs. We estimate that, on average, a
State would need 40 hours to meet this
requirement. This is a reduction from
the average hours per response in the
November 2009 Notice because this
estimate only includes reporting on
students who attend in-State, public
IHEs rather than all students enrolled in
an IHE. The remaining students will be
covered under the (c)(11) alternative
standard. At $30 per hour, we estimate
that the average cost of meeting this
requirement is $1,200. The total
estimated cost for States to comply with
the requirements for Indicator (c)(11) is
$51,600 ($1,200 per State times 43
States).
The 13,409 LEAs located in those 43
States would need to provide
information associated with Indicator
(c)(11). Based on an estimate of the total
number of students enrolled in public
IHEs in their home State,5 and based on
5 According to the Digest of Education Statistics,
2009, 2,240,414 first-time freshmen enrolled in
public, degree-granting IHEs in fall 2008, which
represented 74 percent of all first-time freshmen.
See https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/
dt09_199.asp. Also in fall 2008, 2,109,931 freshmen
who graduated from high school within the last 12
months attended degree-granting IHEs in their
home State, which represented 81 percent of all
freshmen. See https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/
d09/tables/dt09_223.asp. 1. An estimate of the
number of first-time freshmen enrolled in public,
degree-granting IHEs in their home State can be
derived two ways. Applying the percentage of firsttime freshmen attending public degree-granting
IHEs to the number of first-time freshmen attending
an IHE in their home State yields an estimate of
1,508,484, and applying the percentage of first-time
freshmen attending an IHE in their home State to
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59081
the assumption that LEAs could provide
this information at a rate of 20 students
per hour, we estimate that these LEAs
will require a total of 84,584 hours to
comply with the requirements for
Indicator (c)(11) at a total cost of
$2,114,597. Divided by the total number
of affected LEAs, we estimate that each
LEA would require 6.31 hours to
provide this information. This would be
a reduction from the average hours per
response in the November 2009 Notice
because the current estimate only relates
to students who attend in-State, public
IHEs rather than all students attending
an IHE. Information on the remaining
students will be covered under the
(c)(11) alternative standard. At $25 per
hour, the average cost per LEA of
meeting the requirements of this
Indicator is approximately $158.
Again, based on our estimate of the
total number of students enrolled in
public IHEs in their home State and the
assumption that IHEs could provide this
information at a rate of 20 students per
hour, we estimate that a total of 84,584
hours would be required for the 1,676
IHEs in the 43 affected States to respond
to this requirement. On average, each
IHE would need 50.47 hours to collect
and report the information associated
with Indicator (c)(11). This would be an
increase in the average hours per
response in the November 2009 Notice
because this estimate only relates to
students who attend in-State public
IHEs rather than all students attending
an IHE. The remaining students will be
covered under the (c)(11) alternative
standard. The average burden per
response increased from the burden
estimated in the November 2009 Notice
because the analysis now accounts for
in-State public IHEs in the 43 States that
have not yet met this requirement. Since
74 percent of freshmen attend in-State
public IHEs, the burden in this notice is
higher because it is no longer shared
with private and out-of-State IHEs,
which led to lower overall burden that
we estimated for all IHEs in the
November 2009 Notice. We expect that
1,676 IHEs will need to provide this
information. At $25 per hour, the
average cost per IHE for collecting and
reporting this information is $1,261.75.
The total estimated cost for IHEs to
the number of first-time freshmen attending public
degree-granting IHEs yields an estimate of
2,169,077. For the purposes of this estimate, the
Department chooses the midpoint of these figures,
which is 1,838,780. Applying the estimate
(described earlier) that 94 percent of all first-time
postsecondary students graduated from public
schools, the Department estimates that 1,691,678
public high school graduates enroll in public
degree-granting IHEs in their home State.
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comply with the reporting requirements
for Indicator (c)(11) is $2,114,597.
The total estimated cost for complying
with the reporting requirements in
Indicator (c)(11) is $4,280,794.
Based on information provided by the
States, we expect that 47 States will
need to collect and report the
information associated with Indicator
(c)(12). We estimate that, on average, a
State would need 20 hours to collect
and report the information. This
represents a 20 hour reduction from our
estimate in the November 2009 Notice
because States have indicated that, on
average, they have completed 50 percent
of the work associated with this
Indicator. At $30 per hour, the average
cost for collecting and reporting this
information is $600. The total estimated
cost for States to comply with the
reporting requirements for Indicator
(c)(12) is $28,200 ($600 per State times
47 States).
The 1,555 IHEs located in these States
would be required to report information
on the number of students who have
completed at least one year’s worth of
college credit within two years of
enrollment in the IHE. Based on data
from the Digest of Education Statistics,
we estimate that 1,140,855 first-time
freshmen are enrolled in degree-granting
in-State public IHEs in the 47 States that
have not yet met this requirement. We
estimate that IHEs could provide this
information at a rate of 20 students per
hour, which leads to approximately
57,043 hours of total effort across the
affected IHEs at an estimated cost of
$1,426,069. By dividing this total
number of hours by the 1,555 public
IHEs in the 47 States, we estimate that,
on average, an IHE would need 36.68
hours to collect and report the
information associated with Indicator
(c)(12). This represents a reduction from
the average hours per response that we
estimated in the November 2009 Notice
because some States with higher than
average percentages of in-State students
have already completed this work. We
estimate a reduced average response
time after excluding the IHEs from
States that have completed the work
from the calculation. At $25 per hour of
IHE effort, we estimate that the average
cost for collecting and reporting this
information is $917 per IHE.
The total estimated cost for complying
with the reporting requirements in
Indicator (c)(12) is $1,454,269. The total
estimated cost for complying with the
collection and reporting requirements
associated with (b)(1), (c)(11), and
(c)(12) is accordingly $5,736,263.
The total estimated cost for complying
with those collection and reporting
requirements and the proposed
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requirements in this notice is
$5,870,903.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that this
regulatory action will not have a
significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities.
The small entities that this regulatory
action will affect are small LEAs
receiving funds under this program and
small IHEs.
This regulatory action will not have a
significant economic impact on small
LEAs because they will be able to meet
the costs of compliance with this
regulatory action using the funds
provided under this program.
With respect to small IHEs, the U.S.
Small Business Administration Size
Standards define these institutions as
‘‘small entities’’ if they are for-profit or
nonprofit institutions with total annual
revenue below $5,000,000 or if they are
institutions controlled by small
governmental jurisdictions, which are
comprised of cities, counties, towns,
townships, villages, school districts, or
special districts, with a population of
less than 50,000. Based on data from the
Department’s Integrated Postsecondary
Education Data System (IPEDS), up to
427 small IHEs with revenues of less
than $5 million may be affected by these
requirements; only 33 of these IHEs are
public. These small IHEs represent only
13 percent of degree-granting IHEs. In
addition, only 98,032 students (0.5
percent) enrolled in degree-granting
IHEs in fall 2007 attended these small
institutions; just 11,830 of these
students are enrolled in small, degreegranting public IHEs. As the burden for
indicators (c)(11) and (c)(12) is driven
by the number of students for whom
IHEs would be required to submit data,
small IHEs will require significantly less
effort to adhere to these requirements
than will be the case for larger IHEs.
Based on IPEDS data, the Department
estimates that 1,873 of these students
are first-time freshmen. As stated earlier
in the Summary of Costs and Benefits
section of this notice, the Department
estimates that, as required by indicator
(c)(11), IHEs will be able to confirm the
enrollment of 20 first-time freshmen per
hour. Applying this estimate to the
estimated number of first-time freshmen
at small IHEs, the Department estimates
that these IHEs will need to spend 94
hours to respond to this requirement at
a total cost of $2,350 (assuming a cost
of $25 per hour).
The effort involved in reporting the
number of students enrolling in a public
IHE in their home State who complete
at least one year’s worth of college
credit applicable toward a degree within
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two years as required by indicator
(c)(12) will also apply to small IHEs, but
will be limited to students who enroll
in public IHEs in their home State. As
discussed earlier in the Summary of
Costs and Benefits section of this notice,
the Department estimates that 81
percent of first-time freshmen who
graduate from public high schools enroll
in degree-granting IHEs in their home
State. Applying this percentage to the
estimated number of first-time freshmen
enrolled in small public IHEs (1,873),
the Department estimates that small
IHEs will be required to report credit
completion data for a total of 1,517
students. For this requirement, the
Department also estimates that IHEs will
be able to report the credit completion
status of 20 first-time freshmen per
hour. Again, applying this data entry
rate to the estimated number of firsttime freshmen at small public IHEs in
their home State, the Department
estimates that these IHEs will need to
spend 76 hours to respond to this
requirement at a total cost of $1,900.
The total cost of these requirements for
small IHEs is, therefore, $4,250; $2,068
of this cost will be borne by small
private IHEs, and $2,182 of the cost will
be borne by small public IHEs. Based on
the total number of small IHEs across
the Nation, the estimated cost per small
private IHE is approximately $10, and
the estimated cost per small public IHE
is $66. The Department has, therefore,
determined that the requirements will
not represent a significant burden on
small not-for-profit IHEs. It is also
important to note that States may use
their Government Services Fund
allocations to help small IHEs meet the
costs of complying with the
requirements that affect them, and
public IHEs may use Education
Stabilization Fund dollars they receive
for that purpose.
In addition, the Department believes
the benefits provided under this
regulatory action will outweigh the
burdens on these institutions of
complying with the requirements. One
of these benefits will be the provision of
better information on student success in
postsecondary education to
policymakers, educators, parents, and
other stakeholders. The Department
believes that the information gathered
and reported as a result of these
requirements will improve public
accountability for performance; help
States, LEAs, and schools learn from
one another and improve their decisionmaking; and inform Federal
policymaking.
A second major benefit is that better
public information on State and local
progress in the four reform areas will
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likely spur more rapid progress on those
reforms, because States and LEAs that
appear to be lagging in one area or
another may see a need to redouble their
efforts. The Department believes that
more rapid progress on the essential
educational reforms will have major
benefits nationally, and that these
reforms have the potential to drive
dramatic improvements in student
outcomes. The requirements that apply
to IHEs should, in particular, spur more
rapid implementation of pre-K–16 State
longitudinal data systems.
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
As part of its continuing effort to
reduce paperwork and respondent
burden, the Department conducts a
preclearance consultation program to
provide the general public and Federal
agencies with an opportunity to
comment on proposed and continuing
collections of information in accordance
with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).
This helps ensure that: The public
understands the Department’s collection
instructions; respondents can provide
the requested data in the desired format;
reporting burden (time and financial
resources) is minimized; collection
instruments are clearly understood; and
the Department can properly assess the
impact of collection requirements on
respondents.
This notice of proposed revisions
contains information collection
requirements previously approved
under OMB control number 1810–0695,
revisions to which are proposed herein.
The Department has contemporaneously
published a notice of interim final
requirements that extends the deadline
for reporting under the existing
performance indicators (See RIN 1894–
AA03). Under the PRA the Department
has submitted both the information
collection contained in the IFR and the
revised information collection
requirements contained in this notice to
OMB for its review.
A Federal agency cannot conduct or
sponsor a collection of information
unless OMB approves the collection
under the PRA and the corresponding
information collection instrument
displays a currently valid OMB control
number. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, no person is required
to comply with, or is subject to penalty
for failure to comply with, a collection
of information if the collection
instrument does not display a currently
valid OMB control number.
In the final requirements, we will
display the control number assigned by
OMB to any information collection
requirement proposed in this notice of
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proposed revisions and adopted in the
final requirements.
Revisions to SFSF Indicator (c)(11)
Requirements
Under the proposed Indicator (c)(11)
alternative standard, a State would be
required to publicly report, by
December 31, 2012, information on the
extent to which it has data-sharing
agreements with private and out-of-State
public IHEs that enable the State to
track its recent high school graduates.
We estimate that a State would need, on
average, 40 hours to collect and report
this information.
Based on information available from
States on implementation of their SFSF
plans, we estimate that 43 States will
request use of the Indicator (c)(11)
alternative standard. The total estimated
hours for States to comply with the
proposed Indicator (c)(11) alternative
standard reporting requirements is
accordingly an increase of 1,720 hours
(40 hours per request times 43 requests)
under collection 1810–0695.
Proposed Requirements for Requests for
Extensions of Deadlines for Indicator
(b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) or Use of the
Indicator (c)(11) Alternative Standard,
and Proposed Requirements for Revised
Plans for Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), and
(c)(12)
Because States that did not meet the
requirements associated with an SFSF
indicator or descriptor were required to
submit a plan for achieving compliance
that includes progress tracking and
providing regular public progress
reports, we do not believe that any new
effort would be needed in order for a
State to determine whether to request an
extension of the deadline for Indicator
(b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) or use of the
Indicator (c)(11) alternative standard.
In requesting a deadline extension or
use of the alternative standard, a State
would be required to provide a
description of its current capacity with
respect to the applicable indicator and
a signed assurance that it will comply
with the revised requirements for the
indicator and will submit its plan for
doing so to the Department within 60
days of the request. The level of effort
needed to meet these requirements
would be minimal. We estimate that a
State would need, on average, eight
hours to complete such a request.
Based on information available from
States on implementation of their SFSF
plans, we estimate that 40 States will
request an extension of the deadline for
Indicator (b)(1), 43 States will request an
extension of the deadline for Indicator
(c)(11), 47 States will request an
extension of the deadline for Indicator
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59083
(c)(12), and 43 States will request use of
the Indicator (c)(11) alternative
standard. In total, States will complete
an estimated 173 requests. The total
estimated hours for States to comply
with the proposed requirements for
requests is an increase of 1,384 hours
(eight hours per request times 173
requests) under collection 1810–0695.
A State requesting a deadline
extension or the use of the Indicator
(c)(11) alternative standard would then
be required to submit to the Department,
within 60 days, a revised plan with
respect to the applicable indicator that
includes the specific steps the State will
take to meet the revised requirements
for the indicator, the budget for
developing and implementing the
revised plan, and the responsible agency
or agencies. We estimate that a State
would need, on average, eight hours to
complete a plan revision consistent with
the requirements.
As discussed above, States will
complete an estimated 173 total requests
for deadline extensions or for use of the
Indicator (c)(11) alternative standard.
Accordingly, we estimate that States
will complete, at most, 173 plan
revisions.6 At eight hours per revision,
the total estimated burden to States for
complying with the proposed plan
revision requirements is an increase of
1,384 hours (eight hours per request
times 173 requests) under collection
1810–0695.
The total estimated burden for
complying with the proposed
requirements for requests and for plan
revisions is accordingly 2,768 hours.
After requesting an extension and
providing a plan, a State would be
required to collect and report the
information associated with Indicators
(b)(1), (c)(11), and (c)(12) by December
31, 2012. Based on information
available from States on implementation
of their SFSF plan, we estimate that 40
States will need to report and collect the
information associated with Indicator
(b)(1). At an estimated one hour per
collection and report, the total estimated
burden to States is an increase of 40
hours (one hour per State times 40
States) under collection 1810–0695. The
average response time of one hour per
collection is a one hour reduction from
the estimates we provided in the
November 2009 Notice because States
6 A State requesting both an extension of the
deadline for Indicator (c)(11) (as it applies to data
on student enrollment in in-State public IHEs) and
use of the alternative standard for that indicator (as
it applies to data on student enrollment in private
and out-of-State public IHEs) could address both of
these requests in a single plan revision for the
indicator. Consequently, the total number of
completed plan revisions will likely be lower than
this estimate.
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have indicated that, on average, they
have completed 50 percent of the work
associated with reporting on this
indicator.
As 9 States have already met the
requirement for Indicator (c)(11), we
expect that 43 States will need to collect
and report the information associated
with Indicator (c)(11), or provide
evidence that they have developed the
capacity to do so, for students who
attend in-State, public IHEs. We
estimate that, on average, a State would
need 40 hours to meet this requirement.
This is a reduction from the average
hours per response that we estimated in
the November 2009 Notice because the
current estimate only relates to students
who attend in-State, public IHEs rather
than all students enrolled in an IHE.
The remaining students will be covered
under the (c)(11) alternative standard.
The current estimate would equal a
1,720 hour (40 hours per State times 43
States) increase under collection 1810–
0695.
The 13,409 LEAs located in those 43
States would need to provide
information associated with Indicator
(c)(11). Based on an estimate of the total
number of students enrolled in public
IHEs in their home State,7 and based on
the assumption that LEAs could provide
this information at a rate of 20 students
per hour, we estimate that these LEAs
will require a total of 84,584 hours to
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7 According to the Digest of Education Statistics,
2009, 2,240,414 first-time freshmen enrolled in
public, degree-granting IHEs in fall 2008, which
represented 74 percent of all first-time freshmen.
See https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/
dt09_199.asp. Also in fall 2008, 2,109,931 freshmen
who graduated from high school within the last 12
months attended degree-granting IHEs in their
home State, which represented 81 percent of all
freshmen. See https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/
d09/tables/dt09_223.asp. 1. An estimate of the
number of first-time freshmen enrolled in public,
degree-granting IHEs in their home State can be
derived two ways. Applying the percentage of firsttime freshmen attending public degree-granting
IHEs to the number of first-time freshmen attending
an IHE in their home State yields an estimate of
1,508,484, and applying the percentage of first-time
freshmen attending an IHE in their home State to
the number of first-time freshmen attending public
degree-granting IHEs yields an estimate of
2,169,077. For the purposes of this estimate, the
Department chooses the midpoint of these figures,
which is 1,838,780. Applying the estimate
(described earlier) that 94 percent of all first-time
postsecondary students graduated from public
schools, the Department estimates that 1,691,678
public high school graduates enroll in public
degree-granting IHEs in their home State.
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comply with the requirements for
Indicator (c)(11). Divided by the total
number of affected LEAs, we estimate
that each LEA would require 6.31 hours
to provide this information. This would
be a reduction from the average hours
per response estimated in the November
2009 Notice because the current
estimate only relates to students who
attend in-State, public IHEs rather than
all students attending an IHE.
Information on the remaining students
will be covered under the (c)(11)
alternative standard.
Again, based on our estimate of the
total number of students enrolled in
public IHEs in their home State and the
assumption that IHEs could provide this
information at a rate of 20 students per
hour, we estimate that, a total of 84,584
hours would be required for the 1,676
IHEs in the 43 affected States to respond
to this requirement. On average, each
IHE would need 50.47 hours to provide
the information associated with
Indicator (c)(11). This would be an
increase in the average hours per
response estimated in the November
2009 Notice because this estimate only
relates to students who attend in-State
public IHEs rather than all students
attending an IHE. The remaining
students will be covered under the
(c)(11) alternative standard. The average
burden per response increased from the
burden estimated in the November 2009
Notice because the analysis now
accounts for in-State public IHEs in the
43 States that have not yet met this
requirement. Because 74 percent of
freshmen attend in-State public IHEs,
the burden under these proposed
revisions is higher because it is no
longer shared with private and out-ofState IHEs, which led to an estimate of
a lower overall burden for all IHEs in
the November 2009 Notice. We expect
that 1,676 IHEs will need to provide this
information.
The total estimated hours for
complying with the requirements of
Indicator (c)(11) is 170,888.
We estimate that the State burden for
collecting and reporting the information
associated with Indicator (c)(12), or
providing evidence that the State has
developed the capacity to do so, will be
approximately 20 hours per State. This
is a 20 hour reduction from the
estimates in the November 2009 Notice
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because States have indicated that they
have, on average, completed 50 percent
of the work for this Indicator. Based on
information provided by the States, we
expect that 47 States will need to
provide this information. Accordingly,
the total burden to States is an increase
of 940 hours (20 hours per State times
47 States) under collection 1810–0695.
The 1,555 IHEs located in these States
would be required to report information
on the number of students who have
completed at least one year’s worth of
college credit within two years of
enrollment in the IHE. Based on data
from the Digest of Education Statistics,
we estimate that 1,140,855 first-time
freshmen are enrolled in degree-granting
in-State public IHEs in the 47 States that
have not yet met this requirement. We
estimate that IHEs could provide this
information at a rate of 20 students per
hour, which leads to approximately
57,043 hours of total effort across the
affected IHEs. By dividing the total
number of hours by the 1,555 public
IHEs in the 47 States, we estimate that,
on average, an IHE would need 36.68
hours to collect and report the
information associated with Indicator
(c)(12). The average hours per response
is less than the estimate in the
November 2009 Notice because some
States with higher than average
percentages of in-State students have
already completed this work. Excluding
the IHEs from these States from the
calculations led to a reduced average
response time.
The total estimated burden hours for
complying with the collection and
reporting requirements for Indicator
(c)(12) is 57,983.
The estimated burden hours for
complying with the collection and
reporting requirements associated with
the proposed Indicator (c)(11)
alternative standard is discussed above.
The total estimated burden hours for
complying with the proposed collection
and reporting requirements associated
with Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11) and (c)(12)
is accordingly 228,911 hours.
The total estimated burden for
complying with the proposed
requirements in this notice is an
increase of 233,399 hours under
collection 1810–0695.
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COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
Information collection
OMB Control No. and estimated change in burden
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This notice of proposed revisions proposes an extension for collecting and reporting information associated with Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), and (c)(12); an alternative standard for Indicator (c)(11); proposes requirements for requests for extensions of deadlines for Indicators
(b)(1), (c)(11), and (c)(12); and proposes requirements for revised plans for Indicators
(b)(1), (c)(11), and (c)(12).
If you want to comment on the
proposed information collection
requirements, please send your
comments to the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, OMB, Attention:
Desk Officer for U.S. Department of
Education. Send these comments by
e-mail to OIRA_DOCKET@omb.eop.gov
or by fax to (202) 395–6974. You may
also send a copy of these comments to
the Department contact named in the
ADDRESSES section of this preamble.
We have prepared an Information
Collection Request (ICR) for this
collection. In preparing your comments
you may want to review the ICR, which
we maintain in the Education
Department Information Collection
System (EDICS) at https://
edicsweb.ed.gov. Click on Browse
Pending Collections. This proposed
collection is identified as proposed
collection 1810–0695.
We consider your comments on this
proposed collection of information in—
• Deciding whether the proposed
collection is necessary for the proper
performance of our functions, including
whether the information will have
practical use;
• Evaluating the accuracy of our
estimate of the burden of the proposed
collection, including the validity of our
methodology and assumptions;
• Enhancing the quality, usefulness,
and clarity of the information we
collect; and
• Minimizing the burden on those
who must respond. This includes
exploring the use of appropriate
automated, electronic, mechanical, or
other technological collection
techniques.
OMB is required to make a decision
concerning the collection of information
contained in these proposed regulations
between 30 and 60 days after
publication of this document in the
Federal Register. Therefore, to ensure
that OMB gives your comments full
consideration, it is important that OMB
receives your comments on the
proposed collection within 30 days after
publication. This does not affect the
deadline for your comments to us on the
proposed regulations.
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OMB 1810–0695.
The burden would increase by 233,399 hours.
Assessment of Educational Impact
In accordance with section 411 of the
General Education Provisions Act, 20
U.S.C. 1221e–4, the Department invites
comment on whether these
requirements require transmission of
information that any other agency or
authority of the United States gathers or
makes available.
Intergovernmental Review: This
program is subject to Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR
part 79. One of the objectives of the
Executive order is to foster an
intergovernmental partnership and a
strengthened federalism. The Executive
order relies on processes developed by
State and local governments for
coordination and review of proposed
Federal financial assistance.
This document provides early
notification of our specific plans and
actions for this program.
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 program 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: https://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: https://
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically,
through the advanced search feature at
this site, you can limit your search to
documents published by the
Department.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
(CFDA) Numbers: 84.394 (Education
Stabilization Fund) and 84.397 (Government
Services Fund).
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Dated: September 19, 2011.
Arne Duncan,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2011–24563 Filed 9–22–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
POSTAL REGULATORY COMMISSION
39 CFR Part 3001
[Docket No. RM2011–13; Order No. 823]
Appeals of Post Office Closings
Postal Regulatory Commission.
Proposed rulemaking—
supplement.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
SUMMARY: This document supplements a
recently-issued proposed rulemaking on
appeals of post office closings by
eliminating a publication requirement
and by making several minor
conforming changes. Including these
changes as part of the more
comprehensive rulemaking promotes
efficiency by allowing interested
persons to address proposed changes in
one filing. These changes affect only the
Commission’s general rules of practice
and procedure. They do not affect any
of the provisions in proposed new part
3025. Persons who need additional time
to comment on the changes in this
supplemental proposed rule may
request additional time.
DATES: Comments are due: October 3,
2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments
electronically by accessing the ‘‘Filing
Online’’ link in the banner at the top of
the Commission’s Web site (https://
www.prc.gov) or by directly accessing
the Commission’s Filing Online system
at https:www.prc.gov/prc-pages/
filingonline/login.aspx. Commenters
who cannot submit their views
electronically should contact the person
identified in the FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT section for advice
on alternatives to electronic filing.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stephen L. Sharfman, General Counsel,
at 202–789–6920 (for proposal-related
information) or DocketAdmins@prc.gov
(for electronic filing assistance).
E:\FR\FM\23SEP1.SGM
23SEP1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 185 (Friday, September 23, 2011)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 59074-59085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-24563]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Subtitle B, Chapter II
[Docket ID ED-2011-OS-0005]
RIN 1894-AA02
State Fiscal Stabilization Fund Program and Discretionary and
Other Formula Grant Programs
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of proposed revisions to certain data collection and
reporting requirements, and proposed priority.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education (Secretary) established
requirements for the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) program in
a notice of final requirements, definitions, and approval criteria
published in the Federal Register on November 12, 2009 (November 2009
Notice). In this notice, the Secretary proposes to revise some of those
requirements. In a separate notice of interim final requirement, the
Secretary is extending to January 31, 2012, the deadline by which a
State must collect and publicly report data and information under the
SFSF program.
In addition, the Secretary proposes in this notice to establish a
priority that the U.S. Department of Education (Department) may use, as
appropriate, in any future discretionary grant competitions. The
Department would give a priority to States that have developed and
implemented the statewide longitudinal data system (SLDS) required
under SFSF Indicator (b)(1) on or before the applicable deadline.
Through this notice, we also remind grantees that under its current
authority, the Department may identify grantees as high risk and impose
sanctions on them for failing to meet programmatic requirements. In
addition, the Department is proposing that it may take enforcement
action against a State educational agency (SEA) under certain
circumstances where a State fails to meet the requirements of
Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12).
DATES: We must receive your comments on or before October 24, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not
accept comments by fax or by e-mail. To ensure that we do not receive
duplicate copies, please submit your comments only one time. In
addition, please include the Docket ID and the term ``State Fiscal
Stabilization Fund--Proposed Revisions'' at the top of your comments.
[[Page 59075]]
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to https://www.regulations.gov to submit your comments electronically. Information
on using Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency
documents, submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on
the site under ``How To Use This Site.''
Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you
mail or deliver your comments about these proposed revisions to certain
data collection and reporting requirements and proposed priority,
address them to Office of the Deputy Secretary (Attention: State Fiscal
Stabilization Fund Proposed Revisions Comments), U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 7E214, Washington, DC 20202-
6200.
Privacy Note: The Department's policy for comments
received from members of the public (including comments submitted by
mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery) is to make these
submissions available for public viewing in their entirety on the
Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov. Therefore,
commenters should be careful to include in their comments only
information that they wish to make publicly available on the Internet.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Butler, State Fiscal
Stabilization Fund Program, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Ave., SW., room 7E214, Washington, DC 20202-0008. Telephone: (202) 260-
9737 or by e-mail: SFSFcomments@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:
Invitation to Comment: We invite you to submit comments regarding
this notice. To ensure that your comments have maximum effect in
developing the notice of final revisions to certain data collection and
reporting requirements, and final priority, we urge you to identify
clearly the specific proposal that each comment addresses.
We invite you also to assist us in complying with the specific
requirements of Executive Order 12866 and Executive Order 13563 and
their overall requirements of reducing regulatory burden that might
result from these proposed revisions to certain data collection and
reporting requirements and proposed priority. Please suggest further
ways we could reduce potential costs or increase potential benefits
while preserving the effective and efficient administration of the
program.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this notice by accessing Regulations.gov. You may also
inspect the public comments in person in room 7E214, 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal
holidays.
Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities in Reviewing the
Rulemaking Record: On request, we will provide an appropriate
accommodation or auxiliary aid to an individual with a disability who
needs assistance to review the comments or other documents in the
public rulemaking record for this notice. If you want to schedule an
appointment for this type of accommodation or auxiliary aid, please
contact the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Purpose of Program: The SFSF program provided approximately $48.6
billion in formula grants to States to help stabilize State and local
budgets in order to minimize and avoid reductions in education and
other essential services, in exchange for a State's commitment to
advance education reform in four key areas: (1) Achieving equity in the
distribution of teachers; (2) improving the collection and use of data;
(3) standards and assessments; and (4) supporting struggling schools.
Program Authority: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009, Division A, Title XIV--State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, Pub.
L. 111-5; 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3 and 3474.
Proposed Revisions to Reporting Requirements
Background
Section 14005(d) of Division A of the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) requires a State receiving funds under
the SFSF program to provide assurances in four key areas of education
reform: (1) Achieving equity in teacher distribution; (2) improving
collection and use of data; (3) standards and assessments; and (4)
supporting struggling schools. In the November 2009 Notice (74 FR
58436), we established specific data and information requirements
(assurance indicators and descriptors) that a State must meet with
respect to the statutory assurances. We also established specific
requirements for the plans that a State had to submit as part of its
application for the second phase of funding under the SFSF program,
describing the steps it would take to collect and publicly report the
required data and other information. As we explained in the November
2009 Notice, these two sets of requirements provide transparency on the
extent to which a State is implementing the actions for which it
provided the assurances. Increased access to and focus on these data
better enable States and other stakeholders to identify strengths and
weaknesses in education systems and to determine where concentrated
reform effort is warranted.
We are taking this action in response to the January 18, 2011
Executive Order 13563 entitled ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory
Review'' and the February 28, 2011 Memorandum from the President to
executive departments and agencies entitled ``Administrative
Flexibility, Lower Costs, and Better Results for State, Local, and
Tribal Governments.'' These documents direct each Federal executive
department and agency to review periodically its existing significant
regulations in order to determine whether any of those regulations
should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed so as to make
the department's or agency's regulatory program more effective or less
burdensome in achieving regulatory objectives. These proposed
modifications would address concerns raised by some States regarding
their capacity to meet the requirements in the November 2009 Notice.
As a result of a regulatory review of the SFSF program
requirements, the Secretary is publishing elsewhere in this issue of
the Federal Register an IFR that extends to January 31, 2012 the
deadline for States to collect and publicly report data and information
under the program. In addition, in this notice, the Secretary proposes
to: (1) Eliminate the requirement for States to report data annually
for Indicators (c)(1) through (c)(9) and (d)(1) through (d)(6); (2)
extend to December 31, 2012, upon submission of an approvable request
by a State, the deadline for meeting the requirements under Indicators
(b)(1) and (c)(12); (3) extend to December 31, 2012, upon submission of
an approvable request by a State, the deadline for publicly reporting
or developing the capacity to collect and publicly report student
enrollment data under Indicator (c)(11) for high school graduates who
enroll in an in-State public institution of higher education (IHE); and
(4) apply an alternative standard, upon submission of an approvable
request by a State, by which a State may meet the Indicator (c)(11)
data collection and reporting requirements for high school graduates
who enroll in private or out-of-State public IHEs. The Secretary
proposes to establish December 31, 2012 as the
[[Page 59076]]
deadline by which a State must meet the requirements of the Indicator
(c)(11) alternative standard.
In addition to these revisions, the Secretary proposes to establish
a priority that the Department may use in future discretionary grant
competitions, for States that have met the requirements of Indicator
(b)(1) on or before the applicable deadline. The Secretary also is
reminding States of possible sanctions that may be imposed on them for
failing to meet SFSF collection and reporting requirements. Further,
the Secretary is proposing to have the authority to extend those
sanctions to SEAs in States that have received an extension of the
deadline to December 31, 2012 for Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), or
(c)(12) but fail to meet the revised deadline or that have received
permission to use the alternative standard for Indicator (c)(11) but
fail to meet the requirements of that standard by the deadline.
We note that other than the revised January 31, 2012 deadline for
collecting and publicly reporting data that has been established in the
IFR, or unless specifically referenced in this notice, we are not
proposing to modify any other SFSF requirements and those requirements
remain in effect as originally established.
In addition, we note that where the SFSF indicators make use of
information in ``Existing Collections'' (see column 4 of the table in
Section I of State Fiscal Stabilization Fund: Summary of Final
Requirements at https://www2.ed.gov/programs/statestabilization/summary-requirements.doc), the modification of an SFSF indicator does not
affect other Federal requirements for those collections that are
established under separate legal authority. Some of the data that
States submit through the Department's EDFacts system to meet
requirements established under other authorities (e.g., Title I
accountability data) are also reported publicly by States to meet the
requirements of certain SFSF indicators. Those requirements established
by other authorities are not affected by the modification of any SFSF
indicator.
Proposed Revisions
Proposed Elimination of Annual Reporting Requirements for Indicators
(c)(1) Through (c)(9) and (d)(1) Through (d)(6)
Currently, each State is required to collect and publicly report,
at least annually, the data and other information required by
Indicators (c)(1) through (c)(9) and (d)(1) through (d)(6). Indicators
(c)(1) through (c)(9) (standards and assessments indicators) require
each State to collect and publicly report data and other information
annually on, among other things, whether students are provided high-
quality State assessments; whether students with disabilities and
limited English proficient students are included in State assessment
systems; and whether the State makes information available regarding
student academic performance in the State compared to the academic
performance of students in other States.
Indicators (d)(1) through (d)(6) (supporting struggling schools
indicators) require a State to collect and publicly report data and
other information annually on, among other things, the progress of
certain groups of schools in the State on State assessments in reading/
language arts and mathematics and on the extent to which reforms to
improve student academic achievement are implemented in the
persistently lowest-achieving schools in the State.
A majority of States have collected and publicly reported the data
and information required by Indicators (c)(1) through (c)(9) and (d)(1)
through (d)(6). The data and information highlight the progress each
State is making to address potential inequities in standards and
assessments and to inform the public on the extent to which reforms to
improve student academic achievement are implemented in the
persistently lowest-achieving schools in the State. However, much of
these data are now also collected through other Department information
collections. For example, data on the participation of students with
disabilities, by assessment type, is provided by States as part of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Consolidated State
Performance Report (CSPR) and the annual assessment data reporting
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The CSPRs are
available at https://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/consolidated/sy08-09part1/. Data are also available to the public about the
participation of students with disabilities by assessment type at
https://www.ideadata.org/PartBData.asp. In addition, data about the
performance of students on statewide assessments, by subgroup
(including students with disabilities and limited English proficient
students), are publicly available at https://www.eddataexpress.ed.gov/.
Under the IFR, States have until January 31, 2012, to collect and
publicly report the data and information required under the SFSF
indicators and descriptors, including Indicators (c)(1) through (c)(9)
and (d)(1) through (d)(6). However, given the availability of these
data through other sources, we do not believe it continues to be
necessary to have States separately collect and report data for
Indicators (c)(1) through (c)(9) and Indicators (d)(1) through (d)(6)
more than one time under the SFSF program. Any State that has already
collected and publicly reported these data would not be required to
take any further actions relative to these indicators for the purposes
of the SFSF program. Any State that has not already provided data under
these Indicators must do so by the January 31, 2012 deadline.
Proposed Extension of Deadline for Indicators (b)(1) and (c)(12)
Indicator (b)(1) requires a State to identify which of the 12
elements in section 6401(e)(2)(D) of the America COMPETES Act are
included in its SLDS. Any State that did not have an SLDS that included
all 12 elements was required to provide the Department, as part of its
SFSF Phase 2 application, a plan for fully developing and implementing
such a system by September 30, 2011.
Indicator (c)(12) requires each State to collect and publicly
report course completion data for high school graduates who enroll in a
public IHE in the State.\1\ If, at the time of submission of its SFSF
Phase 2 application, a State lacked the capacity to collect and
publicly report the specified course completion data it had to provide
the Department with a plan for how it would collect and report those
data or develop the capacity to do so by September 30, 2011.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Specifically, Indicator (c)(12) requires each State to
provide for the State, for each LEA in the State, for each high
school in the State and, at each of these levels, by student
subgroup (consistent with section 1111(b)(2)(C)(v)(II) of the ESEA),
of the students who graduate from high school consistent with 34 CFR
200.19(b)(1)(i) who enroll in a public IHE (as defined in section
101(a) of the Higher Education Act) in the State within 16 months of
receiving a regular high school diploma, the number and percentage
(including numerator and denominator) who complete at least one
year's worth of college credit (applicable to a degree) within two
years of enrollment in the IHE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the Department noted in its November 2009 Notice, timely and
reliable information from across sectors will facilitate program
evaluation and help determine whether a program is improving outcomes
for students. Thus, it is imperative that States complete the
development and implementation of an SLDS that includes the 12 elements
required under the America COMPETES Act. Further, a State must have an
SLDS to be able to report the course
[[Page 59077]]
completion data required under Indicator (c)(12) that provides
information on how effectively schools in the State are preparing their
students for postsecondary education.
The Department recognizes the challenges and competing priorities
that many States have faced in trying to meet the requirements of
Indicators (b)(1) and (c)(12) by the September 30, 2011 deadline.
During program monitoring, States have expressed concerns about their
ability to fully develop and implement an SLDS by the established
deadline. In addition, many States indicated in their March 2011
Amended Application for Funding Under the State Fiscal Stabilization
Fund Program that they still had not fully incorporated the following
elements into their SLDS: (1) Student-level transcript information,
including data on courses completed and grades earned (Element 9); (2)
information regarding the extent to which students transition
successfully from secondary school to postsecondary education,
including whether students enroll in remedial coursework (Element 11);
and (3) other information determined necessary to address alignment and
adequate preparation for success in postsecondary education (Element
12). Further, most States reported in their amended SFSF application
that they do not yet have the capacity to collect and publicly report
the course completion data required under Indicator (c)(12).
As a result, in the IFR, the Department is extending to January 31,
2012 the deadline by which States must meet the requirements of the
SFSF indicators and descriptors, including Indicators (b)(1) and
(c)(12). Further, the Department proposes in this notice to extend to
December 31, 2012, upon submission of an approvable request by a State,
the deadline for the development and implementation of an SLDS that
includes the 12 elements included in the America COMPETES Act. In
addition, the Department proposes to extend to December 31, 2012, upon
submission of an approvable request by a State, the deadline by which a
State must have the capacity to collect and publicly report the
required course completion data under Indicator (c)(12).
The Department proposes that, to be approvable, an extension
request must provide the specific information described under the
heading Proposed Requirements for Requests for Extensions to December
31, 2012, of Deadlines for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) or Use
of the Indicator (c)(11) Alternative Standard.
Proposed Revisions to Requirements Under Indicator (c)(11)
Under the requirements for Indicator (c)(11) established in the
November 2009 Notice, each State must (1) Collect and publicly report,
by September 30, 2011, data on the number and percentage of high school
graduates who enroll in IHEs--public or private, in-State or out-of-
State; or (2) submit to the Department a plan describing how the State
would develop, by September 30, 2011, the capacity to do so. Further,
under those requirements, each State must submit to the Department, by
September 30, 2011, evidence demonstrating that it has developed the
capacity to collect and publicly report the data.
A number of States have raised concerns about the challenges in
collecting and publicly reporting student enrollment data. In their
March 2011 SFSF amended applications, 43 States indicated that they did
not yet have the capacity to collect and publicly report those data.
Therefore, in the IFR, the Department is extending until January 31,
2012, the deadline for States to comply with the SFSF indicators and
descriptors, including Indicator (c)(11). Further, in this notice the
Department proposes to extend to December 31, 2012, upon submission of
an approvable request by a State, the deadline by which a State must
collect and publicly report or have the capacity to collect and
publicly report the student enrollment data required under Indicator
(c)(11) for high school graduates who attend an in-State public IHE.
The Department would grant an extension to December 31, 2012 only to a
State that submits a request that contains the specific information
proposed under the heading Proposed Requirements for Requests for
Extensions to December 31, 2012, of Deadlines for Indicator (b)(1),
(c)(11), or (c)(12) or Use of the Indicator (c)(11) Alternative
Standard.
The Department acknowledges that obtaining student enrollment data
from private and out-of-State public IHEs can be particularly
challenging. Therefore, the Department also proposes to establish an
alternative standard by which a State may meet the Indicator (c)(11)
data collection and reporting requirements with respect to high school
graduates who enroll in private or out-of-State public IHEs. While such
data are essential in determining how well an LEA or secondary school
is preparing its students for postsecondary education, some States may
need additional time to develop fully the capacity to collect and
report these data. Under the alternative standard, a State would have
to increase, by December 31, 2012, its current capacity to collect and
publicly report the required student enrollment data for high school
graduates who attend a private or an out-of-State public IHE. A State
would not be required to be fully capable of collecting and reporting
these data by December 31, 2012. For the purposes of the alternative
standard, a State would be considered to be making acceptable progress
in increasing its capacity to collect and publicly report student
enrollment data for high school graduates who enroll in private or out-
of-State public IHEs through such activities as: (1) Entering into data
reciprocity agreements with private in-State IHEs that receive any
State funds, including those for student financial aid, research, or
any other activities; (2) entering into data reciprocity agreements
with private in-State IHEs over which the State exercises significant
oversight, such as serving as an accrediting body; (3) entering into
data reciprocity agreements with geographically contiguous States or
States with which it has tuition reciprocity agreements; or (4)
conducting a data analysis to determine the out-of-State IHEs where
large numbers of the State's high school graduates enroll.
The Department proposes that States that use the alternative
standard for Indicator (c)(11) be required to publicly report, by
December 31, 2012, the following--
(1) For each in-State private IHE--
(a) Whether the State provides funding to the IHE;
(b) Whether the State has a data-sharing agreement in place with
the IHE and, if so, whether the data-sharing agreement enables the
State to track its recent high school graduates; and
(2) For each out-of-State private or out-of-State public IHE with
which the State has a data-sharing agreement--
(a) Whether the State provides funding to the IHE; and
(b) Whether the data-sharing agreement enables the State to track
its recent high school graduates.
The Department proposes to permit a State that provides the
specific information described under the heading Proposed Requirements
for Requests for Extensions to December 31, 2012, of Deadlines for
Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) or Use of the Indicator (c)(11)
Alternative Standard to use the alternative standard.
[[Page 59078]]
Proposed Requirements for Requests for Extensions to December 31, 2012,
of Deadlines for Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) or Use of the
Indicator (c)(11) Alternative Standard
Because of an SEA's significant role in carrying out education
reform activities in a State, including developing and implementing an
SLDS, the Department proposes that any request for an extension to
December 31, 2012, of the deadline for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or
(c)(12), as well as any request to use the alternative standard for
Indicator (c)(11), must be submitted jointly by the Governor and the
Chief State School Officer. Further, the Secretary proposes that an
extension request or a request to use the alternative standard must be
submitted by the deadline that the Department will establish in the
notice of final revisions to certain data collection and reporting
requirements, and final priority. The additional requirements for these
requests are as follows:
A. Indicator (b)(1) Extension Requests
The Secretary proposes that a State must provide the following
information when requesting an extension of the deadline for developing
and implementing an SLDS under Indicator (b)(1) that includes the 12
elements required by the America COMPETES Act:
(1) An identification of the elements in the America COMPETES Act
that the State has implemented to date as part of its SLDS; and
(2) An assurance signed by the Governor and the Chief State School
Officer that the State will--
(i) Incorporate the remaining elements into its SLDS by the
December 31, 2012, deadline; and
(ii) Provide, within 60 days of submission of the request, a
revised plan for incorporating those elements by the deadline.
B. Indicator (c)(11) Extension Requests
The Secretary proposes that a State must provide the following
information when requesting an extension of the deadline for collecting
and publicly reporting under Indicator (c)(11) student enrollment data
for high school graduates who enroll in an in-State public IHE:
(1) A description of the State's current capacity to collect and
publicly report such student enrollment data; and
(2) An assurance signed by the Governor and the Chief State School
Officer that the State will--
(i)(A) Collect and publicly report by December 31, 2012, student
enrollment data for high school graduates who attend an in-State public
IHE; or
(B) Develop the capacity to collect and publicly report those data
by December 31, 2012; and
(ii) Provide, within 60 days of submission of the request, a
revised plan for how the State will--
(A) Collect and publicly report the data by December 31, 2012; or
(B) Develop the capacity to collect and publicly report those data
by December 31, 2012.
C. Indicator (c)(12) Extension Requests
The Secretary proposes that a State must provide the following
information when requesting an extension of the deadline for collecting
and publicly reporting under Indicator (c)(12) course completion data
for high school graduates who enroll in an in-State public IHE:
(1) A description of the State's current capacity to collect and
publicly report such course completion data; and
(2) An assurance signed by the Governor and the Chief State School
Officer that the State will--
(i)(A) Collect and publicly report, by December 31, 2012, course
completion data for high school graduates who attend an in-State public
IHE; or
(B) Develop the capacity to collect and publicly report, by
December 31, 2012, such data; and
(ii) Provide, within 60 days of submission of the request, a
revised plan for how the State will--
(A) Collect and publicly report the data by December 31, 2012; or
(B) Develop the capacity to collect and publicly report such data
by December 31, 2012.
D. Indicator (c)(11) Alternative Standard Requests
The Secretary proposes that a State must provide the following
information when requesting permission to use the alternative standard
to satisfy the Indicator (c)(11) requirements to collect and publicly
report student enrollment data for high school graduates who enroll in
private or out-of-State public IHEs:
(1) A description of the State's current capacity to collect and
publicly report such student enrollment data; and
(2) An assurance signed by the Governor and the Chief State School
Officer that the State will--
(i)(A) Collect and publicly report, by December 31, 2012, student
enrollment data for high school graduates who enroll in private or out-
of-State public IHEs; or
(B) Increase its current capacity to collect and publicly report
such data by December 31, 2012, and, by that date, publicly report, the
following--
(1) For each in-State private IHE--
(a) Whether the State provides funding to the IHE;
(b) Whether the State has a data-sharing agreement in place with
the IHE and, if so, whether the data-sharing agreement enables the
State to track its recent high school graduates; and
(2) For each out-of-State private or out-of-State public IHE with
which the State has a data-sharing agreement, whether individually or
through a State agency or consortium--
(a) Whether the State provides funding to the IHE; and
(b) Whether the data-sharing agreement enables the State to track
its recent high school graduates;
(ii) Provide, within 60 days of submission of the request, a
revised plan for how the State will--
(A) Collect and publicly report the data by December 31, 2012; or
(B) Increase its current capacity to collect and report those data
by December 31, 2012.
Proposed Requirements for Revised Plans for Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11),
or (c)(12)
The Department proposes that the revised plans for Indicator
(b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) must include the following information:
(a) A detailed description of the steps that the State will take to
ensure that the requirements of the indicator will be met by December
31, 2012, including a reasonable timeline for those actions;
(b) Identification of the agency or agencies in the State
responsible for the development and implementation of the revised plan;
and
(c) An overall budget, including the funding sources, that is
sufficient to support the development and implementation of the revised
plan.
Proposed Priority
This notice contains one proposed priority.
Proposed Priority--Developing and Implementing a Statewide Longitudinal
Data System That Includes the 12 Required Elements
Background: A State that develops and implements an SLDS that
includes the 12 elements required under the America COMPETES Act is
more likely to effectively implement education reforms. As a result, a
State that meets the SLDS requirements of the SFSF program is more
likely to meet the goals of other Federal programs that support efforts
to improve the quality of instruction and raise student academic
achievement.
[[Page 59079]]
Given the importance of full implementation of a complete SLDS
system, the Secretary is proposing a priority for a State that has met
the requirements of Indicator (b)(1) as established under the SFSF
program.
Proposed Priority: The Secretary is proposing a priority for a
State that has met the requirements of SFSF Indicator (b)(1) on or
before the applicable deadline.
Types of Priorities
When inviting applications for a competition using one or more
priorities, we designate the type of each priority as absolute,
competitive preference, or invitational through a notice in the Federal
Register. The effect of each type of priority follows:
Absolute priority: Under an absolute priority, we consider only
applications that meet the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(3)).
Competitive preference priority: Under a competitive preference
priority, we give competitive preference to an application by (1)
awarding additional points, depending on the extent to which the
application meets the priority (34 CFR 75.105(c)(2)(i)); or (2)
selecting an application that meets the priority over an application of
comparable merit that does not meet the priority (34 CFR
75.105(c)(2)(ii)).
Invitational priority: Under an invitational priority, we are
particularly interested in applications that meet the priority.
However, we do not give an application that meets the priority a
preference over other applications (34 CFR 75.105(c)(1)).
Enforcement of SFSF Requirements; Proposed Authority To Take
Enforcement Action Against SEAs
The Department only extends the deadline for complying with program
requirements when appropriate. The Department is proposing to extend
the deadline under this notice to ensure full implementation of key
SFSF program requirements. For example, the development and
implementation of an SLDS are integral to State and local efforts to
improve student academic achievement. In light of the proposed deadline
extension, we remind States that the Department has a wide range of
actions that it can take to enforce program requirements. For example,
the Department has the authority under the provisions of Part E of the
General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) (20 U.S.C. 1234 et seq.) to
take the following enforcement actions: the recovery of funds (section
452 of GEPA), the withholding of funds (section 455 of GEPA), or the
establishment of a compliance agreement (section 457 of GEPA).
Additionally, under 34 CFR 80.12, the Department may designate a
grantee as high risk for a number of reasons, including failure to
comply with the terms and conditions of an award. We also note that,
under 34 CFR 75.217, the Department may consider the performance of a
grantee when awarding funds in future discretionary grant programs.
As stated previously, the Department proposes that the SEA must
jointly request with the Office of the Governor an extension to
December 31, 2012, of the January 31, 2012 deadline for Indicators
(b)(1), (c)(11), and (c)(12) or the authority to use the alternative
standard for Indicator (c)(11). In those cases in which the State has
received an extension of a deadline to January 31, 2012 or the
authority to use the alternative standard for Indicator (c)(11) but
fails to meet the extended deadline or alternative standard, the
Department also proposes that it may take enforcement actions against
the SEA, including designation as high risk. In such instances the
Department would have the authority also to elect not to award funds in
a future discretionary grant competition to the SEA.
When implementing enforcement actions, the Department takes into
account the specific circumstances of the grantee and the severity of
the non-compliance.
Final Revisions to Certain Data Collection and Reporting Requirements
and Final Priority
We will announce the final revisions to the SFSF requirements and
final priority in a notice in the Federal Register. We will determine
the final revisions to the requirements and the final priority after
considering any comments submitted in response to this notice and other
information available to the Department. This notice does not preclude
us from proposing additional revisions to the requirements or
additional priorities, subject to meeting applicable rulemaking
requirements.
Note: This notice does not solicit applications. In any year in
which we choose to use the priority proposed in this notice, we
invite applications through a notice in the Federal Register.
Executive Order 12866
Regulatory Impact Analysis
Under Executive Order 12866, the Secretary must determine whether
this regulatory action is significant and, therefore, subject to the
requirements of the Executive Order and to review by the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB). Section 3(f) of Executive Order 12866
defines ``significant regulatory action'' as an action likely to result
in a rule that may--
(1) Have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more,
or adversely affect a sector of the economy, productivity, competition,
jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local or
tribal governments or communities in a material way (also referred to
as an economically significant rule);
(2) Create serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an
action taken or planned by another agency;
(3) Materially alter the budgetary impacts of entitlement grants,
user fees, or loan programs or the rights and obligations of recipients
thereof; or
(4) Raise novel legal or policy issues arising out of legal
mandates, the President's priorities, or the principles stated in the
Executive Order.
It has been determined that this regulatory action is significant
under paragraph (f)(4) of the Executive order. Accordingly, we have
assessed the potential costs and benefits--both quantitative and
qualitative--of this proposed regulatory action and determined that the
benefits justify the costs. Additionally, the Department has determined
that this regulatory action would not unduly interfere with State,
local, and tribal governments in the exercise of their governmental
functions.
In this regulatory impact analysis, we discuss the need for
regulatory action, the regulatory alternatives we considered, and the
potential costs and benefits of the proposed action.
Need for Federal Regulatory Action
The proposed revisions in this notice are the result of a
regulatory review \2\ of the SFSF requirements established in the
November 2009 Notice and also a response to concerns raised by States
regarding their capacity to implement those requirements fully. The
proposed revisions would eliminate requirements that have been
identified through the regulatory review as overly burdensome or
unnecessary for the achievement of the intended purposes of the SFSF
program. The proposed revisions would also modify requirements that
have been identified by certain States as not
[[Page 59080]]
feasible to meet by the currently established deadline, by extending
the deadline for establishing compliance or providing an alternative
compliance standard for States that seek that flexibility. The
Secretary believes that these revisions are needed in order for the
Department to administer the SFSF program in a manner that enables
States to provide sufficient transparency on the extent to which they
are implementing education reform actions consistent with the
assurances provided in their SFSF applications while affording them an
appropriate amount of time and flexibility to implement those actions.
The Secretary further believes that this notice's proposed requirements
for requesting an extension of the deadline for Indicator (b)(1),
(c)(11), or (c)(12) or using the Indicator (c)(11) alternative
standard, as well as the proposed requirements for revising plans for
those indicators, are necessary to ensure that States' actions are
consistent with the requirements for those indicators.
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\2\ As discussed elsewhere in this notice, the regulatory review
was conducted in response to the January 18, 2011 Executive Order
13563 entitled ``Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review'' and
the February 28, 2011 Memorandum from the President to executive
departments and agencies entitled ``Administrative Flexibility,
Lower Costs, and Better Results for State, Local, and Tribal
Governments.''
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Regulatory Alternatives Considered
An alternative to promulgation of the proposed revisions in this
notice would be to take no regulatory action and, instead, take
enforcement action, such as recovering or withholding Department funds
or establishing compliance agreements, against States that fail to
comply with the relevant SFSF requirements established in the November
2009 Notice. In general, the Secretary believes that the latter
approach would unfairly punish States that the Department believes,
based on available information on implementation of SFSF plans, are
making a good-faith effort to fully develop their statewide
longitudinal data systems and their capacity to collect and report data
on student postsecondary enrollment and persistence, but need more time
to comply with the SFSF requirements. That said, the Secretary
believes, for reasons discussed elsewhere in this notice, that States
must fully develop statewide longitudinal data systems and may place on
high-risk status those States that fail to comply with the requirements
of Indicator (b)(1) by the current or (if approved for the State)
extended deadline.
With respect to Indicator (c)(11), the Department considered
proposing only an extension of the deadline for collecting and
reporting student enrollment data for high school graduates who attend
IHEs, but concluded that extending the deadline for the public, in-
State IHEs and providing additional flexibility with the proposed
alternative standard for collecting and publicly reporting student
enrollment data for high school graduates who attend private and out-
of-State public IHEs would better address the capacity concerns raised
by States.
Summary of Costs and Benefits
Proposed Revisions to SFSF Indicator Requirements
In the November 2009 Notice, the Department provided detailed
estimates of the costs to States, LEAs, and IHEs of complying with the
SFSF requirements. We have assessed the potential costs and benefits of
the proposed revisions to those requirements in this notice and
determined that they would impose no net additional costs to States,
LEAs, or IHEs.
On the contrary, the proposed revisions would produce potential net
cost savings.\3\ For instance, the proposed elimination of the annual
reporting requirements for Indicators (c)(1) through (c)(9) and (d)(1)
through (d)(6) would confer savings by reducing collection and
reporting burden on States and LEAs. Although it would confer some new
cost (as discussed in more detail later in this section), the proposed
Indicator (c)(11) alternative standard would confer net savings to
States using the standard (and to affected LEAs and IHEs) by no longer
requiring that those States, at a minimum, fully develop the capacity
to collect and report, by September 30, 2011, enrollment data for high
school graduates who enroll in private or out-of-State public IHEs. The
proposed extensions of the compliance deadlines for Indicators (b)(1),
(c)(11), and (c)(12) would not add to the costs of complying with the
associated requirements and might result in marginal savings
(calculated on a present-value basis) as States would be able to spread
the compliance costs over a longer period of time.
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\3\ We have not provided estimates of potential cost savings in
this notice because we cannot reasonably estimate the amount of
funds States have already spent to meet the applicable SFSF
requirements.
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Apart from potential cost savings, the benefits of the proposed
revisions are, as discussed elsewhere in this notice, simplified and
more streamlined SFSF requirements that still provide the Department
and the public with useful information on whether States are
implementing education reforms consistent with the statutorily required
assurances.
States using the proposed Indicator (c)(11) alternative standard
would incur minimal new costs. Under the standard, a State would be
required to publicly report, by December 31, 2012, information on the
extent to which it has data-sharing agreements with private and out-of-
State public IHEs that enable the State to track its recent high school
graduates and demonstrate certain concrete steps it had taken to
increase its capacity to track its high school graduates who enrolled
in private and out-of-State public IHEs. We estimate that a State would
need, on average, 40 hours to collect and report this information. At
$30 per hour, the average cost of doing so is an estimated $1,200.
Based on information available from States on implementation of
their SFSF plans, we estimate that 43 States will request use of the
Indicator (c)(11) alternative standard. The total estimated cost to
States for complying with the proposed Indicator (c)(11) alternative
standard reporting requirements is accordingly $51,600 ($1,200 times 43
States).
Proposed Requirements for Requests for Extensions of Deadlines for
Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) or Use of the Indicator (c)(11)
Alternative Standard, and Proposed Requirements for Revised Plans for
Indicator (b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12)
The costs for complying with these proposed requirements would, in
general, be minimal. Because States that do not meet the requirements
associated with an SFSF indicator or descriptor were already required
to submit a plan for achieving compliance that includes progress
tracking and providing regular public progress reports, we do not
believe that any new effort would be needed in order for a State to
determine whether to request an extension of the deadline for Indicator
(b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) or use of the Indicator (c)(11) alternative
standard.
In requesting a deadline extension or use of the alternative
standard, a State would be required to provide a description of its
current capacity with respect to the applicable indicator and a signed
assurance that it will comply with the revised requirements for the
indicator and will submit its plan for doing so to the Department
within 60 days of the request. The level of effort needed to meet these
requirements would be minimal. We estimate that a State would need, on
average, eight hours to complete such a request. At $30 per hour, the
average cost of completing a request is an estimated $240.
Based on information available from States on implementation of
their SFSF plans, we estimate that 40 States will request an extension
of the deadline for
[[Page 59081]]
Indicator (b)(1), 43 States will request an extension of the deadline
for Indicator (c)(11), 47 States will request an extension of the
deadline for Indicator (c)(12), and 43 States will request use of the
Indicator (c)(11) alternative standard. In total, States will complete
an estimated 173 requests. At $240 per request, the total estimated
cost to States for complying with the proposed requirements for
requests is $41,520 ($240 times 173 requests).
A State requesting a deadline extension or the use of the Indicator
(c)(11) alternative standard would then be required to submit to the
Department, within 60 days, a revised plan with respect to the
applicable indicator that includes the specific steps the State will
take to meet the revised requirements for the indicator, the budget for
developing and implementing the revised plan, and the responsible
agency or agencies. The cost of meeting these proposed plan revision
requirements should also be minimal. We estimate that a State would
need, on average, eight hours to complete a plan revision consistent
with the requirements. At $30 per hour, the average cost of completing
a plan revision is an estimated $240.
As discussed above, States will complete an estimated 173 total
requests for deadline extensions or for use of the Indicator (c)(11)
alternative standard. Accordingly, we estimate that States will
complete, at most, 173 plan revisions.\4\ At $240 per revision, the
total estimated cost to States for complying with the proposed plan
revision requirements is $41,520 ($240 per revision times 173
requests).
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\4\ A State requesting both an extension of the deadline for
Indicator (c)(11) (as it applies to data on student enrollment in
in-State public IHEs) and use of the alternative standard for that
indicator (as it applies to data on student enrollment in private
and out-of-State public IHEs) could address both of these requests
in a single plan revision for the indicator. Consequently, the total
number of completed plan revisions will almost certainly be lower
than this estimate.
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The total estimated cost for complying with the proposed
requirements for requests and for plan revisions is accordingly
$83,040.
The November 2009 notice detailed the cost of collecting and
reporting the information and data associated with Indicators (b)(1),
(c)(11), and (c)(12) on an annual basis. We expect that the cost of
meeting these requirements will be reduced because most States have
completed a substantial amount of the work related to collecting and
reporting the required information. However, States requesting an
extension of Indicators (b)(1), (c)(11), or (c)(12) will need to report
the information and data for an additional year. We discuss the costs
associated with reporting these indicators for an additional year
below.
We estimate that, on average, a State would need one hour to
collect and report the information associated with Indicator (b)(1).
This is a one hour reduction from the estimate in the November 2009
Notice because States have indicated that, on average, they have
completed 50 percent of the work associated with collecting and
reporting this information. Based on information available from States
on implementation of their SFSF plans, we expect that 40 States will
need to collect and report this information. At $30 per hour, the
average cost for collecting and reporting this information is $30. The
total estimated cost for complying with the Indicator (b)(1) reporting
requirements is $1,200 ($30 per hour times 40 States).
As 9 States have already met the requirement for Indicator (c)(11),
we expect that 43 States will need to collect and report the
information associated with it, or provide evidence that they have
developed the capacity to do so, for students who attend in-State,
public IHEs. We estimate that, on average, a State would need 40 hours
to meet this requirement. This is a reduction from the average hours
per response in the November 2009 Notice because this estimate only
includes reporting on students who attend in-State, public IHEs rather
than all students enrolled in an IHE. The remaining students will be
covered under the (c)(11) alternative standard. At $30 per hour, we
estimate that the average cost of meeting this requirement is $1,200.
The total estimated cost for States to comply with the requirements for
Indicator (c)(11) is $51,600 ($1,200 per State times 43 States).
The 13,409 LEAs located in those 43 States would need to provide
information associated with Indicator (c)(11). Based on an estimate of
the total number of students enrolled in public IHEs in their home
State,\5\ and based on the assumption that LEAs could provide this
information at a rate of 20 students per hour, we estimate that these
LEAs will require a total of 84,584 hours to comply with the
requirements for Indicator (c)(11) at a total cost of $2,114,597.
Divided by the total number of affected LEAs, we estimate that each LEA
would require 6.31 hours to provide this information. This would be a
reduction from the average hours per response in the November 2009
Notice because the current estimate only relates to students who attend
in-State, public IHEs rather than all students attending an IHE.
Information on the remaining students will be covered under the (c)(11)
alternative standard. At $25 per hour, the average cost per LEA of
meeting the requirements of this Indicator is approximately $158.
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\5\ According to the Digest of Education Statistics, 2009,
2,240,414 first-time freshmen enrolled in public, degree-granting
IHEs in fall 2008, which represented 74 percent of all first-time
freshmen. See https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_199.asp. Also in fall 2008, 2,109,931 freshmen who graduated from
high school within the last 12 months attended degree-granting IHEs
in their home State, which represented 81 percent of all freshmen.
See https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_223.asp. 1.
An estimate of the number of first-time freshmen enrolled in public,
degree-granting IHEs in their home State can be derived two ways.
Applying the percentage of first-time freshmen attending public
degree-granting IHEs to the number of first-time freshmen attending
an IHE in their home State yields an estimate of 1,508,484, and
applying the percentage of first-time freshmen attending an IHE in
their home State to the number of first-time freshmen attending
public degree-granting IHEs yields an estimate of 2,169,077. For the
purposes of this estimate, the Department chooses the midpoint of
these figures, which is 1,838,780. Applying the estimate (described
earlier) that 94 percent of all first-time postsecondary students
graduated from public schools, the Department estimates that
1,691,678 public high school graduates enroll in public degree-
granting IHEs in their home State.
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Again, based on our estimate of the total number of students
enrolled in public IHEs in their home State and the assumption that
IHEs could provide this information at a rate of 20 students per hour,
we estimate that a total of 84,584 hours would be required for the
1,676 IHEs in the 43 affected States to respond to this requirement. On
average, each IHE would need 50.47 hours to collect and report the
information associated with Indicator (c)(11). This would be an
increase in the average hours per response in the November 2009 Notice
because this estimate only relates to students who attend in-State
public IHEs rather than all students attending an IHE. The remaining
students will be covered under the (c)(11) alternative standard. The
average burden per response increased from the burden estimated in the
November 2009 Notice because the analysis now accounts for in-State
public IHEs in the 43 States that have not yet met this requirement.
Since 74 percent of freshmen attend in-State public IHEs, the burden in
this notice is higher because it is no longer shared with private and
out-of-State IHEs, which led to lower overall burden that we estimated
for all IHEs in the November 2009 Notice. We expect that 1,676 IHEs
will need to provide this information. At $25 per hour, the average
cost per IHE for collecting and reporting this information is
$1,261.75. The total estimated cost for IHEs to
[[Page 59082]]
comply with the reporting requirements for Indicator (c)(11) is
$2,114,597.
The total estimated cost for complying with the reporting
requirements in Indicator (c)(11) is $4,280,794.
Based on information provided by the States, we expect that 47
States will need to collect and report the information associated with
Indicator (c)(12). We estimate that, on average, a State would need 20
hours to collect and report the information. This represents a 20 hour
reduction from our estimate in the November 2009 Notice because States
have indicated that, on average, they have completed 50 percent of the
work associated with this Indicator. At $30 per hour, the average cost
for collecting and reporting this information is $600. The total
estimated cost for States to comply with the reporting requirements for
Indicator (c)(12) is $28,200 ($600 per State times 47 States).
The 1,555 IHEs located in these States would be required to report
information on the number of students who have completed at least one
year's worth of college credit within two years of enrollment in the
IHE. Based on data from the Digest of Education Statistics, we estimate
that 1,140,855 first-time freshmen are enrolled in degree-granting in-
State public IHEs in the 47 States that have not yet met this
requirement. We estimate that IHEs could provide this information at a
rate of 20 students per hour, which leads to approximately 57,043 hours
of total effort across the affected IHEs at an estimated cost of
$1,426,069. By dividing this total number of hours by the 1,555 public
IHEs in the 47 States, we estimate that, on average, an IHE would need
36.68 hours to collect and report the information associated with
Indicator (c)(12). This represents a reduction from the average hours
per response that we estimated in the November 2009 Notice because some
States with higher than average percentages of in-State students have
already completed this work. We estimate a reduced average response
time after excluding the IHEs from States that have completed the work
from the calculation. At $25 per hour of IHE effort, we estimate that
the average cost for collecting and reporting this information is $917
per IHE.
The total estimated cost for complying with the reporting
requirements in Indicator (c)(12) is $1,454,269. The total estimated
cost for complying with the collection and reporting requirements
associated with (b)(1), (c)(11), and (c)(12) is accordingly $5,736,263.
The total estimated cost for complying with those collection and
reporting requirements and the proposed requirements in this notice is
$5,870,903.
Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification
The Secretary certifies that this regulatory action will not have a
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
The small entities that this regulatory action will affect are small
LEAs receiving funds under this program and small IHEs.
This regulatory action will not have a significant economic impact
on small LEAs because they will be able to meet the costs of compliance
with this regulatory action using the funds provided under this
program.
With respect to small IHEs, the U.S. Small Business Administration
Size Standards define these institutions as ``small entities'' if they
are for-profit or nonprofit institutions with total annual revenue
below $5,000,000 or if they are institutions controlled by small
governmental jurisdictions, which are comprised of cities, counties,
towns, townships, villages, school districts, or special districts,
with a population of less than 50,000. Based on data from the
Department's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), up
to 427 small IHEs with revenues of less than $5 million may be affected
by these requirements; only 33 of these IHEs are public. These small
IHEs represent only 13 percent of degree-granting IHEs. In addition,
only 98,032 students (0.5 percent) enrolled in degree-granting IHEs in
fall 2007 attended these small institutions; just 11,830 of these
students are enrolled in small, degree-granting public IHEs. As the
burden for indicators (c)(11) and (c)(12) is driven by the number of
students for whom IHEs would be required to submit data, small IHEs
will require significantly less effort to adhere to these requirements
than will be the case for larger IHEs. Based on IPEDS data, the
Department estimates that 1,873 of these students are first-time
freshmen. As stated earlier in the Summary of Costs and Benefits
section of this notice, the Department estimates that, as required by
indicator (c)(11), IHEs will be able to confirm the enrollment of 20
first-time freshmen per hour. Applying this estimate to the estimated
number of first-time freshmen at small IHEs, the Department estimates
that these IHEs will need to spend 94 hours to respond to this
requirement at a total cost of $2,350 (assuming a cost of $25 per
hour).
The effort involved in reporting the number of students enrolling
in a public IHE in their home State who complete at least one year's
worth of college credit applicable toward a degree within two years as
required by indicator (c)(12) will also apply to small IHEs, but will
be limited to students who enroll in public IHEs in their home State.
As discussed earlier in the Summary of Costs and Benefits section of
this notice, the Department estimates that 81 percent of first-time
freshmen who graduate from public high schools enroll in degree-
granting IHEs in their home State. Applying this percentage to the
estimated number of first-time freshmen enrolled in small public IHEs
(1,873), the Department estimates that small IHEs will be required to
report credit completion data for a total of 1,517 students. For this
requirement, the Department also estimates that IHEs will be able to
report the credit completion status of 20 first-time freshmen per hour.
Again, applying this data entry rate to the estimated number of first-
time freshmen at small public IHEs in their home State, the Department
estimates that these IHEs will need to spend 76 hours to respond to
this requirement at a total cost of $1,900. The total cost of these
requirements for small IHEs is, therefore, $4,250; $2,068 of this cost
will be borne by small private IHEs, and $2,182 of the cost will be
borne by small public IHEs. Based on the total number of small IHEs
across the Nation, the estimated cost per small private IHE is
approximately $10, and the estimated cost per small public IHE is $66.
The Department has, therefore, determined that the requirements will
not represent a significant burden on small not-for-profit IHEs. It is
also important to note that States may use their Government Services
Fund allocations to help small IHEs meet the costs of complying with
the requirements that affect them, and public IHEs may use Education
Stabilization Fund dollars they receive for that purpose.
In addition, the Department believes the benefits provided under
this regulatory action will outweigh the burdens on these institutions
of complying with the requirements. One of these benefits will be the
provision of better information on student success in postsecondary
education to policymakers, educators, parents, and other stakeholders.
The Department believes that the information gathered and reported as a
result of these requirements will improve public accountability for
performance; help States, LEAs, and schools learn from one another and
improve their decision-making; and inform Federal policymaking.
A second major benefit is that better public information on State
and local progress in the four reform areas will
[[Page 59083]]
likely spur more rapid progress on those reforms, because States and
LEAs that appear to be lagging in one area or another may see a need to
redouble their efforts. The Department believes that more rapid
progress on the essential educational reforms will have major benefits
nationally, and that these reforms have the potential to drive dramatic
improvements in student outcomes. The requirements that apply to IHEs