Department of Education December 6, 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Secretary of Education invites institutions of higher education that participate in the student assistance programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (the HEA), and other parties, to propose ideas for new institutionally based experiments designed to test alternative ways of administering the student financial assistance programs to be a part of the ongoing Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI). For this set of experiments, the Secretary seeks suggestions for creative experiments to test innovations that have the potential to increase quality and reduce costs in higher education, while maintaining or increasing the programmatic and fiscal integrity of the student financial assistance programs authorized by Title IV of the HEA (Title IV, HEA programs). The Secretary is particularly interested in experiments that will improve student persistence and academic success, result in shorter time to degree, and reduce student loan indebtedness. Based on the suggestions submitted in response to this notice the Secretary will design experiments and corresponding evaluation plans. The Secretary will subsequently publish a second notice in the Federal Register to announce approved experiments, describe implementation and evaluation, and invite institutions to apply to participate in the experiments.