Notice2024-08541
Request for Information (RFI) Regarding Developing a Postsecondary Student Success Award Program for Institutions of Higher Education
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
April 25, 2024
Issuing agencies
Education Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is requesting information in the form of written comments that include information, suggestions, and proposals regarding an award system to recognize institutions of higher education (IHEs) that serve as engines of opportunity and economic mobility by supporting all students to complete affordable credentials of value that prepare them well to participate in the workforce, their communities, and our democracy.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 81 (Thursday, April 25, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 81 (Thursday, April 25, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31741-31744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-08541]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
[Docket ID ED-2024-OUS-0014]
Request for Information (RFI) Regarding Developing a
Postsecondary Student Success Award Program for Institutions of Higher
Education
AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education.
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is requesting
information in the form of written comments that include information,
suggestions, and proposals regarding an award system to recognize
institutions of higher education (IHEs) that serve as engines of
opportunity and economic mobility by supporting all students to
complete affordable credentials of value that prepare them well to
participate in the workforce, their communities, and our democracy.
DATES: We must receive your comments by May 28, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. However, if you require an accommodation
or cannot otherwise submit your comments via <a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>, please
contact the program contact person listed below under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT. The Department will not accept comments by fax or
by email, or comments submitted after the comment period closes. To
ensure that the Department does not receive duplicate copies, please
submit your comments only once. Additionally, please include the Docket
ID at the top of your comments.
The Department strongly encourages you to submit any comments or
attachments in Microsoft Word format. If you must submit a comment in
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), the Department strongly
encourages you to convert the PDF to ``print-to-PDF'' format, or to use
some other commonly used searchable text format. Please do not submit
the PDF in a scanned format. Using a print-to-PDF format allows the
Department to electronically search and copy certain portions of your
submissions to assist in the rulemaking process.
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Please go to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> to
submit your comments electronically. Information on using
<a href="http://regulations.gov">regulations.gov</a>, including instructions for finding a rule on the site
and submitting comments, is available on the site under ``FAQ.''
Privacy Note: The Department's policy is to generally make comments
received from members of the public available for public viewing on the
Federal eRulemaking Portal at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>. Therefore,
commenters should include in their comments only information about
themselves that they wish to make publicly available. Commenters should
not include in their comments any information that identifies other
individuals or that permits readers to identify other individuals. The
Department will not make comments that contain personally identifiable
information (PII) about someone other than the commenter publicly
available on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> for privacy reasons. This may include
comments where the commenter refers to a third-party individual without
using their name if the Department determines that the comment provides
enough detail that could allow one or more readers to link the
information to the third party. If your comment refers to a third-party
individual, to help ensure that your comment is posted, please consider
submitting your comment anonymously to reduce the chance that
information in your comment about a third party could be linked to the
third party. The Department will also not make comments that contain
threats of harm to another person or to oneself available on
<a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Engle, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, room 5C136, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202) 987-0420. Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#543e313a3a3d3231267a313a3338311431307a333b22"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="19737c7777707f7c6b377c777e757c597c7d377e766f">[email protected]</span></a>.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and
wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For purposes of this award, the Department
considers postsecondary student success to include providing access to
an affordable education including to underserved populations,\1\
supporting students through to completion of credentials of value, and
helping students navigate to career pathways that improve their lives
through economic opportunity and mobility.
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\1\ The definition of ``underserved student,'' for the purposes
of this award, aligns with the definition of this term in the
Secretary's Supplemental Priorities and Definitions for
Discretionary Grant Programs, published in the Federal Register on
December 10, 2021 (86 FR 70612) (Supplemental Priorities). This may
include: (a) a student who is living in poverty or is served by
schools with high concentrations of students living in poverty; (b)
a student of color; (c) a student who is a member of a federally
recognized Indian Tribe; (d) an English learner; (e) a student with
a disability; (f) a student experiencing homelessness or housing
insecurity; (g) a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or
questioning, or intersex (LGBTQI+) student; (h) a student without
documentation of immigration status; (i) a pregnant, parenting, or
caregiving student; (j) a student impacted by the justice system,
including a formerly incarcerated student; (k) a student who is the
first in their family to attend postsecondary education; (l) a
student enrolling in or seeking to enroll in postsecondary education
for the first time at the age of 20 or older; (m) a student who is
working full-time while enrolled in postsecondary education; (n) a
student who is enrolled in or is seeking to enroll in postsecondary
education who is eligible for a Pell Grant; (o) an adult student in
need of improving their basic skills or an adult student with
limited English proficiency; and/or (p) a military- or veteran-
connected student.
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I. Background
A college education can serve as a ladder to socioeconomic mobility
and lifelong success. Postsecondary education is associated with lower
rates of unemployment, higher levels of earnings, better health, and
greater community engagement.\2\ Higher education--particularly at
certain broad access colleges and universities that enroll a
significant share of students from low-income backgrounds and serve
them well--can dramatically increase students' socioeconomic mobility,
launching students from the lowest-income households into lives with
economic security,\3\ helping to build a strong middle class that
contributes to local communities and the broader economy.
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\2\ See, for example, Ma, J., & Matea, P. (2023). Education Pays
2023. New York: College Board. Retrieved from:
<a href="http://research.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/education-pays-2023.pdf">research.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/education-pays-2023.pdf</a>.
\3\ Chetty, R., Friedman, J. N., Saez, E., Turner, N., & Yagan,
D. (2017). Mobility report cards: The role of colleges in
intergenerational mobility (No. w23618. National Bureau of Economic
Research. Retrieved from: <a href="http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/papers/coll_mrc_paper.pdf">www.equality-of-opportunity.org/papers/coll_mrc_paper.pdf</a>.
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However, at too many IHEs, a credential remains out of reach for
many of their students. Just one in three first-time students at two-
year colleges, and only two in three first-time students at four-year
colleges, graduate from the first institution they attend within three
and six years respectively.\4\ Further,
[[Page 31742]]
despite 80 percent of community college students (aspiring to transfer
to a four-year institution to earn bachelor's degrees, only about a
third of community college students transfer to four-year institutions.
Fewer than half of those students complete bachelor's degrees within
six years.\5\ Students from low-income backgrounds, first-generation
students, students of color, English language learners, adult students,
students with disabilities, and other students who have been
historically underserved in postsecondary education often fare worse,
resulting in double-digit gaps in graduation rates for some students of
color (e.g., 43 and 46 percent of Native American and Black students
respectively graduate within six years compared to 68 percent of white
students in four-year institutions) and some students from low-income
backgrounds (e.g., 49 percent of first-time, full-time Pell Grant
recipients in public institutions graduate within eight years compared
to 66 percent of non-Pell students)in comparison to their peers.\6\
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\4\ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS),
Spring 2004 through Spring 2013 and Winter 2013-14 through Winter
2021-22, Graduation Rates component. (This table was prepared
January 2023.) Retrieved from: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d22/tables/dt22_326.20.asp">nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d22/tables/dt22_326.20.asp</a> and U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education
Data System (IPEDS), Graduation Rates component, Spring 2002 through
Spring 2014 and Winter 2014-15 through Winter 2021-22 (final data)
and Winter 2022-23 (provisional data); and Admissions component,
IPEDS Winter 2015 (final data). (This table was prepared January
2024.) Retrieved from: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_326.10.asp">nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_326.10.asp</a>.
\5\ Shapiro, D., Dundar, A., Huie, F., Wakhungu, P. K., Yuan,
X., Nathan, A., & Hwang, Y. (2017/2022 update). Tracking transfer:
Measures of effectiveness in helping community college students to
complete bachelor's degrees. National Student Clearinghouse Research
Center. Retrieved from: <a href="http://nscresearchcenter.org/tracking-transfer/">nscresearchcenter.org/tracking-transfer/</a>.
\6\ See, for example, U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education
Data System (IPEDS), Winter 2016-17 and Winter 2021-22, Graduation
Rates component; IPEDS Fall 2010 and Fall 2015, Institutional
Characteristics component; and IPEDS Winter 2015-16, Admissions
component. (This table was prepared February 2023.) Retrieved from:
<a href="http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d22/tables/dt22_326.15.asp">nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d22/tables/dt22_326.15.asp</a> and U.S.
Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,
IPEDS, Winter 2022-23, Outcome Measures component (provisional
data). Retrieved from: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/Search?query=&query2=&resultType=all&page=1&sortBy=date_desc&surveyComponents=Outcome%20Measures%20">nces.ed.gov/ipeds/Search?query=&query2=&resultType=all&page=1&sortBy=date_desc&surveyComponents=Outcome%20Measures%20</a>(OM)&collectionYears=2021-
22&sources=Tables%20Library&overlayTableId=36029.
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Many students who leave college unable to earn a credential also
hold debt from financing their postsecondary education. The
consequences of stopping or dropping out can be significant,
particularly for these borrowers. Students who leave college with
educational debt, but no credential, are far more likely to default on
their student loans, even when their balances are relatively low.\7\
Recent Department data show that 68 percent of students in default on
their Federal student loans did not complete their program.\8\ Without
affordable credentials and degrees that lead to good jobs, former
students may not recoup the time and money they have invested in their
schooling, not to mention the public investment in financing their
education. Student debt can also negatively impact the economy by
reducing consumption in homeownership and everyday goods and
services.\9\
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\7\ Miller, B. (2017). Who are student loan defaulters?
Washington, DC: Center for American Progress. Retrieved from:
<a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/article/student-loan-defaulters/">www.americanprogress.org/article/student-loan-defaulters/</a>.
\8\ Note: Among borrowers in default whose completion status is
known. U.S. Department of Education. (2023). Data about Federal
student loan borrowers in default. Negotiated Rulemaking for Higher
Education 2023-2024. Retrieved from: <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/data-on-borrowers-in-default.pdf">www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/data-on-borrowers-in-default.pdf</a>.
\9\ Mezza, A., Ringo, D., Sommer, K. (January 2019). Can Student
Loan Debt Explain Low Homeownership Rates for Young Adults? Consumer
and Community Context (volume 1, number 1). Washington, DC: The
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Retrieved from: <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/consumer-community-context-201901.pdf">https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/consumer-community-context-201901.pdf</a>.
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II. Postsecondary Education Success Efforts
Many IHEs, non-profit organizations, systems of higher education,
and States have invested in postsecondary education success efforts and
have improved transfer and graduation rates for all students, while
enrolling students reflective of the communities they serve--whether
locally, statewide, or nationally--including underserved populations.
These efforts pay dividends for the students earning credentials of
value--affordable certificates and degrees that lead to economic
opportunity--as well as for their regional economies and communities.
For instance, studies show the importance of early support from
institutions like help completing the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA[supreg]) and well-designed financial aid programs,
including high-quality free community college programs, in promoting
student success.\10\ Other studies show that the adoption of co-
requisite (as opposed to pre-requisite) remediation programs and
reforming placement policies can help ensure students successfully
complete college-level coursework needed for graduation while
simultaneously addressing opportunity gaps in access to courses,
programs, and other supports that strengthen students' English or math
skills,\11\ which may result from disparities in their secondary school
experiences or delays in college-going to pursue employment. Similarly,
research indicates that comprehensive, integrated academic advising--
including wraparound support services such as transportation and child
care as well as accessibility services--can be critically important to
ensuring students complete academic coursework and graduate at higher
rates.\12\ Research also shows that students with disabilities who
access universally-available or disability-related supports are more
likely to persist in their college program.\13\ Colleges and
universities that have improved student outcomes often go beyond
implementing specific interventions by instituting more comprehensive,
data-driven transformation efforts.\14\ Research consistently shows
that implementing these kinds of evidence-based practices can improve
postsecondary success rates, which is why the Department
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wants to shine a spotlight on the institutions and their partners that
are already doing exceptional work to ensure successful outcomes for
all of their students.
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\10\ See, for example, Bettinger, E., Long, B., Oreopoulos, P.,
& Sanbonmatsu, L. (2012). The role of application assistance and
information in college decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAFSA
experiment. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127(3), 1205-1242.
Retrieved from: <a href="http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Study/78087">ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Study/78087</a>; David, D., &
Dynarski, S. (2009). Into college, out of poverty? Policies to
increase the postsecondary attainment of the poor. NBER Working
Paper, 15387. Retrieved from: <a href="http://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w15387/w15387.pdf">www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w15387/w15387.pdf</a>; Harris, D. N., & Mills, J. (2021).
Optimal college financial aid: Theory and evidence on free college,
early commitment, and merit aid from an eight-year randomized trial
(EdWorkingPaper: 21-393). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at
Brown University: <a href="http://doi.org/10.26300/wz1m-v526">doi.org/10.26300/wz1m-v526</a>.
\11\ See, for example, Institute of Education Sciences (2021).
What Works Clearinghouse Summary of Evidence: Dana Center
Mathematics Pathways. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
Retrieved from: <a href="http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Intervention/1602">ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Intervention/1602</a>; Miller, T.,
Daugherty, L., Martorell, P., & Gerber, R. (2022). Assessing the
effect of corequisite English instruction using a randomized
controlled trial. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness,
v15 n1 p78-102. Retrieved from <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1327668">eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1327668</a>.
\12\ See, for example, Karp, M., Ackerson, S., Cheng, I.,
Cocatre-Zilgien, E., Costelloe, S., Freeman, B., Lemire, S.,
Linderman, D., McFarlane, B., Moulton, S., O'Shea, J., Porowski, A.,
& Richburg-Hayes, L. (2021). Effective advising for postsecondary
students: A practice guide for educators (WWC 2022003). Washington,
DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance
(NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of
Education. Retrieved from: <a href="http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide/28">ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuide/28</a>.
\13\ Newman, L. A., Madaus, J. W., Lalor, A. R., & Javitz, H. S.
(2020). Effect of accessing supports on higher education persistence
of students with disabilities. Journal of Diversity in Higher
Education. Retrieved from <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED605478.pdf">https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED605478.pdf</a>.
\14\ See, for example, Gumbel, A. (2020). Won't lose this dream:
How an upstart urban university rewrote the rules of a broken
system. New York City: The New Press.
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III. Solicitation of Comments: Developing a Postsecondary Student
Success Award Program for Institutions of Higher Education
The Department is interested in developing an award system to
recognize IHEs \15\ that are supporting success across all of their
students by conferring affordable credentials of value that lead to
economic success while enrolling student bodies reflective of their
communities--including students from underserved populations. The
Department requests comments on how to understand institutions' efforts
to ensure success in postsecondary education in order to evaluate and
select institutions to receive the award. We seek feedback on what
information the Department should request or require of institutions
that are invited to apply and what information we should use to
determine which institutions should be selected to receive the award:
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\15\ The term ``institution of higher education'' here has the
same meaning ascribed the term in 20 U.S.C. 1001.
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1. What metrics should the Department use and how should the
Department measure performance on those metrics to determine both which
institutions should be eligible to apply for and which should be
selected to receive the award? The Department is particularly
interested in--
<bullet> Which data and data sources to use related to access,
transfer and completion, and post-college outcomes (e.g., preparing
students for high-demand occupations that pay a livable wage or further
training and education, providing economic value or affordability in
relation to earnings);
<bullet> What benchmarks to use to measure performance and progress
on these metrics and what methods to use to weigh performance across
these metrics to assess eligibility and confer awards; and
<bullet> What contextual factors and operational structures (e.g.,
selectivity) should be considered alongside these metrics including
whether and how to categorize institutions for purposes of award
eligibility and receipt;
<bullet> Which categories to use to disaggregate student data
especially for underserved students (e.g., economic status, first-
generation status, race/ethnicity, English learner status, disability
status).
2. How should applicant institutions demonstrate they are using
data to drive success for all students while enrolling a student body
reflective of the communities they serve, including underserved
populations? The Department is particularly interested in understanding
how the application for the award can show:
<bullet> Which data and research have been used to identify the
institutional policies and practices needed to ensure success for all
students and how data and research have been used to set goals and to
implement and evaluate evidence-based solutions;
<bullet> Which data are used by institutional leaders, faculty, and
staff to monitor progress toward success goals and what processes and
structures are used to ensure data are well understood and used broadly
and frequently across the campus community to ensure student success,
especially for underserved populations;
<bullet> How institutions have assessed and addressed gaps in their
data systems, tools, and capacity to support student success efforts
and use these data to support systems of continuous improvement,
including whether institutions are using more robust and real-time data
than available from public data systems (e.g., IPEDS) such as leading
indicators of student success based on course-level data (e.g., credit
accumulation, gateway course completion); predictive analytics based on
student engagement; unmet financial need; retention, transfer, and
completion rates inclusive of all students; time and credits to
credential or upward transfer; upward transfer rates and post-transfer
success rates; pursuit of graduate education; and earnings, debt, and
loan repayment by program and completion status; and
<bullet> How data are shared with other education institutions in
the State or region, including those in the preK-12 system (including
alternative preparation programs) and IHEs from which and to which
students transfer, and with relevant State agencies, to inform
coordinated student success efforts.
3. How should applicant institutions demonstrate a commitment by
senior leadership, including the governing board of the institution
(where applicable), to support economic mobility through campus-wide
student success efforts? The Department is particularly interested in
understanding how the application can show:
<bullet> That the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the
institutions reflect an actualized commitment to shared success for all
students, including populations that may be underserved by
postsecondary education;
<bullet> That the efforts and strategies undertaken by the
institution create a shared value system and cross-campus culture
supportive of an institutional commitment to student success;
<bullet> That the organization and staffing of the institution
ensure a continued focus on maintaining or increasing success rates for
all students, including through faculty and staff selection,
onboarding, training, and development, and that faculty are well
integrated into, and committed to, student success efforts;
<bullet> That the institution has established effective external
partnerships by the institution to help support success efforts; and
<bullet> That the success efforts undertaken by the institution are
sustainable, both through funding and through organizational design
strategies.
4. How should applicant institutions demonstrate the effectiveness
of their strategies to ensure economic mobility through student success
efforts? The Department is particularly interested in understanding how
the application can show:
<bullet> The impact of effective implementation of interventions
and strategies across all student groups leading to completion and
post-college education and economic opportunity;
<bullet> The integration of such strategies with other
institutional planning efforts, such as strategic plan development and
renewal of accreditation processes, as well as continuous improvement
efforts; and
<bullet> The rigorous evaluation of the strategies implemented by
the institution and the dissemination of such evaluations to support
knowledge-building in the field as well as transparency regarding
student outcomes, such as through public dashboards.
This is a request for information only. This RFI is not a request
for proposals (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP or a notice inviting
applications. This RFI does not commit the Department to contract for
any supply or service whatsoever. Further, we are not seeking proposals
and will not accept unsolicited proposals. The Department will not pay
for any information or administrative costs that you may incur in
responding to this RFI. The documents and information submitted in
response to this RFI become the property of the U.S. Government and
will not be returned.
Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will
provide the
[[Page 31744]]
requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich Text Format
(RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, Braille, large
print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible format.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of
Federal Regulations at <a href="http://www.govinfo.gov">www.govinfo.gov</a>. 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 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
<a href="http://www.federalregister.gov">www.federalregister.gov</a>. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 3402.
James Kvaal,
Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2024-08541 Filed 4-24-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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