Sec. 488. Competency-based education demonstration program
2,487 words·~11 min read·
/bill/113/s/2954/is/section-488A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Part G of title IV ( 20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq. ) is further amended by inserting after section 486A the following: It is the purpose of this section— to allow a demonstration program that is monitored by the Secretary to explore ways of delivering education and disbursing student financial aid that are based on demonstrating competencies rather than credit hours; to potentially lower the cost of postsecondary education and reduce the time needed to attain a postsecondary degree; and to help determine— the specific statutory and regulatory requirements that should be modified to provide greater access to high-quality competency-based education programs, which may be independent of, or combined with, traditional credit hour or clock hour programs; the most effective means of delivering competency-based education; and the appropriate level and distribution methodology of Federal assistance for students enrolled in competency-based education.
In this section: The term competency-based education means an academic program that— uses direct assessment of learning for any of its components as a substitute for traditional coursework measured in credit-hours; and upon successful completion, results in the attainment of a 2-year or 4-year postsecondary degree or certificate. The term eligible entity means any of the following: An institution of higher education, as defined in section 101, that is eligible to participate in programs under this title.
A consortia of institutions of higher education that meet the requirements in subparagraph (A). The Secretary shall carry out a competency-based education demonstration program under which the Secretary selects, in accordance with subsection (e), eligible entities to participate and receive waivers described in paragraph (2), in order to enable the eligible entities to offer competency-based education programs. The Secretary may waive, for an eligible entity participating in the demonstration program under this section, any requirement of subsections
(a)and
(f)of section 481 as such subsections relate to requirements under this Act for a minimum number of weeks of instruction (including any regulation promulgated under such subsections). In addition to any waiver authorized under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may waive any requirements described in clause
(ii)for an eligible entity that requests such a waiver in the application submitted under subsection (d), if— the Secretary determines that the eligible entity has proposed a high-quality plan for competency-based education that requires such waiver; the eligibility entity has provided equivalent metrics to each of the requirements described in clause
(ii)for which the eligible entity is seeking a waiver; and the Secretary has certified that all requirements being waived have such high-quality equivalents. Requirements described in this clause are requirements under this part, part F, or title I (including any regulations promulgated under such parts or title) that inhibits the operation of competency-based education, related to— minimum weeks of instructional time; credit hour or clock hour equivalencies; and the definitions of the terms academic year , full-time student , standard term , non-term , non-standard term , term , satisfactory academic progress , educational activity , program of study , and payment period . Each eligible entity desiring to participate in the demonstration program under this section shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary shall require. Each application submitted under paragraph
(1)shall include— a description of the competency-based education to be offered by the eligible entity through the demonstration program; a detailed description of the proposed academic delivery, business, and financial models to be used in the program, including brief explanations of how the program’s approach would result in the achievement and assessment of competencies and how the approach would differ from standard credit hour approaches; a summary of the evidence-based analysis of the financial impact of the proposed program on the institution, its prospective students, and the Federal government; and a written assurance that— the summary presented to the Secretary is a good-faith representation of all the information available to the institution at the time of the application; and all material internal analyses and supporting data used in the summary shall be retained and made available to the Secretary upon request for a period of not less than 5 years after the approval of the proposed program; a written assurance that the program fully conforms to the institution’s academic policies, and that any degrees or certificates conferred through the program shall be equivalent to the institution’s traditional degrees or certificates; documentation of approval of the competency-based demonstration program from a regional accrediting agency or association; a description of the statutory and regulatory requirements described in subsection (c)(2) for which a waiver is sought, the reasons for which each such waiver is sought, and how the institution proposes to mitigate any risks to students or the Federal Government as a result of the waiver; a description of the entity’s proposal for determining a student’s Federal student aid eligibility under this title and awarding and distributing such aid, including safeguards to ensure that students are making satisfactory progress that warrants disbursement of such aid, and an explanation of how the proposal ensures that the program does not require the expenditure of additional Federal funding beyond what the student is eligible for; a description of the students to whom competency-based education will be offered, including an assurance that the eligible entity will include a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 2,000 eligible students as part of the program; a description of the goals the entity hopes to achieve through the use of competency-based education, including evidence-based estimates of cost savings to the institution, students, and the Federal Government as a direct result of the delivery method being proposed; a description of how the entity plans to maintain program quality and integrity, consistent with part H; an assurance that the entity will fully cooperate with the ongoing evaluations of the demonstration program under subsection (f)(3); an assurance that the entity will not require the expenditure of additional Federal funding to implement the proposed program; an evidence-based estimate of the percentage of students the program would enroll whom the institution estimates will successfully complete the program, satisfy all academic requirements, and attain the academic credential the program is intended to confer; a written assurance that the eligible entity will comply with section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (commonly referred to as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 ) by agreeing to obtain a signed consent form from each student who will participate in the program, before the student enrolls in the program or receives Federal student financial aid under this title for the program, that will allow the Secretary to conduct an evaluation of the program’s effectiveness, including its impact on post-enrollment earnings through matching data with other Federal agencies, as long as— no information from the student’s education record would be permanently stored with any other Federal agency; and no student’s personally identifiable information would be publicly disclosed; and such other information as the Secretary may require. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Higher Education Affordability Act , the Secretary shall select not more than 15 eligible entities to participate in the demonstration program under this section. In selecting eligible entities to participate in the demonstration program under this section, the Secretary shall— not select any eligible entity for which the estimated percentage of students in the proposed program expected to complete their degree, as provided in the application under subsection (d)(2)(O), is lower than the percentage of students enrolled in traditional academic programs at the institution that complete their degree or program of study; consider the number and quality of applications received; consider the eligible entity’s— demonstrated quality, as measured through outcome-based metrics of student success; financial responsibility; administrative capability, including the ability to successfully execute the program as described; commitment and ability to effectively finance a demonstration program as proposed; demonstrated administrative capability and expertise to evaluate learning based on measures other than credit hours or clock hours; commitment to allow random assignment and collection of school records of eligible program applicants, in full compliance with section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (commonly referred to as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 ), if necessary, in order to allow for the evaluation of program impacts described in subsection (f)(2)(B); and ability to translate competencies to traditional credit hours to help facilitate the ability of students participating in the demonstration project to transfer to another institution of higher education if the student so desires; ability to offer a financial guarantee to assume all Federal loans made under part D to students who demonstrate that the education received did not lead to improved employment prospects; consider the Department’s capacity to oversee and monitor each eligible institution’s participation; and ensure the participation of a diverse group of institutions of higher education (including institutions within eligible entities described in subparagraph
(B)or
(C)of subsection (b)(2)) with respect to size, mission, and geographic distribution of the institutions. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the Higher Education Affordability Act , the Secretary shall make available to the authorizing committees, and to the public through the Department’s website, a list of the eligible entities selected to participate in the demonstration program under this section. Such list shall include, for each such eligible entity, the specific statutory and regulatory requirements that the Secretary is waiving for the program and a description of the competency-based education courses to be offered. Each eligible entity that participates in the demonstration program under this section shall prepare and submit to the Secretary an annual report that includes all of the following: For each student participating in the competency-based education program offered by the eligible entity— the number of postsecondary credit hours the student had earned prior to enrollment in the program; the period of time between the admission of the student in the program and the first assessment of the student’s learning; the number of credits or competencies and progress towards completion that the student acquired through the program and the period of time during which the student acquired such credits, competencies, and made such progress; an identification of whether the student is participating in the program and only receiving competency-based education or participating in the program while also taking courses offered in credit or clock hours; the percentage of assessments of student learning that the student passed on the first attempt, during the period of the student’s participation in the program; and the percentage of assessments of student learning that the student passed on the second attempt, and the average period of time between the student’s first and second attempts, during the period of the student’s participation in the program. The rates of retention in the program for participating students, for each 6-month period of the program. Graduation rates for participating students and the average period of time for degree completion by a student participating in the program, disaggregated based on student status as a first-year, second-year, third-year, or fourth-year student when the student enrolled in the program and status with respect to participating in courses offered in credit or clock hours while also participating in competency-based education. Issues related to awarding and disbursing student financial assistance for competency-based education. The job placement rates of all students who participated in the program, as measured in the second fiscal year after the completion of the program. The Secretary may offer guidance for the purposes of making this calculation. An analysis of the mean debt to earnings ratio, and the mean debt to discretionary earnings ratio, of the students who participated in the program, as measured in the second fiscal year after the completion of the program— in the aggregate and disaggregated for students who earned the degree or credential and students who did not earn the degree or credential; and calculated for each quintile of students, based on the salary of the students after participation in the program. A compilation of quality reviews by students who participated in the program. Such other information as the Secretary may require. The Secretary shall— in the aggregate, annually evaluate the program offered by each eligible entity participating in the demonstration program under this section to review— the extent to which the eligible entity has met the goals set forth in its application under subsection (d), including the progress of the eligible entity based on the measures of program quality assurance; the number and types of students participating in the competency-based education programs offered, including the progress of participating students toward recognized degrees and the extent to which participation, postsecondary education retention, postsecondary education completion, employment after graduation, and debt repayment increased or decreased for participating students as compared to the general postsecondary education student population; obstacles related to student financial assistance for competency-based education; and the extent to which statutory or regulatory requirements not waived under the demonstration program present difficulties for students or institutions of higher education; and acting through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences— evaluate the implementation and impact of the activities allowed under this section; and identify promising practices regarding competency-based education and disseminate research on these practices. The Secretary shall annually prepare and submit to the authorizing committees a report that includes the following: The evaluations of the demonstration programs required under paragraph (3). The number and types of students receiving assistance under this title who participate in competency-based education programs supported under this section. The postsecondary education retention and completion rates of students participating in such programs. The job placement rates of participating students, as measured 2 fiscal years after the completion of such programs. An analysis of the mean debt to earnings ratio, and the mean debt to discretionary earnings ratio of the students who participated in the program, as measured in the second fiscal year after the completion of the program— in the aggregate and disaggregated for students who earned the degree or credential and students who did not the degree or credential; and calculated for each quintile of students, based on the salary of the students after participation in the program. Any statutory changes the Secretary would recommend that are designed to support and enhance the expansion of competency-based education. Other such measures as determined by the Secretary. In conducting the demonstration program under this section, the Secretary shall, on a continuing basis— ensure that eligible entities participating in the program comply with the requirements of this title (other than the requirements that are waived under subsection (c)(2)); provide technical assistance; monitor fluctuations in the student population enrolled in the participating eligible entities; and consult with appropriate accrediting agencies or associations and appropriate State regulatory authorities regarding the program. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2015 and each of the five succeeding fiscal years. .
Connectionstraces to 1
Traces to 1 document
U.S. Code
Citation graph
cites case law
Sec. 488
Competency-based education demonstration program
Cites 1Cited by 0 across 0 sources