Sec. 7003. Minority-serving institutions innovation fund
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Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended by inserting after part B the following: It is the purpose of this part to assist minority-serving institutions in planning, developing, implementing, validating, and replicating innovations that provide solutions to persistent challenges in enabling economically and educationally disadvantaged students to enroll in, persist through, and graduate from college, including innovations designed to— increase the successful recruitment at minority-serving institutions of— students from low-income families of all races; students who begin college when over 21 years of age; and military-affiliated students; increase the rate at which students enrolled in minority-serving institutions make adequate or accelerated progress toward graduation, and successfully graduate from such institutions; increase the number of students pursuing and completing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at minority-serving institutions and pursuing graduate work in such fields, including through the establishment of innovation ecosystems on the campuses of such institutions; redesign course offerings and other instructional strategies at minority-serving institutions to improve student outcomes and reduce postsecondary education costs; enhance the quality and number of traditional and alternative route teacher preparation programs offered by minority-serving institutions; expand the effective use of technology at minority-serving institutions; and strengthen postgraduate employment outcomes for students enrolled in minority-serving institutions.
In this part: The term eligible entity means— a minority-serving institution; or a consortium of a minority-serving institution and— one or more other institutions of higher education; a private nonprofit organization; a local educational agency; a high school that— receives funding under part A of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 6311 et seq.); and has been identified for comprehensive support and improvement under section 1111(c)(4)(D)(i) of such Act ( 20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(4)(D)(i) ); or any combination of the entities described in clauses
(i)through (iv). The term minority serving institution means an institution of higher education described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), or
(7)of section 371(a). Except as provided in subsection (b)(2), with the funds made available for this part under section 757, the Secretary shall make planning and implementation grants, as described in subsections
(b)and (c), to eligible entities to enable such entities to plan for the implementation of, in the case of a planning grant, and implement, in the case of an implementation grant, innovations described in section 751 and to support the planning, development, implementation, validation, scaling up, and replication of such innovations. Except as provided in paragraph (2), with the funds made available under section 757 for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall use not more than 5 percent or $42,500,000 (whichever is greater) to award planning grants to enable eligible entities to plan, design, and develop innovations described in section 751. Planning grants shall be awarded to minority-serving institutions in proportion to the allocations made in subparagraphs
(A)through
(G)of section 757(1). Subject to paragraph
(2)and the priority described in section 755(a), planning grants shall be awarded to eligible entities satisfying the application requirements under section 754 in the order in which received by the Secretary. A planning grant authorized under this subsection shall be for the duration of 1 year. Each planning grant authorized under this subsection shall be in an amount that is not more than $150,000. With funds made available for this part under section 757, the Secretary shall award implementation grants on a competitive basis to enable eligible entities to further develop, pilot, field-test, implement, document, validate, and, as applicable, scale up and replicate, innovations described in section 751. An implementation grant authorized under this subsection shall be for a duration of 5 years, except that the Secretary may not continue providing funds under the grant after year 3 of the grant period unless the eligible entity demonstrates that the entity has achieved satisfactory progress toward carrying out the educational innovations, activities, and projects described in their application pursuant to section 754(d), as determined by the Secretary. Each implementation grant authorized under this subsection shall be in an amount sufficient to enable the eligible entity to achieve the purposes of its proposed activities and projects, but shall not exceed $10,000,000. In the case of an eligible entity applying for a grant under this part as a consortium, each member of the consortium shall agree on 1 such member of such eligibility entity to serve as a fiscal agent of such entity. The fiscal agent of an eligible entity, as described in subparagraph (A), shall act on behalf of such entity in performing the financial duties of such entity under this part. The agreement described in subparagraph
(A)shall be in writing and signed by each member of the consortium. In the case of an eligible entity applying for a grant under this part as a consortium, the fiscal agent for such entity (as described in paragraph (1)) may use the funds provided by the grant to make subgrants to members of the consortium. An eligible entity desiring to receive a grant under this part shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require. An application under this section which is submitted by an eligible entity applying as a consortium shall include the written agreement described in section 753(d)(1)(C). The Secretary shall ensure that the application requirements under this section for a planning grant authorized under section 753(b) include, in addition to the requirement in subsection
(b)(if applicable), only those minimal requirements that are necessary to review the proposed process of an eligible entity for the planning, design, and development of one or more of the innovations described in section 751. An application under this section for an innovation grant authorized under section 753(c) shall include, in addition to the requirement under subsection
(b)(if applicable), descriptions of— each innovation described in section 751 that the eligible entity would implement using the funds made available by such grant, including, as applicable, a description of the evidence base supporting such innovation; how each such innovation will address the purpose of this part, as described in section 751, and how each such innovation will further the institutional or organizational mission of the minority-serving institution that is part of the eligible entity; the specific activities that the eligible entity will carry out with funds made available by such grant, including, in the case of an eligible entity applying as a consortium, a description of the activities that each member of the consortium will carry out and a description of the capacity of each such member to carry out those activities; the performance measures that the eligible entity will use to track its progress in implementing each such innovation, including a description of how the entity will implement those performance measures and use information on performance to make adjustments and improvements to its implementation activities, as needed, over the course of the grant period; how the eligible entity will provide for an independent evaluation of the implementation and impact of the projects funded by such grant, including— an interim report (evaluating the progress made in the first 3 years of the grant); and a final report (completed at the end of the grant period); and the plan of the eligible entity for continuing each proposed innovation after the grant has ended. In awarding planning grants under this part, the Secretary shall give priority to applications that were submitted with respect to the prior award year, but did not receive a planning grant due to insufficient funds. In awarding implementation grants under this part, the Secretary shall give— first priority to applications for programs at minority-serving institutions that have not previously received an implementation grant under this part; and second priority to applications that address issues of major national need, including— innovative partnerships between minority-serving institutions and local educational agencies that are designed to increase the enrollment of historically underrepresented populations in higher education; educational innovations designed to increase the rate of postsecondary degree attainment for populations within minority groups that have low relative rates of postsecondary degree attainment; educational innovations that support programs and initiatives at minority-serving institutions to enhance undergraduate and graduate programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; innovative partnerships between minority-serving institutions and other organizations to establish innovation ecosystems in support of economic development, entrepreneurship, and the commercialization of technology supported by research funded through this grant; educational innovations that enhance the quality and number of traditional and alternative route teacher preparation programs at minority-serving institutions to enable teachers to be highly effective in the classroom and to enable such programs to meet the demands for diversity and accountability in teacher education; and educational innovations that strengthen postgraduate employment outcomes of minority-serving institutions through the implementation of comprehensive and strategic career pathways for students. An eligible entity receiving a planning grant under section 753(b) shall use funds made available by such grant to conduct an institutional planning process that includes— an assessment of the needs of the minority-serving institution; research on educational innovations described in section 751 that will meet the needs described in paragraph (1); the selection of one or more such educational innovations for implementation; an assessment of the capacity of the minority-serving institution to implement such educational innovation; and activities to further develop such capacity. An eligible entity receiving an implementation grant under section 753(c) shall use the funds made available by such grant to further develop, pilot, field-test, implement, document, validate, and, as applicable, scale up, and replicate innovations described in section 751, such as innovations designed to— create a college-bound culture at secondary schools (including efforts targeting high-achieving students from low-income families) through activities undertaken in partnership with local educational agencies and nonprofit organizations, such as— activities that promote postsecondary school awareness, including recruitment, organizing campus visits, and providing assistance with entrance and financial aid application completion; and postsecondary school preparation efforts such as— aligning high school coursework and high school graduation requirements with the requirements for entrance into credit-bearing coursework at 4-year institutions of higher education; early identification and support for students at risk of not graduating from high school, or at risk of requiring remediation upon enrolling in postsecondary education; and dual-enrollment programs; improve student achievement, such as through activities designed to increase the number or percentage of students who successfully complete developmental or remedial coursework (which may be accomplished through the evidence-based redesign of such coursework) and pursue and succeed in postsecondary studies; increase the number of minority males who attain a postsecondary degree, such as through evidence-based interventions that integrate academic advising with social and cultural supports and assistance with job placement; increase the number or percentage of students who make satisfactory or accelerated progress toward graduation from postsecondary school and the number or percentage who graduate from postsecondary school on time, such as through the provision of comprehensive academic and nonacademic student support services. activities to promote a positive climate on campuses of institutions of higher education and to increase the sense of belonging among eligible students, including through first year support programs such as mentoring and peer networks and advisories; increase the number or percentage of students, particularly students who are members of historically underrepresented populations, who enroll in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses, graduate with degrees in such fields, and pursue advanced studies in such fields; develop partnerships between minority-serving institutions and other organizations to establish innovation ecosystems in support of economic development, entrepreneurship, and the commercialization of technology supported by funded research; implement evidence-based improvements to courses, particularly high-enrollment courses, to improve student outcomes and reduce education costs for students, including costs of remedial courses; enhance the quality and number of traditional and alternative route teacher and school leader preparation programs at minority-serving institutions that enable graduates to be profession-ready and highly effective in the classroom and to enable such programs to meet the demands for diversity and accountability in educator preparation; expand the effective use of technology in higher education, such as through collaboration between institutions on implementing technology-enabled delivery models (including hybrid models) or through the use of open educational resources and digital content; strengthen postgraduate employment outcomes through the implementation of comprehensive and strategic career pathways for students, which may include aligning curricula with workforce needs, experiential learning, integration of career services, and developing partnerships with employers and business organizations; and provide a continuum of solutions by incorporating activities that address multiple objectives described in paragraphs
(1)through (11). There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out activities under this part $850,000,000 for fiscal year 2021 and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years, to be allocated as follows: for institutions described in paragraph
(1)of section 371(a), $224,987,083; for institutions described in paragraph
(2)of section 371(a), $214,446,428; for institutions described in paragraph
(3)of section 371(a), $78,056,743; for institutions described in paragraph
(4)of section 371(a), $20,662,079; for institutions described in paragraph
(5)of section 371(a), $130,859,834; for institutions described in paragraph
(6)of section 371(a), $122,305,533; and for institutions described in paragraph
(7)of section 371(a), $58,682,300. .
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