Student success grants

Part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1057 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

Student success grants

420K.

Student success grants

(a)

Authorization of pilot program

The Secretary is authorized to award grants on a competitive basis, subject to the availability of appropriations, to eligible institutions for the purposes of helping low-income students succeed in persisting in and completing postsecondary education and training programs. (b)

Definitions

(1)

Eligible institution

In this section, the term eligible institution means an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101(a)) in which, during the three-year period preceding the year in which the institution is applying for a grant under this section, an average of not less than 50 percent of the institution’s entering first-year students are enrolled in developmental courses to bring reading, writing, or mathematics skills up to college-level. (2)

Eligible student

In this section, the term eligible student means a student who— (A)is eligible to receive assistance under section 401; (B)is a first-year student at the time of entering the pilot; and (C)is selected by an eligible institution to participate in the pilot. (c)

Application

An eligible institution seeking a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. (d)

Grant amounts

(1)

Institutional grants

For a given year, each institution selected to participate in this pilot program shall receive an amount equal to the amount of a Student Success Grant multiplied by the number of students the institution selects to participate in the pilot program in such year. An institution shall not select more than 200 students to participate in the pilot program under this section during any academic year. (2)

Grants to students

The amount of a Student Success Grant provided to an eligible institution on behalf of an eligible student under this section shall be $1,500 per student for each award year. (e)

Priority for replication of evidence-based policies and practices

The Secretary shall give priority to applications submitted by eligible institutions that propose to replicate policies and practices that have proven effective in increasing persistence and completion by low-income students or students in need of developmental education. (f)

Peer review

The Secretary shall convene a peer review process to review applications for grants under this section and to make recommendations to the Secretary regarding the selection of grantees. Members of the peer review committee shall be a mix of researchers and practitioners who are recognized experts on services and policies to increase low income student success in postsecondary education and training. No member of the committee shall be in a position to benefit financially from the grants to eligible institutions under subsection (d)(1). (g)

Mandatory uses

An eligible institution that receives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to assign a Student Success Coach to every first-year student participating in the pilot to provide intensive career and academic advising, ongoing personal help in navigating college services such as financial aid and registration, and assistance in connecting to community resources that can help students overcome family and personal challenges to success. Student Success Coaches— (1)shall work with not more than 50 new students during any academic period; (2)may be employees of academic departments, student services offices, community-based organizations, or other entities as deemed appropriate by the institution; and (3)shall meet with each eligible student selected for the pilot before registration for courses. (h)

Permissible uses

An eligible institution that receives a grant under this section may use the grant funds to provide services and program innovations for students participating in the pilot, including the following: (1)College and career success courses, with tuition and fees for the course covered by the Student Success Grant. These courses should cover college success topics, such as how to take notes, how to study, how to take tests, and how to budget time, and should also include a substantial career exploration component. Institutions are encouraged to use such courses to help students develop a College and Career Success Plan so that by the end of the first semester the students have a clear sense of their career goals and what classes to take to achieve such goals. (2)Work-study jobs with private employers in the students’ fields of study. (3)Learning communities that ensure that students participating in the pilot are clustered together for at least two courses beginning in the first semester after enrolling and have other opportunities to create and maintain bonds that allow them to provide academic and social support to each other. (4)Curricular redesign, which may include such innovations as blended or accelerated remediation classes that help Student Success Grant recipients to attain college-level reading, writing, math skills (or a combination thereof) more rapidly than traditional remediation formats allow, and intensive skills refresher classes, offered prior to each semester, to help students who have tested into remedial coursework to reach entry level assessment scores for the postsecondary programs they wish to enter. (5)Instructional support, such as learning labs, supplemental instruction, and tutoring. (6)Assistance with support services, such as child care and transportation. (i)

Grant period; Additional technical assistance

(1)

Grant period

Grants made under this section shall be for a period of not less than 60 months. (2)

Additional technical assistance

After 36 months, the Secretary shall review the performance of the Student Success Grant pilot students at each institution, and if no significant improvements have been made by Student Success Grant pilot students in persistence and completion at an institution, then the Secretary shall provide additional technical assistance to help the institution improve outcomes. (j)

Required non-Federal share

(1)

In general

Each institution participating in the pilot program under this section shall provide a non-Federal match of 25 percent of the grant. The non-Federal share under this section may be provided in cash or in kind. (2)

Effect on need analysis

For the purpose of calculating a student’s need in accordance with part F of this title, services or benefits under this section shall not be considered an asset or income. (k)

Technical assistance

The Secretary shall enter into contracts with private entities to provide such technical assistance to grantees under this section as the Secretary determines appropriate. (l)

Evaluation

(1)

Outcome evaluations

The Secretary shall conduct an evaluation of program outcomes under the pilot program, and shall disseminate to the public the findings from the evaluation and information on best practices. The Secretary is encouraged to partner with other providers of funds, such as private foundations, to allow for use of an experimental or quasi-experimental evaluation in at least one of the pilot sites. (2)

Institutional participation

As a condition of receiving grants under this section, participating institutions shall work with the evaluator to track persistence and completion outcomes for students in the pilot program, specifically the proportion of these students who take and complete developmental education courses, the proportion who take and complete college-level coursework, and the proportion who complete certificates and degrees. This data shall be broken down by race, ethnicity, and age and the evaluator shall assist institutions in analyzing this data to compare Student Success Grant pilot participants to comparable nonparticipants, using statistical techniques to control for differences in the groups. (3)

Annual reports

Participating institutions shall report on the data specified in paragraph (2) annually and the Secretary shall make this data publicly available. (m)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $35,000,000 for the period beginning with fiscal year 2008 and ending with fiscal year 2012, of which not more than $5,000,000 may be used to carry out subsections (k) and (l).