Innovation Zone Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1221 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to create an innovation zone initiative, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 29, 2019 Mr. YOUNG (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. CASSIDY, and Mr. KAINE) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to create an innovation zone initiative, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Innovation Zone Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. INNOVATION ZONE INITIATIVE AUTHORITY. 5 Section 487A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 6 (20 U.S.C. 1094a) is amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘SEC. 487A. INNOVATION ZONE INITIATIVE. 8 ‘‘(a) INNOVATION ZONE INITIATIVE.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1221 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 1 to establish an innovation zone initiative consisting 2 of voluntary experiments under which the Secretary 3 and institutions of higher education are permitted to 4 test the effectiveness of statutory and regulatory 5 flexibility that aims to increase student success, 6 which may be defined as 1 or more of the following: 7 ‘‘(A) Reduction in student loan debt. 8 ‘‘(B) Increase in student retention and 9 program completion at institutions of higher 10 education, especially for historically underrep- 11 resented students. 12 ‘‘(C) Decrease in student time to program 13 completion. 14 ‘‘(D) Closing of gaps in enrollment and 15 completion between historically underrepresent- 16 ed students and students who are not histori- 17 cally underrepresented students. 18 ‘‘(E) Increase in student employment out- 19 comes upon graduation. 20 ‘‘(F) Improved financial aid disbursement 21 and service to students. 22 ‘‘(G) Increase in student safety, wellness, 23 or food and housing security. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1221 IS ‘‘(H) Other innovative practices that ben- 1 efit students. 2 ‘‘(2) REDUCTION OF REGULATORY BURDEN.— 3 Where appropriate, the Secretary may establish ex- 4 periments, that, in addition to meeting the require- 5 ments of paragraph (1), lead to a reduction of regu- 6 latory burden on institutions of higher education or 7 the Department, without harm to students. 8 ‘‘(3) WAIVERS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 10 subparagraph (B), the Secretary is authorized 11 to waive, for any institution of higher education 12 participating in an innovation zone experiment 13 under paragraph (1), one or more requirements 14 of title I or IV, including regulations promul- 15 gated under title I or IV. 16 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary may 17 not grant a waiver with regard to the following: 18 ‘‘(i) The definition of an institution of 19 higher education under section 101 or 102. 20 ‘‘(ii) Antidiscrimination provisions 21 under section 111. 22 ‘‘(iii) Student speech rights provisions 23 under section 112. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1221 IS ‘‘(iv) Campus safety provisions under 1 section 119 or 120. 2 ‘‘(v) Preferred lender arrangements 3 under section 152. 4 ‘‘(vi) Grant or student loan maxi- 5 mums under title IV. 6 ‘‘(vii) The needs analysis under part 7 F of title IV. 8 ‘‘(b) SOLICITATION OF EXPERIMENT SUGGES- 9 TIONS.— 10 ‘‘(1) SOLICITATION OF SUGGESTIONS.—Not less 11 frequently than every 2 years, the Secretary shall 12 provide an opportunity, through the Department of 13 Education’s website, for the public, institutions of 14 higher education, and other stakeholders to submit 15 suggestions for potential experiments under this sec- 16 tion. 17 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF SUGGESTIONS.—Any person 18 that wishes to submit a suggestion under paragraph 19 (1) shall include— 20 ‘‘(A) the goals or objectives of the pro- 21 posed experiment, and how statutory or regu- 22 latory flexibility could allow the institution of 23 higher education to increase student success, as 24 required under subsection (a)(1); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1221 IS ‘‘(B) a description of how the experiment 1 would be conducted, including participation pro- 2 tections or mechanisms in place to ensure that 3 students participating in the experiment will 4 not be negatively impacted, such as by facing 5 additional barriers to completion or losing cred- 6 it as a result of the experiment; 7 ‘‘(C) the specific statutory or regulatory 8 requirements for which a waiver would be re- 9 quested; 10 ‘‘(D) an examination of the current need 11 or interest, as of the date of the submission, for 12 the experiment; and 13 ‘‘(E) a description of how the suggested 14 experiment contributes to building the evidence 15 base and how evaluation could be used to gen- 16 erate that evidence. 17 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF EXPERIMENTS AND DESIGNA- 18 TION OF PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS.— 19 ‘‘(1) SELECTION CONSIDERATIONS.—After con- 20 sidering any suggestions submitted under subsection 21 (b), the Secretary may select experiments to be car- 22 ried out under subsection (a). The Secretary shall 23 base any such selection on the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1221 IS ‘‘(A) Sufficient interest in the experiment 1 among institutions of higher education, re- 2 searchers, and practitioners. 3 ‘‘(B) Research suggesting promise of ful- 4 filling outcomes described in subsection (a)(1). 5 ‘‘(C) A clear link between how the desired 6 statutory and regulatory flexibility could allow 7 the institution of higher education to increase 8 student success, as required under subsection 9 (a)(1). 10 ‘‘(D) The ability for the Secretary to iden- 11 tify policy-relevant questions for the experiment 12 and design an experiment that can credibly an- 13 swer those questions, and contribute to the evi- 14 dence base of innovative practices. 15 ‘‘(E) Other general interest, as supported 16 by evidence. 17 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF EVALUATION 18 PLANS.—After selecting an experiment under this 19 section, but before any participating institutions for 20 such experiment are chosen, the Secretary, in con- 21 sultation with the Director of the Institute of Edu- 22 cation Sciences, shall complete the following: 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1221 IS ‘‘(A) Identify policy-relevant questions for 1 the experiment and design an experiment that 2 can credibly answer those questions. 3 ‘‘(B) Identify the methodology of data col- 4 lection for the experiment, including, to the ex- 5 tent practicable, a methodology that allows for 6 disaggregation of data for historically underrep- 7 resented students. 8 ‘‘(C) Identify rigorous evaluation methods 9 for determining the impact of the experiment, 10 including whether the experiment has differen- 11 tial impacts for historically underrepresented 12 students. These methods may include rapid 13 cycle evaluation and behavioral insights and are 14 informed by— 15 ‘‘(i) responses to requests from the 16 Department for information; and 17 ‘‘(ii) feedback from external research- 18 ers and other stakeholders. 19 ‘‘(D) Establish a timeframe for conducting 20 the experiment that shall not exceed 4 years 21 from the award year in which Federal financial 22 aid is first disbursed to students participating 23 in the experiment, at which time the Secretary 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1221 IS may opt to extend the experiment for an addi- 1 tional 2 years. 2 ‘‘(E) Estimate the cost of conducting the 3 experiment, to the extent practicable. 4 ‘‘(F) Estimate the size of the study sample 5 (such as the number of participating students 6 or institutions) needed to determine if the ex- 7 periment has statistically significant effects. 8 ‘‘(3) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 9 Secretary shall notify institutions of higher edu- 10 cation, through the website of the Department or 11 other means, of the experiments selected by the Sec- 12 retary under this section and the steps necessary to 13 participate in an experiment. Such notice shall in- 14 clude the information described in subparagraphs 15 (A) through (F) of paragraph (2) for the experi- 16 ment. 17 ‘‘(4) COMMENCEMENT OF EXPERIMENT.—The 18 Secretary may carry out an experiment, in accord- 19 ance with the requirements of this section, only if 20 the Secretary has entered into agreements with not 21 less than 5, and not more than 100, institutions of 22 higher education, under which the institutions 23 agree— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1221 IS ‘‘(A) to participate in the experiment de- 1 scribed in the applicable evaluation plan under 2 paragraph (2); 3 ‘‘(B) to comply with the data collection re- 4 quirements under subsection (d)(1) and any 5 other reporting requirements determined by the 6 Secretary; and 7 ‘‘(C)(i) to the methodology for data collec- 8 tion established by the Secretary under para- 9 graph (2)(B) for the experiment; or 10 ‘‘(ii) upon the request of the institution 11 and if the Secretary determines appropriate, to 12 an alternative methodology for data collection. 13 ‘‘(5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 14 may provide technical assistance to institutions of 15 higher education that are not participating in an ex- 16 periment but have an interest in potentially partici- 17 pating in an experiment. 18 ‘‘(6) FAST-TRACK PROCESS TO COMPLY WITH 19 INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS.—Not- 20 withstanding section 3507 of title 44, United States 21 Code, the Secretary shall be deemed to have the au- 22 thority to approve, for purposes of such section 23 3507, any proposed collection of information related 24 to an experiment conducted under this section, in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1221 IS the same manner and to the same extent as such au- 1 thority is provided to a senior official by the Direc- 2 tor of the Office of Management and Budget under 3 section 3507(i) of such title. 4 ‘‘(d) OUTCOMES REPORTING.— 5 ‘‘(1) DATA SUBMISSION.—Each institution of 6 higher education participating in an experiment 7 under this section shall timely submit to the Sec- 8 retary, on a periodic basis to be determined by the 9 Secretary, data on outcomes relating to the experi- 10 ment. 11 ‘‘(2) REPORT.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 13 ‘‘(i) review the experience of and rig- 14 orously evaluate, according to a method- 15 ology approved by the Institute of Edu- 16 cation Sciences, the activities of all institu- 17 tions participating in each experiment car- 18 ried out under this section; and 19 ‘‘(ii) beginning 2 years after the date 20 of enactment of the Innovation Zone Act, 21 and every 2 years thereafter— 22 ‘‘(I) prepare and submit a report 23 regarding the innovation zone initia- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1221 IS tive under this section to the author- 1 izing committees; and 2 ‘‘(II) post the report on the pub- 3 lic website of the Department. 4 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report 5 required under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I) shall in- 6 clude, for each experiment supported as of the 7 date of the report— 8 ‘‘(i) a summary of the status of the 9 experiment; 10 ‘‘(ii) a summary and analysis of the 11 findings, to date, of the experiment, includ- 12 ing the evaluation described in subsection 13 (c)(2)(C); 14 ‘‘(iii) the methodology of data collec- 15 tion; 16 ‘‘(iv) an analysis of the value of con- 17 tinuation of the experiment; 18 ‘‘(v) an explanation of any current or 19 foreseen barriers to conducting the experi- 20 ment; and 21 ‘‘(vi) an evaluation of the quality of 22 data and intended results. 23 ‘‘(C) COMPLETED EXPERIMENT REPORT.— 24 By not later than 60 days after the completion 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1221 IS of the timeframe established under subsection 1 (c)(2)(D) or (e)(2)(B)(ii) for an experiment, the 2 Secretary shall— 3 ‘‘(i) prepare a report that includes— 4 ‘‘(I) the findings of the experi- 5 ment, including, to the extent prac- 6 ticable, disaggregation of data for his- 7 torically underrepresented students; 8 and 9 ‘‘(II) in the case of an experi- 10 ment for which the Secretary deter- 11 mines there is sufficient value in con- 12 tinuing the experiment past the estab- 13 lished timeframe, adequate docu- 14 mentation to justify such continu- 15 ation; and 16 ‘‘(ii) publish the report on the public 17 website of the Department and submit the 18 report to the authorizing committees. 19 ‘‘(D) COLLECTION OF ADDITIONAL 20 DATA.—The Secretary may collect additional 21 data after the conclusion of an experiment 22 under this section to assess the long-term out- 23 comes of participants. 24 ‘‘(e) TRANSITION; REVIEW.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:43 Apr 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1221.IS S1221 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •S 1221 IS ‘‘(1) CONTINUATION OF EXISTING EXPERI- 1 MENTS.—The Secretary may continue any experi- 2 ment commenced under this section before the date 3 of enactment of the Innovation Zone Act (referred to 4 in this subsection as an ‘existing experiment’). Any 5 such existing experiment shall be subject to the re- 6 quirements of this section, as amended by the Inno- 7 vation Zone Act, except for the requirements of sub- 8 section (c). 9 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF EXISTING EXPERIMENTS.—By 10 not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 11 of the Innovation Zone Act, the Secretary shall— 12 ‘‘(A) conduct an extensive review and as- 13 sessment of exi [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]