II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 733 

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 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. CASSIDY, and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Innovation Zone Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. INNOVATION ZONE INITIATIVE AUTHORITY. 

6 Section 487A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1094a) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 487A. INNOVATION ZONE INITIATIVE. 

9 ‘‘(a) INNOVATION ZONE INITIATIVE.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

2 to establish an innovation zone initiative consisting 

3 of voluntary experiments under which the Secretary 

4 and institutions of higher education are permitted to 

5 test the effectiveness of statutory and regulatory 

6 flexibility that aims to increase student success, 

7 which may be defined as 1 or more of the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) Reduction in student loan debt. 

9 ‘‘(B) Increase in student retention and 

10 program completion at institutions of higher 

11 education, especially for historically underrep12 resented students. 

13 ‘‘(C) Decrease in student time to program 

14 completion. 

15 ‘‘(D) Closing of gaps in enrollment and 

16 completion between historically underrep17 resented students and students who are not his18 torically underrepresented students. 

19 ‘‘(E) Increase in student employment out20 comes upon graduation. 

21 ‘‘(F) Improved financial aid disbursement 

22 and service to students. 

23 ‘‘(G) Increase in student safety, wellness, 

24 or food and housing security. 


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1 ‘‘(H) Other innovative practices that ben2 efit students. 

3 ‘‘(2) REDUCTION OF REGULATORY BURDEN.— 

4 Where appropriate, the Secretary may establish ex5 periments, that, in addition to meeting the require6 ments of paragraph (1), lead to a reduction of regu7 latory burden on institutions of higher education or 

8 the Department, without harm to students. 

9 ‘‘(3) WAIVERS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

11 subparagraph (B), the Secretary is authorized 

12 to waive, for any institution of higher education 

13 participating in an innovation zone experiment 

14 under paragraph (1), one or more requirements 

15 of title I or IV, including regulations promul16 gated under title I or IV. 

17 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary may 

18 not grant a waiver with regard to the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) The definition of an institution of 

20 higher education under section 101 or 102. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Antidiscrimination provisions 

22 under section 111. 

23 ‘‘(iii) Student speech rights provisions 

24 under section 112. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) Campus safety provisions under 

2 section 119 or 120. 

3 ‘‘(v) Preferred lender arrangements 

4 under section 152. 

5 ‘‘(vi) Grant or student loan maxi6 mums under title IV. 

7 ‘‘(vii) The needs analysis under part 

8 F of title IV. 

9 ‘‘(b) SOLICITATION OF EXPERIMENT SUGGES10 TIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) SOLICITATION OF SUGGESTIONS.—Not less 

12 frequently than every 2 years, the Secretary shall 

13 provide an opportunity, through the Department of 

14 Education’s website, for the public, institutions of 

15 higher education, and other stakeholders to submit 

16 suggestions for potential experiments under this sec17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF SUGGESTIONS.—Any person 

19 that wishes to submit a suggestion under paragraph 

20 (1) shall include— 

21 ‘‘(A) the goals or objectives of the pro22 posed experiment, and how statutory or regu23 latory flexibility could allow the institution of 

24 higher education to increase student success, as 

25 required under subsection (a)(1); 


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1 ‘‘(B) a description of how the experiment 

2 would be conducted, including participation pro3 tections or mechanisms in place to ensure that 

4 students participating in the experiment will 

5 not be negatively impacted, such as by facing 

6 additional barriers to completion or losing cred7 it as a result of the experiment; 

8 ‘‘(C) the specific statutory or regulatory 

9 requirements for which a waiver would be re10 quested; 

11 ‘‘(D) an examination of the current need 

12 or interest, as of the date of the submission, for 

13 the experiment; and 

14 ‘‘(E) a description of how the suggested 

15 experiment contributes to building the evidence 

16 base and how evaluation could be used to gen17 erate that evidence. 

18 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF EXPERIMENTS AND DESIGNA19 TION OF PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) SELECTION CONSIDERATIONS.—After con21 sidering any suggestions submitted under subsection 

22 (b), the Secretary may select experiments to be car23 ried out under subsection (a). The Secretary shall 

24 base any such selection on the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Sufficient interest in the experiment 

2 among institutions of higher education, re3 searchers, and practitioners. 

4 ‘‘(B) Research suggesting promise of ful5 filling outcomes described in subsection (a)(1). 

6 ‘‘(C) A clear link between how the desired 

7 statutory and regulatory flexibility could allow 

8 the institution of higher education to increase 

9 student success, as required under subsection 

10 (a)(1). 

11 ‘‘(D) The ability for the Secretary to iden12 tify policy-relevant questions for the experiment 

13 and design an experiment that can credibly an14 swer those questions, and contribute to the evi15 dence base of innovative practices. 

16 ‘‘(E) Other general interest, as supported 

17 by evidence. 

18 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF EVALUATION

19 PLANS.—After selecting an experiment under this 

20 section, but before any participating institutions for 

21 such experiment are chosen, the Secretary, in con22 sultation with the Director of the Institute of Edu23 cation Sciences, shall complete the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Identify policy-relevant questions for 

2 the experiment and design an experiment that 

3 can credibly answer those questions. 

4 ‘‘(B) Identify the methodology of data col5 lection for the experiment, including, to the ex6 tent practicable, a methodology that allows for 

7 disaggregation of data for historically underrep8 resented students. 

9 ‘‘(C) Identify rigorous evaluation methods 

10 for determining the impact of the experiment, 

11 including whether the experiment has differen12 tial impacts for historically underrepresented 

13 students. These methods may include rapid 

14 cycle evaluation and behavioral insights and are 

15 informed by— 

16 ‘‘(i) responses to requests from the 

17 Department for information; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) feedback from external research19 ers and other stakeholders. 

20 ‘‘(D) Establish a timeframe for conducting 

21 the experiment that shall not exceed 4 years 

22 from the award year in which Federal financial 

23 aid is first disbursed to students participating 

24 in the experiment, at which time the Secretary 


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1 may opt to extend the experiment for an addi2 tional 2 years. 

3 ‘‘(E) Estimate the cost of conducting the 

4 experiment, to the extent practicable. 

5 ‘‘(F) Estimate the size of the study sample 

6 (such as the number of participating students 

7 or institutions) needed to determine if the ex8 periment has statistically significant effects. 

9 ‘‘(3) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 

10 Secretary shall notify institutions of higher edu11 cation, through the website of the Department or 

12 other means, of the experiments selected by the Sec13 retary under this section and the steps necessary to 

14 participate in an experiment. Such notice shall in15 clude the information described in subparagraphs 

16 (A) through (F) of paragraph (2) for the experi17 ment. 

18 ‘‘(4) COMMENCEMENT OF EXPERIMENT.—The 

19 Secretary may carry out an experiment, in accord20 ance with the requirements of this section, only if 

21 the Secretary has entered into agreements with not 

22 less than 5, and not more than 100, institutions of 

23 higher education, under which the institutions 

24 agree— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to participate in the experiment de2 scribed in the applicable evaluation plan under 

3 paragraph (2); 

4 ‘‘(B) to comply with the data collection re5 quirements under subsection (d)(1) and any 

6 other reporting requirements determined by the 

7 Secretary; and 

8 ‘‘(C)(i) to the methodology for data collec9 tion established by the Secretary under para10 graph (2)(B) for the experiment; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) upon the request of the institution 

12 and if the Secretary determines appropriate, to 

13 an alternative methodology for data collection. 

14 ‘‘(5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

15 may provide technical assistance to institutions of 

16 higher education that are not participating in an ex17 periment but have an interest in potentially partici18 pating in an experiment. 

19 ‘‘(6) FAST-TRACK PROCESS TO COMPLY WITH

20 INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUIREMENTS.—Not21 withstanding section 3507 of title 44, United States 

22 Code, the Secretary shall be deemed to have the au23 thority to approve, for purposes of such section 

24 3507, any proposed collection of information related 

25 to an experiment conducted under this section, in 


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1 the same manner and to the same extent as such au2 thority is provided to a senior official by the Direc3 tor of the Office of Management and Budget under 

4 section 3507(i) of such title. 

5 ‘‘(d) OUTCOMES REPORTING.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DATA SUBMISSION.—Each institution of 

7 higher education participating in an experiment 

8 under this section shall timely submit to the Sec9 retary, on a periodic basis to be determined by the 

10 Secretary, data on outcomes relating to the experi11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(2) REPORT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) review the experience of and rig15 orously evaluate, according to a method16 ology approved by the Institute of Edu17 cation Sciences, the activities of all institu18 tions participating in each experiment car19 ried out under this section; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) beginning 2 years after the date 

21 of enactment of the Innovation Zone Act, 

22 and every 2 years thereafter— 

23 ‘‘(I) prepare and submit a report 

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1 tive under this section to the author2 izing committees; and 

3 ‘‘(II) post the report on the pub4 lic website of the Department. 

5 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report 

6 required under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I) shall in7 clude, for each experiment supported as of the 

8 date of the report— 

9 ‘‘(i) a summary of the status of the 

10 experiment; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a summary and analysis of the 

12 findings, to date, of the experiment, includ13 ing the evaluation described in subsection 

14 (c)(2)(C); 

15 ‘‘(iii) the methodology of data collec16 tion; 

17 ‘‘(iv) an analysis of the value of con18 tinuation of the experiment; 

19 ‘‘(v) an explanation of any current or 

20 foreseen barriers to conducting the experi21 ment; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) an evaluation of the quality of 

23 data and intended results. 

24 ‘‘(C) COMPLETED EXPERIMENT REPORT.— 

25 By not later than 60 days after the completion 


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1 of the timeframe established under subsection 

2 (c)(2)(D) or (e)(2)(B)(ii) for an experiment, the 

3 Secretary shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) prepare a report that includes— 

5 ‘‘(I) the findings of the experi6 ment, including, to the extent prac7 ticable, disaggregation of data for his8 torically underrepresented students; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) in the case of an experi11 ment for which the Secretary deter12 mines there is sufficient value in con13 tinuing the experiment past the estab14 lished timeframe, adequate docu15 mentation to justify such continu16 ation; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) publish the report on the public 

18 website of the Department and submit the 

19 report to the authorizing committees. 

20 ‘‘(D) COLLECTION OF ADDITIONAL

21 DATA.—The Secretary may collect additional 

22 data after the conclusion of an experiment 

23 under this section to assess the long-term out24 comes of participants. 

25 ‘‘(e) TRANSITION; REVIEW.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) CONTINUATION OF EXISTING EXPERI2 MENTS.—The Secretary may continue any experi3 ment commenced under this section before the date 

4 of enactment of the Innovation Zone Act (referred to 

5 in this subsection as an ‘existing experiment’). Any 

6 such existing experiment shall be subject to the re7 quirements of this section, as amended by the Inno8 vation Zone Act, except for the requirements of sub9 section (c). 

10 ‘‘(2) REVIEW OF EXISTING EXPERIMENTS.—By 

11 not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

12 of the Innovation Zone Act, the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) conduct an extensive review and as14 sessment of existing experiments still in effect; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) prepare and submit to the author17 izing committees, and publish on the public 

18 website of the Department, a report of the sta19 tus of the existing experiments, which shall in20 clude, for each such experiment— 

21 ‘‘(i) the total cost to date and the pro22 jected cost of continuation, to the extent 

23 practicable; 

24 ‘‘(ii) an established timeframe for 

25 completion; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the current methodology of data 

2 collection; 

3 ‘‘(iv) an analysis of findings, as of the 

4 date of the report; 

5 ‘‘(v) an analysis of the value in con6 tinuation of the existing experiment; and 

7 ‘‘(vi) an analysis of whether the as8 sessment of the experiment could be re9 structured to answer other policy ques10 tions. 

11 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION OF HISTORICALLY UNDERREP12 RESENTED STUDENT.—In this section, the term ‘histori13 cally underrepresented student’— 

14 ‘‘(1) means a student, or prospective student, at 

15 an institution of higher education who is at risk of 

16 educational failure or otherwise in need of special 

17 assistance and support; and 

18 ‘‘(2) may include an adult learner, working stu19 dent, part-time student, student from a low-income 

20 background, student of color, Native youth, single 

21 parent (including a single pregnant woman), student 

22 who is a homeless child or youth (as defined in sec23 tion 725 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist24 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a)), youth who is in, or 

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1 tion college student (as defined in section 402A(h)), 

2 and student with a disability.’’. 

Æ 


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