**OMB Approval No.: 1840-0830**

**Expiration Date:  11/30/2026**

# 

**Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) Program**

**Instructions for Completing the Annual Performance Report**

**for Program Year 2022-2023**

# 1. WHAT IS THIS PACKAGE?

This package contains the instructions needed to prepare the annual performance report for the Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) program.  The Department of Education uses the information provided in the performance report to assess a grantee’s progress in meeting its approved goals and objectives and to determine a grantee’s points in accordance with the program regulations (34 CFR 644.22 – Educational Opportunity Centers).  The Department also aggregates grantees' data to report on each program as a whole; in particular, to respond to the Government Performance and Results Act.

# 2. WHAT ARE THE LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY AUTHORITIES TO COLLECT THIS INFORMATION?

· The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, Subpart 2, Chapter 1, Section 402A and 402F;

· Program regulations in 34 CFR Part 644; and 

· Sections 75.591 and 75.720 of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR)

# 3. WHO MUST FILE THIS REPORT?

All grantees funded under the EOC program must submit annual performance reports as a condition of their grant award.

# 4. WHAT PERIOD OF TIME IS COVERED IN THE REPORT?

The report covers the 12-month budget period.  This information can be found in Block 6 of your Grant Award Notification.

# 5. WHAT INFORMATION MUST BE SUBMITTED?

The report consists of four sections.  Section I requests basic identifying information about the project, while Section II covers demographic information and target schools.  Sections III and IV reflect the standard objectives found on the Program Profile page of the 2021 application package for EOC.  Section III requests the educational status of different groups of participants at the time of first service in the reporting period; these groups allow grantees to report on sets of participants specified in the objectives.  Section IV asks grantees to report on the educational status of participants at the end of the reporting period and to show the extent to which the project succeeded in meeting its objectives.

# 6. WHEN SHOULD THE REPORT BE FILED?

The annual performance report should be submitted electronically via the Web within 90 days after the end of each 12-month budget period.

# 7. HOW MAY THE REPORT BE SUBMITTED?

The entire report should be submitted online through the TRIO APR reporting system. After the APR has been successfully submitted, the signatures of the project director and the certifying official for the grantee institution/agency must be obtained on Section I of the printed APR, indicating that the information submitted electronically is accurate, complete, and readily verifiable. Once the form has been signed, it should be scanned so that it can be uploaded using the functionality on the APR site.  **The upload must be completed within five business days of final submission of your online APR**. If a grantee is unable to upload Section I, please contact the Help Desk for assistance directly at: **(703) 885-8008**or via email, at: Trio@Helpdesk.thetactilegroup.com .

The web application and instructions for completing and submitting the report online will be available as of January 24, 2024 at the following web address: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/trioupbound/report.html.  

The Web site contains the forms and instructions needed to prepare and submit online the annual performance report for the EOC program.  The Web application that EOC grantees will use to submit the annual performance report has the following features: 

· Instructions for using the Web site, an introduction to the data collection, and Online Help;

· A Web form for completing all sections online;  

· Edit checks to help increase accuracy in reporting;

· A print button to make a hard copy of the information entered;

· A submit button to send the entire report to the Department of Education; 

· An e-mail confirmation that the report has been submitted; and 

· An upload button to upload a signed copy of Section I only. Do not upload the entire report.

**8.  	WHO MAY BE CONTACTED FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE SUBMISSION OF THE PERFORMANCE REPORT?**

Please contact your program specialist directly if you have questions regarding the performance report requirements or if you need to revise the performance report submission.  A state listing of program specialists’ names, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses is available at the Upward Bound and Educational Opportunity Centers Staff Directory web page.

	If you have technical problems accessing the website or using the web application, please contact the TRIO APR Help Desk via phone, at: (703) 885-8008, or via email, at: TRIO@helpdesk.thetactilegroup.com. 

## Specific Instructions for Completing the Performance Report

### Section I:  Project Identification, Certification, and Warning

#### A. Identification

**Getting Started:** To begin completing this report online, go to the EOC Annual Performance Report page (http://www2.ed.gov/programs/trioeoc/report.html), click on https://trio.ed.gov, a website hosted by our contractor to support submittal of annual performance reports.  

Next, please follow these steps:

· New Federal security requirements have changed how project staff will be able to access Federal IT systems, including the EOC Annual Performance Report (APR) Data Collection System. As the project director for your EOC project, the Federal Government requires you have an account with Login.gov, to access the TRIO APR Web Portal reporting system. Therefore, to use the TRIO APR Web Portal, you will need (1) an account in the reporting system related to your grant program (i.e., your email as stored in G5/G6), and (2) a username and password that you will create and maintain at Login.gov using the same email address linked to your G5/G6 account.

· If you are not the project director on file, you will need to submit a Change Project Director Request form by first creating a Login.gov account, if applicable, and then entering your email address and the password you established when you setup your Login.gov credentials. You will also be required to enter a one-time passcode using the multi-factor authentication method you selected when you setup your Login.gov account (e.g., authenticator application, text, or voice message, etc.).  

· Verification will occur within two business days once your Program Specialist confirms this change in project director and email address. Once the Help Desk has received verification from the Program Specialist, you will be notified to continue with the registration process.

· For additional information on whether you need to create a Login.gov account and/or link your G5/G6 email address to Login.gov, as well as how to access the TRIO APR Web Portal, please refer to either the Quick or Detailed guides for Login.gov and the TRIO Web Portal which are located at: http://www2.ed.gov/programs/trioeoc/report.html.

· Whenever you need to access the TRIO APR Web Portal reporting system, you must always start at the TRIO APR Web Portal (i.e., https://trio.ed.gov); you should never go directly to the Login.gov site to access the TRIO APR Web Portal reporting system.

· Your PR award number will be automatically pre-populated. The system will also pre-populate most of the other data fields in Part 1. Please review the pre-populated fields, including the project director’s email address, and update these fields as needed. You may change the data in all fields except for the project’s PR award number, the grantee name, and the report period. Please provide information for any fields that are not pre-populated.

	In line 7, provide the name, telephone number, and electronic mailing address for the data entry person who has completed the online form.

#### A. Certification

The project director is the person responsible for administering the project in accordance with the terms and conditions of the grant.

The certifying official is the individual (or successor or designee) who signed the grant application on behalf of the institution or agency.

#### B. Warnings

Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or misrepresentation on this report is subject to penalties which may include fines, imprisonment, or both, under the United States Criminal Code and 20 U.S.C. 1097.  Further Federal funds or other benefits may be withheld under these programs unless this report is completed and filed as required by existing law (20 U.S.C. 1231a) and regulations (34 CFR 75.590 and 75.720).

### Section II:  Demographic Profile of Project Participants, Target Schools, Invitational Priorities 

#### Number of Participants Funded to Serve

The Department will pre-populate this field with the number of participants the grant was funded to serve each year, based on information provided in the project's approved application. Grantees will not be able to make changes to this number on the form.  If the pre-populated number reflects a data entry error, the project must contact its assigned program specialist to resolve the problem. 

**A.**Number of Participants Assisted

	In completing this section of the report, please keep in mind the following definitions of a project participant provided in the program regulations in 34 CFR 644.7.

	An EOC participant means an individual who: (1) is determined to be eligible to participate in the project under section 644.3; and (2) receives project services.

Only those individuals who meet the definition of a participant should be counted in this section of the report. Participants need not have been enrolled in the program at the beginning of the reporting period to be counted. Report only on participants served in 2022-23; do not provide information on participants last served in 2021-22 or any earlier year.

	Please provide the number of new participants served in A1 and continuing participants in A2.  A new participant is one served by the project for the first time during this reporting period.  A continuing participant is one who was served by the project for the first time in another reporting period (this includes a budget period under a previous grant) and who received project services during this reporting period.

A3 should be the total of A1 and A2, if applicable, and should be the number of participants served by the project during the reporting period.

**B.**Participant Distribution by Eligibility

	The regulations governing the EOC program (see 34 CFR 644.11(a)) require that at least two-thirds of the individuals a project serves must be low-income individuals who are potential first-generation college students (these terms are defined below). The remaining participants can be low-income individuals, potential first-generation college students, or any individuals in need of services who meet the other participant eligibility criteria in 34 CFR 644.3. Students may be counted only once in this breakout.  The total reported must agree with the number in Section II A3 above.

Low-income individual means an individual whose family’s taxable income did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount in the calendar year preceding the year in which the individual initially participated in the project.  The poverty level amount is determined using criteria of poverty established by the Bureau of the Census of the U.S. Department of 

Commerce. The 2023 low-income levels can be found on the TRIO Web site at:

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/incomelevels.html.

Potential first-generation college student means:  (1) an individual neither of whose natural or adoptive parents received a baccalaureate degree; or (2) an individual who, prior to the age of 18, regularly resided with and received support from only one parent and whose supporting parent did not receive a baccalaureate degree; or (3) an individual who, prior to the age of 18, did not regularly reside with or receive support from a natural or adoptive parent.

In the Other category (B4), count those project participants who are neither low-income nor potential first-generation college students.  The total (B5) should agree with the number in A3.

**C.**Participant Distribution by Race and Ethnicity

On October 19, 2007, ED released revised, Department-wide guidance on collecting and reporting data on race and ethnicity:

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2007-10-19/pdf/E7-20613.pdf

All grantees of the Department were required to implement the revised guidance as of fall 2010 for the 2010–11 school year and thereafter. 

While the 2007 guidance is largely consistent with the reporting categories for race and ethnicity that EOC grantees have used in earlier years in APR reporting, the guidance specifies data collection, reporting, and maintenance procedures that grantees may or may not have followed in the past, but that now are required for full implementation.  These procedures, designed to ensure data quality, include these points:

· Grantees need to collect racial and ethnic data on all participants using a two-part question:  first, the grantee asks the participant whether the participant is Hispanic/Latino; second, the grantee asks the respondent to select one or more races from the five racial groups listed.  (Instead of asking the respondent, grantees may use school records to determine a participant's race and ethnicity, but only if the school has implemented the Department's 2007 guidance.)

· If the respondent identifies the participant as Hispanic/Latino, that is the one category the grantee should use in reporting to the Department on that participant, regardless of other racial information the respondent may provide.  Grantees must, however, keep in their files the original responses on race and ethnicity of *all* participants using the two-part question.

· If a respondent belongs in more than one racial group, the grantee should report the respondent as belonging to two or more races.

· “Unknown” should not appear on forms grantees use to collect data, though grantees may report a participant’s race/ethnicity as “Unknown” if necessary.

· The guidance encourages grantees to have respondents themselves identify the category to which they belong, rather than for the grantee to use observation to select a category.

The points above are highlights only; grantees are responsible for implementing *all* relevant aspects of the guidance.

In Section II C, grantees are to report aggregated data on participants' race and ethnicity.  As noted above, all students identified as Hispanic or Latino should be included *only*in the count for C2.  Non-Hispanic/Latino participants identified as of one race should be shown in lines C1, C3, C4, C5, or C6.  Non-Hispanic/Latino participants identified as of two or more races should be counted in C7.  Participants for whom race and ethnicity is unknown should be included in the count for C8.  The total, C9, should equal the number in Section II, A3.  As indicated above, the original responses from Hispanic/Latino students or their parents (and indeed all participants) provided on their race and ethnicity should be retained in grantees' files.

#### Definitions of the ethnic and racial categories

**Hispanic or Latino**- A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.

**American Indian or Alaska Native**- A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment.

**Asian**- A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. This area includes, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.

**Black or African American**- A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.

**White**- A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.

**Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander**- A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii or other Pacific islands such as Samoa and Guam.

**Two or more races**- A person of a multi-racial background.

**D.**Participant Distribution by Gender

	Though these data are not mandatory, they are helpful to the Department in reporting on the gender representation of project participants. The total should agree with the number in A3.

**E.**Participant Distribution by Age

	The data requested here represent age ranges most consistent with age groups targeted for services by the Talent Search (TS) and EOC program statute and regulations. Given the permissible exceptions provided by statute which permit EOC projects to serve individuals younger than 19 years of age if the individuals cannot be appropriately served by a TS project (see 34 CFR 644.3(2)), the requested information aids the Department in validating the numbers of youths and adults served by each EOC project. The total should agree with the number in A3.  The data reported here should reflect the age of project participants **at the time of first service in the reporting period.**Item E1 has been changed to include participants who meet the eligibility requirements for TS but who are younger than 11 years old.

**F.**Participants with Limited English Proficiency

EOC projects *may* adapt project services to meet the needs of students with limited English proficiency (see 34 CFR 644.4(k)).  If applicable for your project, please provide the number of project participants with limited English proficiency.

Limited English proficiency, with reference to an individual, means a person whose native language is other than English and who has sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language to deny that individual the opportunity to learn successfully in classrooms in which English is the language of instruction.

**G.**EOC participants also served during reporting year by another federally funded program (see 34 CFR 644.32(c)(4))

Please provide the number of participants in your EOC project that also received services during the project year from another federal TRIO program (e.g., Veterans Upward Bound) or another federally funded program or programs that provide the same or similar services as those provided by the EOC project.  For example, it is conceivable that an EOC project works in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by referring participants to the VA’s General Education Development/General Education Diploma (GED) program.  The GED program would represent a service the participant received from another federal program.  Please provide an unduplicated count of participants in each applicable category.  You do not need to collect or report information on other federal programs in the target area for which EOC participants may receive assistance if the services they receive are not similar to those provided by the EOC project.

**H.**Target Schools (if applicable)

Those EOC projects that serve target schools must provide for each target school the school’s identification number in the Common Core of Data (CCD) of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the name of the school, and its city, state, and zip code.  The CCD contains valuable information on individual American schools, such as race and ethnicity and number of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals.  A Web link will appear on the Web application to assist you in finding the NCES school identification number for each of your target schools. 

The online version of the form will be pre-populated for schools listed in your previous year's APR.  Please be sure to check all data for accuracy, including the NCES ID numbers.  Delete any schools that you no longer serve and add any new schools.  In addition, provide the number of students served at each target school.

Projects should discuss any changes in target schools with their program/grants specialist before submitting the APR.  Projects may not add or drop target schools without written approval from the program/grants specialist.  The APR is not a vehicle for obtaining approval of changes in your target schools.  If a project is phasing out a school (i.e., continuing to serve students in a school previously served by the EOC project but not adding new students), the project should include the school in the list as they would any others; the list in Section II should include all approved schools that the project served in 2022-23. If a project did not provide services to students in a school in 2022-23, that school should be dropped from the list.

**I. Competitive Preference**Priorities (if applicable)

The FY 2021 EOC grant competition encouraged applicants to address one or more of the competitive preference priorities listed below.  If your project addressed one or more of these priorities, please provide the information requested.  Please note that the Department has pre-populated the check-box to indicate that the competitive preference priority (CPP) question is applicable if our records show that your project earned CPP points for the criteria during the grant award competition.

1. In the most recent EOC grant competition, applications that received points for Competitive Preference Priority #1 described projects that addressed service the academic needs of military- or veteran-connected students.

Please provide the number of veterans, active duty military, spouses of active duty military, and children of active duty military served by the EOC project during the 2022-23 performance period. [Text Boxes]

**Notes:**

Military connected students means a veteran or an individual who has a parent or guardian on active duty in the uniformed services (as defined by 37 U.S.C. 101, in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, National Guard, or the reserve component of any of the aforementioned services) or is a member of the uniformed services who is on active duty, or who is the spouse of an active-duty service member.

****A veteran may be served regardless of age.  Veteran means a person who (1) served on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States for a period of more than 180 days and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable; or (2) served on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States and was discharged or released because of a service connected disability; or (3) was a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States who served on active duty in support of a contingency operation (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code) on or after September 11, 2001.

2. In the most recent EOC grant competition, applications that received points for Competitive Preference Priority #2 described activities that fostered flexible and affordable paths to obtaining knowledge and skills.

	Please explain, during the 2022-23 performance period, how your grant implemented programming designed to create or expand opportunities for individuals to obtain recognized postsecondary credentials through the demonstration of prior knowledge and skills, such as competency-based learning. In your response, indicate the number and types of participants served by this programming, as well as any benefits achieved. [Text Box]

3. In the most recent EOC grant competition, grantees submitted a logic model informed by research or evaluation findings that suggest how the key project component(s) is/are likely to improve relevant outcomes.

**Implementation**: Please describe how your project has implemented the activities outlined in the logic model submitted in your grant application. Your response should include (for the 2022-23 performance period):

· the plan used for implementation, including current stage;

· the number of participants served through the intervention;

· the activities connected to the research or evaluation findings cited in your grant application;

· the inputs, outputs, results, and/or outcomes to date. [Text Box]

#### Definitions that Apply to Sections III and IV

Please note the definitions of the following terms that are used frequently in the remainder of the document.

Secondary school diploma:  A level attained by individuals who meet or exceed the coursework and performance standards for high school completion established by the individual’s state.

Alternative education program:  A high school equivalency program (e.g., GED) or other alternative education program.

Equivalent of a secondary school diploma:  A General Education Development/General Education Diploma (GED) program of study that meets or exceeds the coursework and performance standards for adult learners who have not obtained a high school diploma or high school certificate or diploma issued by a state or high school.

Secondary school graduate:  Recipients of a secondary school diploma or other equivalent degree or certificate, including GEDs.

Institution of higher education:  An educational institution as defined in sections 101 and 102 of the Higher Education Act.

Postsecondary education dropout:  Participants who left a postsecondary education program between the beginning of one school year and the beginning of the next school year without earning a postsecondary degree.

Program of postsecondary education:   A formal instructional program whose curriculum is designed primarily for students who are beyond the compulsory age for high school.  This includes programs whose purpose is academic or career and technical, and excludes secondary career and technical education and adult basic education.

Enrolled in postsecondary education:  A participant who has completed the registration requirements (except for the payment of tuition and fees) at the institution that he or she is attending.

Acceptance but deferred enrollment:  A participant who has received an acceptance letter from the institution that he or she will attend, but cannot enroll in the fall semester immediately following participation in the EOC program for reasons determined by the institution.  The institution, not the participant, defers enrollment until the next term.

### Section III: Educational Status of Participants (at time of first service in reporting year)

Section III requests data on the educational status of participants *at time of first service in the reporting period*.  For example, if a participant was a secondary school dropout when first served in October 2022, he or she should be counted in Section III as such, even if the participant reenrolled over the course of the reporting period.**To ensure accurate assessment of the standard objectives, it is critical that the educational status of participants at the time of first service (Section III) be correctly reported. Grantees must provide complete data for the reporting year and the use of “Unknown” should be minimal.**

#### A.  Educational Status of Project Participants Aged 19 or Older

A1.  Adult without a secondary school credential, enrolled as a high school senior or in an alternative education program at a level equivalent to a senior -- Report the number of participants 19 years or older enrolled as a high school senior or in an alternative education program that is organized by grade who are at an academic level equivalent to that of a high school senior at the time of first service in the reporting period. 

Note:  For a student enrolled in an alternative education program that is not organized by grade, the project, in determining if the student is at a grade level equivalent to a high school senior at the time of first service, should consider the grade at which the student left high school and other evidence of his or her academic achievement as well as the level of the participant’s coursework in the alternative education program--is it comparable to senior level work? 

A2.  Adult without a secondary school credential who belongs neither in A1 nor A5 -- Report the number of participants 19 years or older who do not have a high school diploma or equivalency credential and who are not at the level of a high school senior.  These could include high school non-seniors, alternative education students not at the level of a senior, and participants who are neither in high school nor an alternative program.

A3.  High school graduate or high school equivalency graduate not already enrolled in postsecondary education -- Report in this category the number of participants, regardless of age, who, at the time of first service in the reporting period, had already obtained a high school diploma or high school equivalency credential, but who had not enrolled in a program of postsecondary education.

A4.  Postsecondary dropout with a secondary school diploma or credential -- Report in this category the number of participants, regardless of age, who, at the time of first service in the reporting period, had a secondary school diploma or credential and had dropped out of postsecondary education.

A5.  Postsecondary dropout without a secondary school diploma or credential -- Report in this category the number of postsecondary dropouts, regardless of age, who, at the time of first service in the reporting period, did not have a secondary school diploma.

A6.  Potential postsecondary transfer -- Report here the number of participants who had already obtained a certificate or two-year degree but who, at the time of first service in the reporting period, demonstrated an interest in further postsecondary study (e.g., second associate degree, transfer from two-year to four-year degree program).

A7.  Postsecondary student -- Report in this category the number of participants, regardless of age, enrolled in programs of postsecondary education at the time of first service in the reporting period.

A8.  Other participant 19 years or older -- Report here participants that do not belong in categories A1-A7 in this subsection.  Please note that if you report one or more participants in this category the system will prompt you to provide a brief explanation that helps the Department to better understand who these participants are.

A9.  Unknown -- Report here the number of participants whose educational status at time of first service is either unknown or unconfirmed.  Please note that if you report one or more participants in this category the system will prompt you to provide a brief explanation that helps the Department to better understand who these participants are.

A10.  Total -- Sum of Section III, A1 through A9.

#### B.  Educational Status of Secondary School-Age Students

B1.  High school non-senior -- Report the number of participants in grades nine, ten, and eleven at the time of first service in the reporting period.  Include twelfth graders in line B2.

Note:  Some school districts include ninth grade as part of junior high school.  For consistent national data collection and reporting, however, please use the definitions provided above.

B2.  High school senior or in an alternative education program (12th grade only) -- Report the number of participants who were high school seniors at the time of first service in the reporting period.  Include individuals enrolled in alternative education programs that are organized by grade who are at an academic level of a high school senior at the time of first service.

B3.  Secondary school dropout (not older than 18 years) -- Report participants who were secondary school dropouts at the time of first service in the reporting year and had not reentered high school or enrolled in an alternative education program.

B4.  Other participants not older than 18 years -- Report here participants who do not belong in any of the first three categories in this subsection.  For example, in this category report participants not older than 18 years who are enrolled in an alternative education program at an academic level *below*that of a high school senior and participants enrolled in middle school.  Please note that if you report one or more participants in this category the system will prompt you to provide a brief explanation that helps the Department to better understand who these participants are.

B5.  Total -- Sum of Section III, B1 through B4

Note:  The sum of Section III, A10 and B5 should equal Section II, A3.

### Section IV:   Educational Status of Participants (at end of the reporting period or for the following fall) and Postsecondary Placements by Type and Control of the Postsecondary Institutions

### 

This section of the annual report is your opportunity to report on your project’s progress in meeting its approved objectives (Parts A, B, C, and D).  In addition, Part E of this section collects information on the postsecondary placements of participants by type and control of the postsecondary institutions.  The APR Web application will list each of the standard objectives and will be pre-populated with the approved targets (percentages) for your project derived from the Program Profile sheet submitted with your approved FY 2021 grant application or subsequently amended.  Should you discover a data entry error in these percentages, please contact your program/grants specialist.

**Note that each objective refers to a certain group of participants that forms the denominator for the percentage of students who met the objective**.  For the second objective (financial aid application), for example, the denominator is participants who at the time of first service in the reporting period were high school seniors or equivalent in alternative education programs, high school graduates, recipients of high school equivalency credentials, postsecondary dropouts, or potential postsecondary transfers.  **Consider only the students included in the denominator in entering values for each objective in Section IV.**   Note that some individuals counted in Section III are not included in any of the new standard objectives (for example, III, A7, postsecondary students).  Section IV does not request information on these participants.

Please enter a positive numeric value in each field; for those not applicable to your project, enter zero (0).  If more than one response is possible for a given participant, choose the most recent status. 

**To ensure accurate assessment of the standard objectives, it is critical that the educational status of participants at the end of the reporting year (Section IV) be correctly reported.  Grantees must provide complete data for the reporting year and the use of “Unknown” should be minimal.**

#### A. Objective:  Secondary School Diploma

___% of participants served during the project year that did not have a secondary school diploma or its equivalent at time of first service in the project year will receive a secondary school diploma or its equivalent during the project year.

*Note*:  For a definition of alternative education programs for purposes of the APR, please see section titled “Definitions that apply to sections III and IV.”

*For this objective, the denominator is the participants reported in Section III, A1, A2, A5, B1, B2, B3, and B4 (minus deceased).*

A1.  Received secondary school diploma or its equivalent -- Report the number of participants who at the time of first service during the project year lacked a secondary school diploma or equivalency credential who received a secondary school credential during the reporting period. 

A2. Enrolled in an alternative education program but did not complete -- Report the number of participants who at the time of first service in the reporting year did not have a secondary school diploma (or equivalent) who enrolled in an alternative education program during the reporting year but did not complete the program.

A3.  Enrolled in high school but did not complete -- Report the number of participants who at the time of first service in the reporting year did not have a secondary school diploma (or equivalent) who enrolled in high school during the reporting year but did not receive a diploma.

A4. Not enrolled in high school or an alternative education program -- Report the number of participants who at the beginning of the reporting period lacked a secondary school diploma and did not enroll in high school or an alternative education program.

A5.  Deceased -- Report on the number of participants served during the reporting year who did not have a secondary school credential at the time of first service in the reporting period who died during the reporting year.

A6.  Unknown -- Report the number of participants who at the time of first service in the reporting year lacked a high school diploma or equivalency credentials and whose educational status at the end of the reporting year is either unknown or unconfirmed.

A7.  Total -- The total should equal the sum of Section III, A1, A2, A5, B1, B2, B3, and B4. 

#### B.  Objective:  Financial Aid Applications

___% of participants served during the project year who at time of first service in the project year were not already enrolled in a postsecondary education program and who:  (1) were high school seniors or equivalents in alternative education programs; (2) were high school graduates; or (3) had obtained a high school equivalency certificate will apply for financial aid during the project year. 

*For this objective, the denominator is the participants reported in Section III, A1, A3, A4, A6, and B2.*

The numerator for Objective B is the number of participants who actually applied for student financial aid during the reporting period (Section IV, B1).  Receiving services related to financial aid from the project is insufficient grounds for counting a participant in Section IV, B1; the individual must have actually applied for the aid.  Applications for financial aid include scholarship applications, student loan applications, U.S. Department of Education federal student financial aid forms, and state applications for financial aid.

B1.  Completed a financial aid application -- Report the number of participants under consideration who actually applied for student financial aid during the reporting period.

B2.  Did not complete a financial aid application -- Report the number of students under consideration who did not complete a student financial aid application during the reporting period.

B3.  Unknown -- Report the number of participants under consideration whose financial aid application status at the end of the reporting period is either unknown or unconfirmed.

B4.  Total -- Total should equal the sum for Section III, A1, A3, A4, A6, and B2.

#### C.  **Objective:  Postsecondary Education Admissions**

___% of participants served during the project year who at time of first service in the project year were not already enrolled in a postsecondary education program and who:  (1) were high school seniors or equivalents in alternative education programs; (2) were high school graduates; or (3) had obtained a high school equivalency certificate will apply for postsecondary admission during the project year.

*For this objective, the denominator is the participants reported in Section III, A1, A3, A4, A6 and B2.*

The numerator for Objective C is the number of participants who, during the reporting year, actually applied for admission to postsecondary education (Section IV, C1).  Do not include applications to programs in which students take postsecondary courses while still in high school.  Receiving assistance from the project in applying for admission is insufficient grounds for including a participant in Section IV, C1; the individual must have actually applied for admission to a postsecondary school.

C1.  Applied for admission to a postsecondary education program -- Report the number of participants under consideration who applied for admission during the reporting period.

C2.  Did not apply for admission to a postsecondary education program -- Report the number of students under consideration who did not apply for postsecondary admission during the reporting period. 

C3.  Unknown -- Report here the number of participants under consideration whose educational admission status at the end of the budget period is either unknown or unconfirmed.

C4.  Total -- Total should equal the sum of Section III, A1, A3, A4, A6, and B2.

#### D.  **Objective:  Postsecondary Education Enrollment**

___% of participants who graduate from secondary school and are not already enrolled in a postsecondary education program will enroll in a postsecondary education program immediately following participation in an EOC program or will have received notification, by the fall semester, of acceptance but deferred enrollment until the next academic semester (e.g. spring semester).

When completing the APR for the 2021-22 reporting year, the online Web application required every project to indicate, by selecting one of the two options discussed below, which interpretation of the objective was followed when the project established its postsecondary enrollment objective in its FY 2021 application.  This will help guide the Department to accurately calculate each project’s points for this objective. Projects will **NOT** be allowed to change their selection within the same grant cycle to maintain consistency in calculation of points.  The option selected for the 2021-22 APR cannot be changed for the remainder of the grant cycle.

Please note that the online version of the form will be pre-populated with the option selected in the 2021-22 APR for the postsecondary education enrollment objective.  A description of each option follows: 

Option 1: 

· The **denominator** for this objective would include participants that received a secondary school diploma or its equivalent during the reporting year (Section IV, A1).

· The **numerator** for this option 1 is the number of participants served who received a secondary school diploma or equivalent during the reporting year and enrolled in a postsecondary education program (Section IV, D1).

**or**

Option 2: 

· The **denominator** for this objective would include participants that received a secondary school diploma or its equivalent during the reporting year (Section IV A1) and those participants who had a secondary school diploma or credential at the time of first service (Section III, A3, A4, and A6 minus deceased reported in Section IV, D4) during the reporting year.

· The **numerator**for this option 2 is the number of participants served who received a secondary school diploma or equivalent during the reporting year and enrolled in a postsecondary education program (Section IV, D1) **and** the number of participants who already had a secondary school diploma or credential at the time of first service and enrolled in a postsecondary education program (Section IV, D2).

Note:  Because Section IV, A5 identified deceased participants, IV, A1 did not include such students; the calculation for Option 1 will therefore not involve subtracting deceased participants from the denominator.  On the other hand, Section IIIA *did not* identify deceased students; therefore, in the calculation for Option 2, deceased students in IV, D4 will be subtracted from the denominator.

D1.  Received a secondary school diploma or equivalent during the reporting year and enrolled in a postsecondary education program -- Report the number of participants who received a secondary school diploma or its equivalent during the reporting year (Section IV, A1) who also enrolled in a postsecondary education program.  Report the number of participants under consideration who enrolled in postsecondary education either for the first time during the reporting period or the subsequent fall term (e.g., 2022) or the following spring term (e.g., 2023) if the institution deferred enrollment.  If the project is aware that a participant enrolled and then withdrew, the participant should still be counted as enrolled.  Taking postsecondary courses while still in high school, or prior to receiving a secondary school diploma or equivalent, does not constitute enrollment in a program of postsecondary education. 

D2.  Had a secondary school diploma or credential at the time of first service in the reporting year and enrolled in a postsecondary education program -- Report the number of participants who already had a secondary school diploma or credentials prior to first time of service (Section III, A3, A4, and A6) and enrolled in a postsecondary education program.  Report the number of participants under consideration who enrolled in postsecondary education either for the first time or as reentry students during the reporting period or the subsequent fall term (e.g., 2022) or the following spring term (e.g., 2023) if the institution deferred enrollment.  If the project is aware that a participant enrolled and then withdrew, the participant should still be counted as enrolled.  Taking postsecondary courses while still in high school, or prior to receiving a secondary school diploma or equivalent, does not constitute enrollment in a program of postsecondary education.

D3.  Did not enroll in a postsecondary education program -- Report the number of students under consideration who did not enroll in postsecondary education during the reporting period, the fall 2022 term, or the spring 2023 term if the institution deferred enrollment.

D4.  Deceased -- Report on the number of participants served during the reporting year who had a secondary school credential at the time of first service in the reporting period (Section III, A3, A4, and A6), but who died during the reporting year or before the fall 2022 term.

D5.  Unknown -- Report here the number of participants under consideration whose educational status at the end of the reporting period is either unknown or unconfirmed.

D6.  Total -- The total should equal the sum of Section IV, A1 and Section III, A3, A4, and A6. 

**E.**Postsecondary Placements (Types of Institutions)

For participants enrolled in a program of postsecondary education, as reported in Section IV, D1 and D2 above, indicate the number of participants by type of postsecondary institution attending.  The total (E8) should equal the sum of numbers in Section IV, D1 and D2.

For definitions of the types of postsecondary institutions, please see language concerning Title IV programs in sections 101 and 102 of Title I of the Higher Education Act of 2008 (HEOA) (P.L. 110-315) (https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html). 

In addition, for a definition of a proprietary school, use the definition of a private for-profit institution used by the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

*Private for-profit institution: A private*institution in which the individual(s) or agency in control receives compensation other than wages, rent, or other expenses for the assumption of risk. 

**Note**:  Programs of postsecondary education include vocational and technical degree programs, associate degree programs, and bachelor’s degree programs.

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