Title: Innovation Zone Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Innovation Zone Act
This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to replace the Experimental Sites Initiative of the Department of Education (ED) with an innovation zone initiative consisting of voluntary experiments by participating institutions of higher education. Under the experiments, ED and the institutions may test the effectiveness of statutory and regulatory flexibility that aims for: (1) an increase in student success (e.g., reductions in student loan debt and increases in student retention and job placement rates); and (2) a reduction of regulations on institutions or ED, without harm to students.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2342 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2342

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

                            January 25, 2018

   Mr. Young 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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Innovation Zone Act''.

SEC. 2. INNOVATION ZONE INITIATIVE AUTHORITY.

    Section 487A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094a) 
is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 487A. INNOVATION ZONE INITIATIVE.

    ``(a) Innovation Zone Initiative.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary is authorized to establish 
        an innovation zone initiative consisting of voluntary 
        experiments under which the Secretary and institutions of 
        higher education are permitted to test the effectiveness of 
        statutory and regulatory flexibility that aims to achieve the 
        following outcomes:
                    ``(A) Increase in student success, which may be 
                defined as one or more of the following:
                            ``(i) Reduction in student loan debt.
                            ``(ii) Increase in student retention and 
                        program completion at institutions of higher 
                        education.
                            ``(iii) Increase in student job placement 
                        rate upon graduation.
                            ``(iv) Improved financial aid disbursement 
                        and service to students.
                            ``(v) Increase in student safety, wellness, 
                        or food and housing security.
                            ``(vi) Other innovative practices that 
                        benefit students.
                    ``(B) Reduction of regulatory burden on 
                institutions of higher education or the Department, 
                without harm to students.
            ``(2) Waivers.--The Secretary is authorized to waive, for 
        any institution of higher education participating in an 
        innovation zone experiment under paragraph (1), one or more 
        requirements of title I or IV.
    ``(b) Solicitation of Experiment Suggestions.--
            ``(1) Solicitation of suggestions.--Not less frequently 
        than every 2 years, the Secretary shall provide an opportunity 
        for the public, institutions of higher education, and other 
        stakeholders to submit suggestions for potential experiments 
        under this section.
            ``(2) Contents of suggestions.--Any person that wishes to 
        submit a suggestion under paragraph (1) shall include--
                    ``(A) the goals or objectives of the proposed 
                experiment;
                    ``(B) a description of how the experiment would be 
                conducted, including participation protections;
                    ``(C) the specific statutory or regulatory 
                requirements for which a waiver would be requested; and
                    ``(D) an examination of the current need or 
                interest, as of the date of the submission, for the 
                experiment.
    ``(c) Selection of Experiments and Designation of Participating 
Institutions.--
            ``(1) Selection considerations.--After considering any 
        suggestions submitted under subsection (b), the Secretary may 
        select experiments to be carried out under subsection (a). The 
        Secretary shall base any such selection on the following:
                    ``(A) Sufficient interest in the experiment among 
                institutions of higher education, researchers, and 
                practitioners.
                    ``(B) Promising evidence of fulfilling outcomes 
                described in subsection (a)(1).
                    ``(C) Other general interest, as supported by 
                evidence.
            ``(2) Determination of evaluation plans.--After selecting 
        an experiment under this section, but before any participating 
        institutions for such experiment are chosen, the Secretary 
        shall complete the following:
                    ``(A) Identify answerable questions for the 
                experiment and design an experiment that can measure 
                those answers.
                    ``(B) Identify the methodology of data collection 
                for the experiment.
                    ``(C) Identify rigorous evaluation methods for the 
                experiment, in partnership with the Institute of 
                Education Sciences, that are informed by--
                            ``(i) external researchers;
                            ``(ii) responses to requests from the 
                        Department for information; and
                            ``(iii) other opportunities for stakeholder 
                        feedback.
                    ``(D) Establish a timeframe for conducting the 
                experiment that shall not exceed 10 years.
                    ``(E) Estimate the cost of conducting the 
                experiment.
                    ``(F) Estimate the necessary size of the treatment 
                group needed to have statistically significant grants.
            ``(3) Dissemination of information.--The Secretary shall 
        notify institutions of higher education, through the website of 
        the Department or other means, of the experiments selected by 
        the Secretary under this section and the steps necessary to 
        participate in an experiment. Such notice shall include the 
        information described in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of 
        paragraph (2) for the experiment.
            ``(4) Commencement of experiment.--The Secretary may carry 
        out an experiment, in accordance with the requirements of this 
        section, only if the Secretary has entered into agreements with 
        not less than 5, and not more than 100, institutions of higher 
        education, under which the institutions agree--
                    ``(A) to participate in the experiment described in 
                the applicable evaluation plan under paragraph (2);
                    ``(B) to comply with the data collection 
                requirements under subsection (d)(1) and any other 
                reporting requirements determined by the Secretary; and
                    ``(C)(i) to the methodology for data collection 
                established by the Secretary under paragraph (2)(B) for 
                the experiment; or
                    ``(ii) upon the request of the institution and if 
                the Secretary determines appropriate, to an alternative 
                methodology for data collection.
            ``(5) Fast-track process to comply with information 
        collection requirements.--Notwithstanding section 3507 of title 
        44, United States Code, the Secretary shall be deemed to have 
        the authority to approve, for purposes of such section 3507, 
        any proposed collection of information related to an experiment 
        conducted under this section, in the same manner and to the 
        same extent as such authority is provided to a senior official 
        by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under 
        section 3507(i) of such title.
    ``(d) Outcomes Reporting.--
            ``(1) Data submission.--Each institution of higher 
        education participating in an experiment under this section 
        shall timely submit to the Secretary, on a periodic basis to be 
        determined by the Secretary, data on outcomes relating to the 
        experiment.
            ``(2) Report.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) review and evaluate the experience of 
                        all institutions participating in each 
                        experiment carried out under this section; and
                            ``(ii) beginning 2 years after the date of 
                        enactment of the Innovation Zone Act, and every 
                        2 years thereafter--
                                    ``(I) prepare and submit a report 
                                regarding the innovation zone 
                                initiative under this section to the 
                                authorizing committees; and
                                    ``(II) post the report on the 
                                public website of the Department.
                    ``(B) Contents of report.--The report required 
                under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I) shall include, for each 
                experiment supported as of the date of the report--
                            ``(i) a summary of the status of the 
                        experiment;
                            ``(ii) a summary and analysis of the 
                        findings, to date, of the experiment;
                            ``(iii) the methodology of data collection;
                            ``(iv) an analysis of the value of 
                        continuation of the experiment;
                            ``(v) an explanation of any current or 
                        foreseen barriers to conducting the experiment; 
                        and
                            ``(vi) an evaluation of the quality of data 
                        and intended results.
                    ``(C) Completed experiment report.--By not later 
                than 30 days after the completion of the timeframe 
                established under subsection (c)(2)(D) or (e)(2)(B)(ii) 
                for an experiment, the Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) prepare a report that includes--
                                    ``(I) the findings of the 
                                experiment; and
                                    ``(II) in the case of an experiment 
                                for which the Secretary determines 
                                there is sufficient value in continuing 
                                the experiment past the established 
                                timeframe, adequate documentation to 
                                justify such continuation; and
                            ``(ii) publish the report on the public 
                        website of the Department and submit the report 
                        to the authorizing committees.
    ``(e) Transition; Review.--
            ``(1) Continuation of existing experiments.--The Secretary 
        may continue any experiment commenced under this section before 
        the date of enactment of the Innovation Zone Act (referred to 
        in this subsection as an `existing experiment'). Any such 
        existing experiment shall be subject to the requirements of 
        this section, as amended by the Innovation Zone Act, except for 
        the requirements of subsection (c).
            ``(2) Review of existing experiments.--By not later than 90 
        days after the date of enactment of the Innovation Zone Act, 
        the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) conduct an extensive review and assessment of 
                existing experiments still in effect; and
                    ``(B) prepare and submit to the authorizing 
                committees, and publish on the public website of the 
                Department, a report of the status of the existing 
                experiments, which shall include, for each such 
                experiment--
                            ``(i) the total cost to date and the 
                        projected cost of continuation;
                            ``(ii) an established timeframe for 
                        completion;
                            ``(iii) the current methodology of data 
                        collection;
                            ``(iv) an analysis of findings, as of the 
                        date of the report;
                            ``(v) an analysis of the value in 
                        continuation of the existing experiment; and
                            ``(vi) an analysis of whether the 
                        assessment of the experiment could be 
                        restructured to answer other policy 
                        questions.''.
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