80 FR 30446 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Evaluation of the Pell Grant Experiments Under the Experimental Sites Initiative

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 102 (May 28, 2015)

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing an extension of an existing information collection.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 102 (Thursday, May 28, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30446-30447]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12777]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2015-ICCD-0071]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
Evaluation of the Pell Grant Experiments Under the Experimental Sites 
Initiative

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Department of Education 
(ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing an extension of an 
existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
July 27, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice should be 
submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://

[[Page 30447]]

www.regulations.gov by selecting Docket ID number ED-2015-ICCD-0071 or 
via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the 
regulations.gov site is not available to the public for any reason, ED 
will temporarily accept comments at [email protected]. Please note 
that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the 
comment period will not be accepted; ED will ONLY accept comments 
during the comment period in this mailbox when the regulations.gov site 
is not available. Written requests for information or comments 
submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the 
Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Mailstop L-OM-2-
2E319, Room 2E115, Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Daphne Garcia, (202) 219-2024.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Education (ED), in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with 
an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps the Department assess the impact 
of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's 
reporting burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed 
information collection request (ICR) that is described below. The 
Department of Education is especially interested in public comment 
addressing the following issues: (1) Is this collection necessary to 
the proper functions of the Department; (2) will this information be 
processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden 
accurate; (4) how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, 
and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how might the 
Department minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, 
including through the use of information technology. Please note that 
written comments received in response to this notice will be considered 
public records.
    Title of Collection: Evaluation of the Pell Grant Experiments Under 
the Experimental Sites Initiative.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0892.
    Type of Review: An extension of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 4,904.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 2,416.
    Abstract: The Pell Grant Experiments evaluation is a two-part, 
seven-year demonstration study sponsored by the U.S. Department of 
Education that focuses on the effects of expanded access to Pell grants 
on students' educational outcomes, employment and earnings. The primary 
outcome of interest is (1) educational enrollment and completion, and 
(2) measures of student debt and financial aid while secondary outcomes 
include (3) the employment status and earnings of students who 
participate in the study.
    This study consists of two experiments, each of which will examine 
the impact of a single change to the Pell grant eligibility criteria. 
The first experiment will relax the prohibition on receipt of Pell 
grants by students with a bachelors' degree. Individuals eligible for 
the first experiment must have a bachelor's degree, be unemployed or 
underemployed, and pursue a vocational training program up to one year 
in duration. The second experiment will reduce the minimum duration and 
intensity levels of programs that Pell grant recipients must 
participate in from 15 weeks with 600 minimum clock hours to 8 weeks 
with 150 minimum clock hours. Each experiment will operate through a 
set of PGE schools that provide education and training services that 
qualify as PGE programs.
    Participants in both experiments will be randomly assigned to 
either (1) a treatment group, which will have expanded access to Pell 
grants; or (2) a control group, which will not have access. Within both 
experiments, the treatment group will be very similar to the control at 
the time of random assignment except for access to Pell grants. 
Subsequent differences in the employment and earnings outcomes between 
treatment and control group members can then be attributed to Pell 
grant access. The first experiment will involve roughly 27 PGE schools 
with an average of 25 students participating per school. The second 
experiment will involve roughly 27 PGE schools with an average of 100 
participating students per school. The expected sample of both 
experiments combined is approximately 3,375 students. Data for this 
evaluation will come from participants' FAFSA applications, PGE school 
administrative records, and SSA earnings statements. The study 
participant enrollment period is expected to last from November 2012 to 
June 2016. A data extracts from FAFSA applications will occur in July 
2018. Administrative data extracts from PGE schools will occur between 
January and March during years 2015-2018.

    Dated: May 21, 2015.
Tomakie Washington,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Office of 
the Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2015-12777 Filed 5-27-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P