,,ii  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #bcdb  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,january #be1  
#bjah ,mr4 ,young introduced the        
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on ,health1 
,education1 ,labor1 and ,pensions  ,a   
,,bill  ,to amend the ,higher ,education
 ,act of #aife to create an innovation  
zone initiative1 and for other purposes4
  #a4 ,short title  ,this ,act may be   
cited as the ,innovation ,zone ,act4    
#b4 ,innovation zone initiative         
authority ,section #dhg;,a of the       
,higher ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj   
,u4,s4,c4 #ajid;a7 is amended to read as
 follows3  #dhg;,a4 ,innovation zone    
initiative  7a7 ,innovation zone        
initiative  7#a7 ,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 outcomes3  7,a7   
,increase in student success1 which may 
be defined as one or more of the        
following3 7i7 ,reduction in student    
loan debt4  7ii7 ,increase in student   
retention and program completion at     
institutions of higher education4  7iii7
 ,increase in student job placement rate
 upon graduation4  7iv7 ,improved       
financial aid disbursement and service  
to students4  7v7 ,increase in student  
safety1 wellness1 or food and housing   
security4  7vi7 ,other innovative       
practices that benefit students4  7,b7  
,reduction of regulatory burden on      
institutions of higher education or the 
,department1 without harm to students4  
7#b7 ,waivers ,the ,secretary is        
authorized to waive1 for any institution
 of higher education participating in an
 innovation zone experiment under       
paragraph 7#a71 one or more requirements
 of title ,i or ,,iv4  7b7 ,solicitation
 of experiment suggestions  7#a7        

,solicitation of suggestions ,not less  
frequently than every #b years1 the     
,secretary shall provide an opportunity 
for the public1 institutions of higher  
education1 and other stakeholders to    
submit suggestions for potential        
experiments under this section4  7#b7   
,contents of suggestions ,any person    
that wishes to submit a suggestion under
 paragraph 7#a7 shall include--  7,a7   
the goals or objectives of the proposed 
experiment2  7,b7 a description of how  
the experiment would be conducted1      
including participation protections2    
7,c7 the specific statutory or          
regulatory requirements for which a     
waiver would be requested2 and  7,d7 an 
examination of the current need or      
interest1 as of the date of the         
submission1 for the experiment4  7c7    
,selection of experiments and           
designation of participating            
institutions  7#a7 ,selection           
considerations ,after considering any   
suggestions submitted under subsection  

7b71 the ,secretary may select          
experiments to be carried out under     
subsection 7a74 ,the ,secretary shall   
base any such selection on the          
following3  7,a7 ,sufficient interest in
 the experiment among institutions of   
higher education1 researchers1 and      
practitioners4  7,b7 ,promising evidence
 of fulfilling outcomes described in    
subsection 7a77#a74  7,c7 ,other general
 interest1 as supported by evidence4    
7#b7 ,determination of evaluation plans 
,after selecting an experiment under    
this section1 but before any            
participating institutions for such     
experiment are chosen1 the ,secretary   
shall complete the following3  7,a7     
,identify answerable questions for the  
experiment and design an experiment that
 can measure those answers4  7,b7       
,identify the methodology of data       
collection for the experiment4  7,c7    
,identify rigorous evaluation methods   
for the experiment1 in partnership with 
the ,institute of ,education ,sciences1 

that are informed by--  7i7 external    
researchers2  7ii7 responses to requests
 from the ,department for information2  
and  7iii7 other opportunities for      
stakeholder feedback4  7,d7 ,establish a
 timeframe for conducting the experiment
 that shall not exceed #aj years4  7,e7 
,estimate the cost of conducting the    
experiment4  7,f7 ,estimate the         
necessary size of the treatment group   
needed to have statistically significant
 grants4  7#c7 ,dissemination of        
information ,the ,secretary shall notify
 institutions of higher education1      
through the website of the ,department  
or other means1 of the experiments      
selected by the ,secretary under this   
section and the steps necessary to      
participate in an experiment4 ,such     
notice shall include the information    
described in subparagraphs 7,a7 through 
7,f7 of paragraph 7#b7 for the          
experiment4  7#d7 ,commencement of      
experiment ,the ,secretary may carry out
 an experiment1 in accordance with the  

requirements of this section1 only if   
the ,secretary has entered into         
agreements with not less than #e1 and   
not more than #ajj1 institutions of     
higher education1 under which the       
institutions agree--  7,a7 to           
participate in the experiment described 
in the applicable evaluation plan under 
paragraph 7#b72  7,b7 to comply with the
 data collection requirements under     
subsection 7d77#a7 and any other        
reporting requirements determined by the
 ,secretary2 and  7,c7 7i7 to the       
methodology for data collection         
established by the ,secretary under     
paragraph 7#b77;,b7 for the experiment2 
or  7ii7 upon the request of the        
institution and if the ,secretary       
determines appropriate1 to an           
alternative methodology for data        
collection4  7#e7 ,fast-track process to
 comply with information collection     
requirements ,notwithstanding section   
#cejg of title #dd1 ,united ,states     
,code1 the ,secretary shall be deemed to

 have the authority to approve1 for     
purposes of such section #cejg1 any     
proposed collection of information      
related to an experiment conducted under
 this section1 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 #cejg7;i7 of  
such title4  7d7 ,outcomes reporting    
7#a7 ,data submission ,each institution 
of higher education participating in an 
experiment under this section shall     
timely submit to the ,secretary1 on a   
periodic basis to be determined by the  
,secretary1 data on outcomes relating to
 the experiment4  7#b7 ,report  7,a7 ,in
 general ,the ,secretary shall-- 7i7    
review and evaluate the experience of   
all institutions participating in each  
experiment carried out under this       
section2 and  7ii7 beginning #b years   
after the date of enactment of the      
,innovation ,zone ,act1 and every #b    
years thereafter-- 7,i7 prepare and     

submit a report regarding the innovation
 zone initiative under this section to  
the authorizing committees2 and  7,,ii7 
post the report on the public website of
 the ,department4  7,b7 ,contents of    
report ,the report required under       
subparagraph 7,a77ii77,i7 shall include1
 for each experiment supported as of the
 date of the report--  7i7 a summary of 
the status of the experiment2  7ii7 a   
summary and analysis of the findings1 to
 date1 of the experiment2  7iii7 the    
methodology of data collection2  7iv7 an
 analysis of the value of continuation  
of the experiment2  7v7 an explanation  
of any current or foreseen barriers to  
conducting the experiment2 and  7vi7 an 
evaluation of the quality of data and   
intended results4  7,c7 ,completed      
experiment report ,by not later than #cj
 days after the completion of the       
timeframe established under subsection  
7c77#b77;,d7 or 7e77#b77;,b77ii7 for an 
experiment1 the ,secretary shall--  7i7 
prepare a report that includes-- 7,i7   

the findings of the experiment2 and     
7,,ii7 in the case of an experiment for 
which the ,secretary determines there is
 sufficient value in continuing the     
experiment past the established         
timeframe1 adequate documentation to    
justify such continuation2 and  7ii7    
publish the report on the public website
 of the ,department and submit the      
report to the authorizing committees4   
7e7 ,transition2 review  7#a7           
,continuation of existing experiments   
,the ,secretary may continue any        
experiment commenced under this section 
before the date of enactment of the     
,innovation ,zone ,act 7referred to in  
this subsection as an existing          
experiment74 ,any such existing         
experiment shall be subject to the      
requirements of this section1 as amended
 by the ,innovation ,zone ,act1 except  
for the requirements of subsection 7c74 
7#b7 ,review of existing experiments ,by
 not later than #ij days after the date 
of enactment of the ,innovation ,zone   

,act1 the ,secretary shall-- 7,a7       
conduct an extensive review and         
assessment of existing experiments still
 in effect2 and  7,b7 prepare and submit
 to the authorizing committees1 and     
publish on the public website of the    
,department1 a report of the status of  
the existing experiments1 which shall   
include1 for each such experiment--  7i7
 the total cost to date and the         
projected cost of continuation2  7ii7 an
 established timeframe for completion2  
7iii7 the current methodology of data   
collection2  7iv7 an analysis of        
findings1 as of the date of the report2 
7v7 an analysis of the value in         
continuation of the existing experiment2
 and  7vi7 an analysis of whether the   
assessment of the experiment could be   
restructured to answer other policy     
questions4  4