,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #abba  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,april #bi1    
#bjai,mr4 ,young 7for himself1 ,ms4     
,hassan1 ,mr4 ,cassidy1 and ,mr4 ,kaine7
 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 increase student success1  
which may be defined as #a or more of   
the following3  7,a7 ,reduction in      
student loan debt4  7,b7 ,increase in   
student retention and program completion
 at institutions of higher education1   
especially for historically             
underrepresented students4  7,c7        
,decrease in student time to program    
completion4  7,d7 ,closing of gaps in   
enrollment and completion between       
historically underrepresented students  
and students who are not historically   
underrepresented students4  7,e7        
,increase in student employment outcomes
 upon graduation4  7,f7 ,improved       
financial aid disbursement and service  
to students4  7,g7 ,increase in student 
safety1 wellness1 or food and housing   
security4  7,h7 ,other innovative       
practices that benefit students4  7#b7  
,reduction of regulatory burden ,where  
appropriate1 the ,secretary may         

establish experiments1 that1 in addition
 to meeting the requirements of         
paragraph 7#a71 lead to a reduction of  
regulatory burden on institutions of    
higher education or the ,department1    
without harm to students4  7#c7 ,waivers
  7,a7 ,in general ,except as provided  
in subparagraph 7,b71 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 ,,iv1 including         
regulations promulgated under title ,i  
or ,,iv4  7,b7 ,limitations ,the        
,secretary may not grant a waiver with  
regard to the following3 7i7 ,the       
definition of an institution of higher  
education under section #aja or #ajb4   
7ii7 ,antidiscrimination provisions     
under section #aaa4  7iii7 ,student     
speech rights provisions under section  
#aab4  7iv7 ,campus safety provisions   
under section #aai or #abj4  7v7        
,preferred lender arrangements under    

section #aeb4  7vi7 ,grant or student   
loan maximums under title ,,iv4  7vii7  
,the needs analysis under part ,f of    
title ,,iv4  7b7 ,solicitation of       
experiment suggestions  7#a7            
,solicitation of suggestions ,not less  
frequently than every #b years1 the     
,secretary shall provide an opportunity1
 through the ,department of ,education's
 website1 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 experiment1 and how     
statutory or regulatory flexibility     
could allow the institution of higher   
education to increase student success1  
as required under subsection 7a77#a72   
7,b7 a description of how the experiment
 would be conducted1 including          
participation protections or mechanisms 

in place to ensure that students        
participating in the experiment will not
 be negatively impacted1 such as by     
facing additional barriers to completion
 or losing credit as a result of the    
experiment2  7,c7 the specific statutory
 or regulatory requirements for which a 
waiver would be requested2  7,d7 an     
examination of the current need or      
interest1 as of the date of the         
submission1 for the experiment2 and     
7,e7 a description of how the suggested 
experiment contributes to building the  
evidence base and how evaluation could  
be used to generate that evidence4  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 ,research          
suggesting promise of fulfilling        
outcomes described in subsection        
7a77#a74  7,c7 ,a clear link between how
 the desired statutory and regulatory   
flexibility could allow the institution 
of higher education to increase student 
success1 as required under subsection   
7a77#a74  7,d7 ,the ability for the     
,secretary to identify policy-relevant  
questions for the experiment and design 
an experiment that can credibly answer  
those questions1 and contribute to the  
evidence base of innovative practices4  
7,e7 ,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 ,secretary1  
in consultation with the ,director of   
the ,institute of ,education ,sciences1 

shall complete the following3  7,a7     
,identify policy-relevant questions for 
the experiment and design an experiment 
that can credibly answer those          
questions4  7,b7 ,identify the          
methodology of data collection for the  
experiment1 including1 to the extent    
practicable1 a methodology that allows  
for disaggregation of data for          
historically underrepresented students4 
7,c7 ,identify rigorous evaluation      
methods for determining the impact of   
the experiment1 including whether the   
experiment has differential impacts for 
historically underrepresented students4 
,these methods may include rapid cycle  
evaluation and behavioral insights and  
are informed by--  7i7 responses to     
requests from the ,department for       
information2 and  7ii7 feedback from    
external researchers and other          
stakeholders4  7,d7 ,establish a        
timeframe for conducting the experiment 
that shall not exceed #d years from the 
award year in which ,federal financial  

aid is first disbursed to students      
participating in the experiment1 at     
which time the ,secretary may opt to    
extend the experiment for an additional 
#b years4  7,e7 ,estimate the cost of   
conducting the experiment1 to the extent
 practicable4  7,f7 ,estimate the size  
of the study sample 7such as the number 
of participating students or            
institutions7 needed to determine if the
 experiment has statistically           
significant effects4  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 ,technical assistance 
,the ,secretary may provide technical   
assistance to institutions of higher    
education that are not participating in 
an experiment but have an interest in   

potentially participating in an         
experiment4  7#f7 ,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 the experience of and rigorously 

evaluate1 according to a methodology    
approved by the ,institute of ,education
 ,sciences1 the activities 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 experiment1 including the 
evaluation described in subsection      
7c77#b77;,c72  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 #fj
 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 experiment1         
including1 to the extent practicable1   
disaggregation of data for historically 
underrepresented students2 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   
7,d7 ,collection of additional data ,the

 ,secretary may collect additional data 
after the conclusion of an experiment   
under this section to assess the        
long-term outcomes of participants4  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 continuation1 to the  
extent practicable2  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  7f7     
,definition of historically             
underrepresented student ,in this       
section1 the term historically          
underrepresented student-- 7#a7 means a 
student1 or prospective student1 at an  
institution of higher education who is  
at risk of educational failure or       
otherwise in need of special assistance 
and support2 and  7#b7 may include an   
adult learner1 working student1         
part-time student1 student from a       

low-income background1 student of color1
 ,native youth1 single parent 7including
 a single pregnant woman71 student who  
is a homeless child or youth 7as defined
 in section #gbe of the                 
,mc,kinney-,vento ,homeless ,assistance 
,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #aadcd;a771 youth   
who is in1 or has aged out of1 the      
foster care system1 first generation    
college student 7as defined in section  
#djb;,a7h771 and student with a         
disability4  4