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Experimental Sites Initiative

Second Chance Pell Experiment

Under this experiment, participating institutions will provide Federal Pell Grant funding to otherwise eligible students who are incarcerated in Federal or State penal institutions. For more details about the experiment, refer to the August 3, 2015 Federal Register Notice.

Click here to view a list of institutions currently participating in the Second Chance Pell experiment.

Click here to view a list of new institutions invited to participate in the Second Chance Pell experiment on April 24, 2020.

Click here to view a list of new institutions invited to participate in the Second Chance Pell experiment on April 26, 2022.

Federal Work-Study Experiment

This experiment aims to determine whether, by reducing the difficulty to institutions of paying FWS wages to students employed by private-sector companies, increasing the number of hours an FWS student is permitted to work, and removing restrictions on allocations to on-campus, off-campus, and community service jobs, institutions can cultivate additional private-sector opportunities for employment of FWS students. In addition, the experiment aims to determine whether off-campus, private-sector FWS jobs improve student completion rates, reduce student borrowing, reduce time to degree completion, or lead to improved employment outcomes. The experiment also seeks to explore whether increased levels of Job Location and Development (JLD) funds enable institutions to develop more partnerships with employers that result in private-sector FWS opportunities, including apprenticeships. For more details about the experiment, refer to the May 23, 2019 Federal Register Notice.

Click here to view a list of institutions invited to participate in the FWS experiment.

Click here to view the FWS experiment fact sheet.

Conclusion of Experiments

Experiments Ending on June 30, 2023

Federal Work-Study Experiment
Determines whether, by reducing the difficulty to institutions of paying FWS wages to students employed by private-sector companies, increasing the number of hours an FWS student is permitted to work, and removing restrictions on allocations to on-campus, off-campus, and community service jobs, institutions can cultivate additional private-sector opportunities for employment of FWS students.

Experiments Ending on June 30, 2022

Dual Enrollment Experiment
Provides a waiver of the specific statutory and regulatory provisions that prevent students who are enrolled in secondary school from receiving Federal Pell Grants for enrollment in Title IV-eligible postsecondary programs.

Direct Loan: Limiting unsubsidized loan amounts Experiment
Allows institutions to establish a written policy for students enrolled in a particular educational program or on some other categorical basis (e.g., students living at home or first-time freshmen), to reduce by at least $2,000 the amount of an unsubsidized Direct Loan that the otherwise eligible student would receive, or eliminate the unsubsidized Direct Loan completely.

Experiments Ending on June 30, 2021

Loan Counseling Experiment
Provides the flexibility to require additional loan counseling for student borrowers beyond the statutorily required one-time entrance and one-time exit counseling as a condition for the students to receive Direct Loan funds, and to customize counseling based on students needs.

Experiments Ending on June 30, 2020

Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)
Provides that a student's Title IV cost of attendance (COA) can include costs incurred by the student for assessments of prior learning and that a student's Federal Pell Grant enrollment status may, with limitations, take into account a student's efforts to prepare materials for a prior learning assessment.

Competency-Based Education (CBE) - includes Split Disbursement, Subscription Period Disbursement and Satisfactory Academic Progress Only waivers
Provides flexibility in how institutions provide Federal student aid to students enrolled in self-paced competency-based education programs.

Limited Direct Assessment (LDA)
Provides flexibility for an institution to provide a mix of direct assessment coursework and credit or clock hour coursework in the same program.

Federal Work-Study (FWS) for Near-Peer Counseling
Provides flexibility for institutions to compensate FWS students, who are employed as "near-peer" counselors to high school students, solely with Federal funds.

Educational Quality through Innovative Partnerships (EQUIP)
Provides a waiver for institutions to provide some types of Federal student aid under the title IV, HEA programs (title IV aid) to otherwise eligible students who are pursuing a program of study offered by the institution where 50 percent or more of the educational program is provided by one or more entities that are not traditionally eligible to participate in the title IV programs (non-traditional providers), through a contractual agreement with the participating institution.

Experiments Ending on June 30, 2017

Eligibility of students with bachelor’s degrees who enroll in vocational or career programs
The experiment would allow at least some students with a bachelor’s degree to receive not more than one full scheduled Pell Grant award, over no more than two years, for enrollment in a vocational/career program of study of one year or less.

Eligibility of students enrolled in certain short-term training programs
The experiment would allow Pell Grants to be received by at least some otherwise eligible students who are enrolled in a vocational program of at least eight weeks in length and that, at a minimum, include at least 150 clock hours of instructional time. The institution must provide training needed to meet local or regional workforce needs.

Experiments Ending on June 30, 2016

Single disbursement of a one-term loan for study abroad students
The experiment would allow a single disbursement of a one-term loan for some study abroad students attending participating institutions even if the institution’s cohort default rate equals or exceeds five percent.

Early disbursement for study abroad students and for students enrolled in foreign institutions
The experiment would permit participating domestic institutions to disburse Direct Loan funds for some students enrolled in approved study abroad programs as early as 30 days prior to the first day of classes of the student’s enrollment for the loan period. Similarly, participating foreign institutions would be able to disburse Direct Loan funds as early as 30 days prior to the first day of classes of the student’s enrollment for the loan period.

Unequal disbursements
The experiment would waive the requirement that Direct Loans be disbursed in at least two substantially equal disbursements and would allow, under certain conditions, unequal disbursements of Direct Loan proceeds.

PLUS Loans for parents of students with intellectual disabilities
The experiment would permit participating institutions to originate and disburse Direct PLUS loans to the otherwise eligible parents of dependent students with intellectual disabilities, as defined in the Department’s regulations at 34CFR 668.231(a).

Student Eligibility-Eligibility of students with intellectual disabilities who are also enrolled in high school
The experiment would permit some students with intellectual disabilities who are enrolled in an approved comprehensive transition and postsecondary program at a Title IV eligible institution while also enrolled in secondary school (dually enrolled students) to receive Title IV funding, notwithstanding the general prohibition of eligibility for such students because of their dual enrollment.