Publication Date: February 27, 2013
| DCL ID: | GEN-13-08 |
Subject: Extension of Invitation to Participate in the Experimental Sites Initiative
Summary: This letter establishes an extended deadline of April 30, 2013 for institutions to express interest in participating in one or more of the experiments under the Experimental Sites Initiative.
Dear Colleague:
On January 17, 2013 we posted Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN-13-03 that invited institutions to express interest in participating, beginning with the 2013-2014 award year, in one or more of the Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI) experiments currently in process. A summary of those experiments is provided below. The January letter established February 28, 2013, as the cut-off date for institutions to contact us if they were interested in being considered for participation in any of the experiments.
To allow more time for financial aid administrators to consider (and to get institutional approval) whether to request participation, we are extending, until April 30, 2013, the date by which institutions should contact us. If your institution is interested in participating in any of the listed experiments beginning with the 2013-2014 award year, please let us know by sending a letter of application in the form of a PDF attachment to an email message to experimentalsites@ed.gov no later than April 30, 2013. Please follow the submission guidance provided in DCL GEN-13-03.
As a reminder, submitting a letter of application does not commit the institution to participate in an experiment. Nor does it commit the Department to approving an institution's request to participate.
ESI Experiments
Experiment 1 – Federal Pell Grant Program – Eligibility of students with bachelor's degrees who enroll in vocational or career programs.
Experiment 2 – Federal Pell Grant Program – Eligibility of students who enroll in certain short-term training programs.
Experiment 3 – Direct Loan Program – Single disbursement of a one-term loan for study abroad students.
Experiment 4 – Direct Loan Program – Early disbursement for study abroad students and for students enrolled in foreign institutions.
Experiment 5 – Direct Loan Program – Unequal disbursements.
Experiment 6 – Direct Loan Program – Limiting unsubsidized loan amounts.
Experiment 7 – Direct Loan Program – PLUS Loans for parents of students with intellectual disabilities.
Experiment 8 – Student Eligibility – Eligibility of students with intellectual disabilities who are also enrolled in high school.
If you have any questions please send an email to: experimentalsites@ed.gov.
Sincerely,
Jeff Baker, Director
Policy Liaison and Implementation
Federal Student Aid