OMB Approval No.: 1840-NEW
Expiration Date: [TBD]
Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) Programs
General Instructions for Completing the Annual Performance Report
For Program Year 2012–13
1. What does this package contain?
This package contains the forms and instructions needed to prepare the annual performance report (APR) for the Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) program. The Department of Education uses the information conveyed in the performance report to assess a grantee’s progress in meeting its approved goals and objectives and to evaluate a grantee’s prior experience in accordance with the program regulations in 34 CFR 645.32. Grantees’ annual performance reports also provide information on the outcomes of projects’ work and of the VUB programs as a whole. In addition, APR data allows the Department to respond to the reporting requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act.
2. What are the legislative and regulatory authorities to collect this information?
Title IV, Part A, Subpart 2, Chapter 1, Section 402A(c)(2) and Section 402C, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended;
The program regulations in 34 CFR Part 645; and
Sections 75.590 and 75.720 of the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR).
3. Who must submit this data report?
All grantees funded under the Veterans Upward Bound program must submit an annual performance report as a condition of the grant award.
4. What period of time is covered in the report? For which participants should the grantee provide data?
The report covers the 12-month project year for which the grant has been made. This information can be found in Block 6 of the Grant Award Notification. A grantee must report on all participants served in project year who met the eligibility criteria in 34 CFR 645.3 and the definition of a veteran in 645.6.
Extent to which prior participants must remain on projects’ data files: New objectives required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act 0f 2008 (HEOA), and on which prior experience points are based, affect the extent to which grantees must keep prior participants on the project file into the future. The new objectives also affect the extent to which grantees must attempt to gather ongoing information about these participants. Because the postsecondary enrollment objective involves both the year the participant completes the VUB program and the subsequent year, grantees need to continue to report on participants who complete the project even after their departure from the program. More notably, since calculating the HEOA’s objective on postsecondary completion involves a period of six years, grantees must keep prior participants who completed the VUB program on their files for at least six years after enrollment in a program of postsecondary education, whenever that enrollment might be.
For the 2012-13 APR, you need to report on all participants included in your 2011-12 APR and any other participants, not on your 2011-12 but for whom the Department established a postsecondary cohort year of 2007 through 2011. Please refer to the discussion of field #38 in these instructions for information on “Establishing cohorts for participants in the 2007-12 cycle.” These VUB participants constitute the file that you may download from the APR Web application. Any students in the download file that you do not include in Tier 1 of your 2012–13 APR will appear in the Match-to-Prior report in Tier 2; you will need to restore these students’ records before you can submit the APR.
We anticipate that you will need to report on all students included in your 2012–13 APR once again in the 2013–14 APR. While we want to reduce the number of participants in the download file (and thus your reporting burden), in doing so we will need to deal with considerations beyond PE points. Rather than risk deleting records that we may later realize we need for analysis and reporting purposes, we will determine after the 2013–14 data collection how to reduce the size of the file.
Note for projects that were awarded a grant under the 2007–12 cycle: In anticipation of the Department’s implementation of the HEOA requirements (particularly the postsecondary completion objective), the Department required grantees who were funded under the prior cycle to maintain on their files all participants with a scheduled completion year of 2007–08 or later. While projects will no longer need to establish scheduled completion years for new participants under the 2012–17 cycle, grantees must continue to report on participants whose inclusion was required in their 2011–12 APRs, as explained above. By requiring projects to maintain these participant records on their APR data file, the Department will be able to use 2013–14 APR data to calculate the postsecondary completion objective for participants who completed the VUB program at any time and who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education during the 2008–09 reporting year. The participants in this group who completed their postsecondary program within six years (that is, by August 30, 2014) will count towards the project’s success in meeting its postsecondary completion objective. Similarly, the Department will calculate postsecondary completion using 2014–15 and 2015–16 APR data for participants who completed their VUB program at any time and enrolled in postsecondary education during the 2009–10 and 2010–11 reporting years, respectively. (For further information on this process, please see the discussion of field #38.)
5. What years will be used to calculate prior experience points?
The Department will calculate PE points using data submitted in the 2013–14, 2014–15, and 2015–16 APRs.
6. What information must be submitted?
The report consists of two sections, and all grantees will be required to complete both sections:
--Section I requests project-identifying data and information on the way in which the project has addressed the Competitive Preference Priorities announced for the 2012 grant competition.
--Section II contains detailed instructions for preparing a data file of information on individual participants.
7. When must the report be filed?
The annual report is normally submitted electronically within 90 days after the end of each 12-month grant (budget) period, which is November 30 for VUB projects.
8. How may the report be submitted?
All VUB grantees must complete the APR online using our contractor’s Web application. The entire report should be submitted via the World Wide Web. After the APR has been successfully submitted, the signatures of the project director and the certifying official for the grantee institution/agency must be obtained on Section I of the printed APR indicating that the information submitted electronically is accurate, complete, and readily verifiable. Once the form has been signed, it should be scanned so that it can be uploaded using the functionality on the APR site. If a grantee is unable to upload Section I, it may be faxed to 703-832-1360. Only Section I should be faxed--not the entire report.
Because the APR requests personal and confidential information on project participants, the secured Web site meets the Department of Education’s data security standards for sensitive data, including improved password and site access procedures. Further, to ensure that the data is accessible only to authorized individuals and protected from unauthorized use, a grantee must submit the participant-level data via the Web application; under no circumstances should a grantee transmit the data to the Department or the APR Help Desk via e-mail.
The Web application and instructions for completing and submitting the report online will be available on , at the following Web address:
http://www.ed.gov/programs/trioveteransupbound/report.html (VUB)
The Web application that VUB grantees must use to submit the annual performance report has the following features:
A Web form for completing Sections I and II, online.
Functionality to upload a file with the individual participant records (Section II) to the Web application using a CSV or XLS file format.
Functionality to view/delete/add participant data online.
Online data field validations and error checks. In order for a grantee to be able to submit the APR, all sections of the APR must pass the first level of data field validations. Following the initial submission of the participant data, additional data quality checks will be run. If any errors or data inconsistencies are found, the grantee will be informed of needed corrections that must be made prior to submitting the APR.
A print button to make a hard copy of the information entered online for Section I.
Functionality to download an electronic file with the individual participant records (Section II).
A submit button to send the entire report to the Department.
An e-mail confirmation that the report has been submitted (a valid e-mail address must be provided in Section I).
A button to upload a signed copy of Section I only. Do not upload or fax in a copy of the entire report.
In a new feature, the online application will provide on an annual basis a report of PE points to be awarded once a grantee has successfully submitted an APR for one of the three years used for PE calculations (2013–14, 2014–15, and 2015–16).
A project will receive confirmation when the report has been successfully submitted. If you do not receive an e-mail confirmation, contact the APR Help Desk. If for any reason, and prior to the deadline date, you need to revise your performance report data after it has been submitted, please contact the APR Help Desk as soon as possible.
9. Who may be contacted for additional information concerning the submission of the performance report?
Please contact your program/grants specialist directly if you have questions regarding the performance report requirements. A state listing of program/grants specialists and contact information is available at the Web address provided above.
If you have technical problems accessing the Web site or using the Web application, please contact the APR Help Desk at (703) 846-8248 or via e-mail at: [email protected].
GETTING STARTED
Step 1—Access the Web site. To begin completing this report online, from the Department’s Web page you will need to click on https://trio.ed.gov/ub, a Web site hosted by our contractor to support submittal of annual performance reports.
Step 2--Registration. Once at the contractor's Web site (entitled "VUB Online, Program Year 2012–13"), you will need to register to receive a user ID and temporary password; you may do so well in advance of actual submittal of reports. So as to allow time to resolve any problems that might occur with registration, we ask you to register as early as possible.
To register, click on "Register Here Each Year"; you will then enter the project director's first and last names and e-mail address and the project's PR award number (found on the Grant Award Notification). You will also be required to select and answer two security questions (to be used in the event that you need to use the “Forgot Password” function). If the project director’s information matches the data that the Department currently has on file, a user ID and temporary password will be sent to the e-mail address on file. If discrepancies exist, you will be directed to a "Registration Failed" page; if necessary, your program specialist and the Help Desk will be sent an e-mail message requesting verification of data on the project. Verification will occur within 24 hours if the program specialist can readily confirm a change in project director or e-mail address; if the program specialist has no prior knowledge of the change, it may take longer. Once the Help Desk has received verification from the program specialist, you will be notified to continue with registration.
Step 3—Set Password. Once you have your user ID and temporary password, you may enter them on the site in the top box of the left side of the page; click "Log in." You will be guided to select a new password, then to log in again.
After three failed attempts to access the Web site, you will be required to reset your password and will need to contact the Help Desk for further assistance.
Step 4—Complete and Submit. Follow the instructions for completing and submitting the report via the World Wide Web.
► Section I
New to the 2012–17 grant cycle, Section I is now divided into Parts 1 and 2. The first part covers, as in past years, the project’s identification and characteristics, along with certification and a warning statement. In Part 2, grantees provide information on how they have implemented the competitive preference priorities established for the 2012 grant competition.
► Section I, Part 1
Your PR award number will be automatically inserted into line 1 of Part 1. The system will also pre-populate most of the other data fields in Part 1. Please review the pre-populated fields, including the project director’s e-mail address, and update these fields as needed. You may change the data in all fields except for the project’s PR award number, the grantee name, and the report period. Please provide information for any fields that are not pre-populated.
Part 1.B, the Certification, allows the grantee institution to certify that the information submitted electronically is accurate, complete, and readily verifiable to the best of your knowledge. Section I, Part 1 must be signed by both the project director and the certifying representative at the grantee institution and scanned so that it can be uploaded using the functionality on the APR site. If a grantee is unable to upload Section I, it may be faxed to (703) 832-1360. Only Section I should be faxed—not the entire report.
Any person who knowingly makes a false statement or misrepresentation on this report is subject to penalties, which may include fines, imprisonment, or both, under the United States Criminal Code and 20 U.S.C. 1097.
Further,
federal funds or other benefits may be withheld under these programs
unless this report is completed and filed as required by existing law
(20 U.S.C. 1231a) and regulations (34 CFR 75.590 and 75.720).
► Section I, Part 2: Competitive Preference Priorities
The 2012 VUB grant competition established two competitive preference priorities including data-based decision-making and improving productivity. Section I, Part 2, asks projects whether they addressed the competitive preference priorities; for each priority addressed, the grantee is to complete the text boxes with concise information about implementation.
► Section II: Record Structure for Participant List
The Department will use the data that grantees provide in Section II to assess the project’s progress in meeting its objectives and to evaluate the grantee’s prior experience. The data also allows the Department to respond to reporting requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and to assess the VUB program’s performance in light of the performance measures found in the instructions for the 2012 grant competition.
The following fields are new to the APR since the 2007–12 grant cycle and are not connected to PE calculations. These fields were added to respond to specific changes in the HEOA:
#27 |
Served by Another Federal Program Similar to VUB, During Reporting Year |
#17-19 |
High Risk Designations |
#20 |
Academic Need |
#50 |
Participant’s Name Change |
Additionally, the APR includes a new field to allow the Department to determine progress towards one of the VUB performance measures:
#42 |
Postsecondary Remediation |
Also new to the APR are four fields (#33–36) asking projects to indicate whether participants received services listed in §645.15 of the program regulations that projects may provide to participants. And finally, to respond to the performance measures that involve attainment of postsecondary credentials by varying periods of time, fields #43–48 provide a breakdown of certificates and degrees and their associated dates of accomplishment.
General Instructions for the Participant List
Who should be included on the annual data file?
Please see pages 1 and 2 of these instructions for information on participants for whom the grantee should provide data. For the Veterans Upward Bound program, a participant is defined as an individual who enrolled in and participated in the educational programs offered by the project during the project year being reported. Be sure to include each participant—whether new, continuing, reentry, or prior-year—only once in the file the project submits for the reporting period.
What are the data fields?
The VUB APR contains 50 data fields of which three are project identifiers. The remaining 47 fields are student data fields and may or may not require updates as noted below.
Project Identifiers (pre-populated) |
|
Field # |
Field Name |
1 |
PR/Award Number |
2 |
Batch Year |
3 |
Program Type |
IMPORTANT: To avoid mismatches between 2012–13 APR data and the VUB system of records, identifying data for each participant in your APR file (except for new students) must match the data in your 2011–12 APR, even if you have discovered errors or misspellings in last year’s APR. Identifying data includes SSN (Field #4), Last Name (Field #5), First Name (Field #6), and Date of Birth (Field #8). These and other fields that must not change from reporting year to reporting year are shown in the following table.
#4 |
Social Security Number |
#5 |
Student’s Last Name |
#6 |
Student’s First Name |
#7 |
Student’s Middle Initial |
#8 |
Student’s Date of Birth |
#16 |
Eligibility |
#17-19 |
At Risk Fields |
#20 |
Academic Need |
#22 |
Date of First Project Service |
#23 |
Educational Status at Date of First Project Service |
#24 |
Employment Status at Date of First Project Service |
For certain date fields and for the Postsecondary Education Enrollment Cohort field (#38), a grantee might initially enter “Not applicable,” but in a later reporting period enter a specific date (or cohort in the case of field #38). The specific data has been submitted in one year’s APR must not change in subsequent years’ APRs. These fields are:
#30 |
Date of Last Project Service (Exceptions Allowed For Reentry Participants) |
#31 |
VUB Educational Program Completion Year |
#37 |
Date of First Postsecondary Enrollment (after leaving VUB) |
#38 |
Postsecondary Education Enrollment Cohort |
#44 |
Date of First Certificate/Diploma |
#46 |
Date of First Associate Degree |
#48 |
Date of First Bachelor’s Degree |
Fields that need to be reviewed and updated annually, as needed:
#25 |
Deceased or Incapacitated |
#26 |
Participant Status |
#27 |
Served By Another Federal Program Similar to VUB, During Reporting Year |
#28 |
Called To Active Duty |
#29 |
Academic Improvement on Standardized Test Objective (Numerator) |
#32 |
Reason for Leaving VUB Program |
#40 |
Source of Postsecondary Education Information |
#41 |
College Status At Beginning of Academic Year |
#42 |
Postsecondary Remediation |
#43 |
Certificate/Diploma Completed |
#45 |
Associate Degree Attained |
#47 |
Bachelor’s Degree Attained |
#49 |
Length of Active Duty |
#50 |
Participant’s Name Change |
(3) How should the date fields be formatted (i.e., fields # 8, 22, 30, 37, 44, 46, and 48)?
Please review carefully the Valid Field Content column to ensure that the data submitted is in the correct format. All date fields should be formatted as follows: two digits for month; two digits for day; two digits for century; and two digits for year. For the student’s date of birth (field #8), you are required to provide the full, precise date (month, day, and complete year). For other date fields, accuracy is important only for the month and year. If the day is unknown, use 15. For example, a participant’s date of first project service of September 2008 would be formatted as follows: 09/15/2008. If the exact month or year is uncertain, use an estimate. If there is no basis for estimating the month, but the year is known or can be estimated, use 01 for the month (e.g., 01/15/2008). If there is no basis for estimating the year, use 00/00/0000 (“Unknown”).
To ensure that the date is properly imported, always insert slashes and use the zero before one-digit months and days.
(4) How should “Not Applicable” and “Unknown” be reported?
With the exception of fields #7, 10–15, and 50, leaving a field blank is not an option. In general, the format for the data fields use “0” or a series of “0s” to allow a project to indicate “Unknown”; “9” or a series of “9s” indicates “Not Applicable, prior participants.” An “8” or a series of “8s” indicates “Not Applicable, participant has not yet completed the educational program offered by the project.” Since some exceptions to this practice were unavoidable, please observe the specific options stated for each field.
(5) Where are the objectives found?
The objectives for the program are found in the “Definitions That Apply” pages at the end of this document.
Supplemental Instructions for Specific Fields
Once the grantee has successfully logged in to the VUB APR Web application, this field will be pre-populated for each participant record.
Field #2—Batch Year (pre-populated)
Use the four-digit year provided on the form. This number will change with each year’s submission. The Batch Year designates the fiscal year funding for the project period reported. TRIO grants are forward-funded. Therefore, as an example, fiscal year 2012 funds are used to support project activities in the 2012–13 program year. Thus, the data file for Batch Year 2012 will include information on project participants served or tracked during program year 2012–13.
Field #4---Social Security Number (SSN)
SSNs are very important as they allow the Department to match participant lists with the federal financial aid files for purposes of tracking participant outcomes. If a project does not know the SSN for a student, please enter “0s” rather than enter other forms of identification numbers. So as to allow participants’ records to match across years, this data must match your 2011–12 APR (except for students new in 2012–13).
Please pay special attention to the required formatting for each field. So as to allow participants’ records to match across years, this data must match your 2011–12 APR (except for students new in 2012–13).
Fields #9–#14—Gender, Ethnicity (Hispanic) and Race
On October 19, 2007, ED released revised, Department-wide guidance on how institutions should collect and maintain data on race and ethnicity and on how they should report such data in the aggregate:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/101907c.pdf ; or
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2007-4/101907c.html
Because Veterans Upward Bound grantees report individual data, they should not follow the portions of the guidance that cover aggregate reporting; they must, however, collect and maintain data as indicated in the guidance. The Department required the new guidance to be implemented by the fall of 2010 for the 2010–11 school year, though grantees were encouraged to implement earlier, if possible. (Note that projects may leave the race and ethnicity fields blank for prior year participants who left the project before the project implemented the guidance.)
Collection procedures in the guidance require grantees to collect data on race and ethnicity on all participants using a two-part question: first, the grantee asks the respondent whether he or she is Hispanic/Latino; second, the grantee asks the respondent to select one or more races from the five racial groups listed. The grantee reports the responses in fields 10–15 of the APR. If, for example, a VUB participant identifies himself or herself as Hispanic, Asian, and White, entries for the fields would appear thus:
Field 10: 1, Yes, participant is identified as Hispanic/Latino
Field 11: 2, No, participant is not identified as American Indian/Alaskan Native
Field 12: 1, Yes, participant is identified as Asian
Field 13: 2, No, participant is not identified as Black or African American
Field 14: 1, Yes, participant is identified as White
Field 15: 2, No, participant is not identified as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
The statute and regulations governing the Upward Bound programs require that an individual, at the time of initial selection for the project, must be a “low-income individual,” a “potential first-generation college student,” or “an individual who has a high risk for academic failure.” (These terms are defined in the section on “Definitions That Apply.”) No less than two-thirds of the project’s participants each year must be low-income and potential first-generation college students or low-income, potential first-generation , and at high risk for academic failure; the remaining one-third must be low-income individuals, potential first-generation college students, or individuals who have a high risk for academic failure.
In field #16, please select the appropriate option for the criterion or criteria that apply to each participant. An individual participant might meet one, two, or all three criteria.
Although a participant need only meet one of three criteria (low-income, potential first-generation college student, or at high risk for academic failure) to be eligible, the Department encourages projects to assess a participant’s eligibility using all three criteria and to report accordingly. For example, if a participant is low-income and potential first-generation, and if he or she meets at least one of the criteria for high-risk status, the project should select the new option “7” (low income, first generation, and at high risk).
Because the high-risk eligibility status is new to the 2012–17 grant cycle, the Department is aware that information on high risk would not be available for participants first served prior to the 2012–13 project year; further, the Department recognizes that projects may not have collected this information on all new participants first served in the 2012–13 or 2013-14 project years. Beginning with the 2014–15 project year, however, a project is expected to assess a new participant’s eligibility using all three criteria and to report accordingly.
By adding these new combinations of eligibility, the Department is in no way requiring or expecting projects to serve more participants that are at high risk. As noted above, the statute and regulations require that at least two-thirds of the participants an UB project serves each year be low-income individuals who are potential first-generation college students. Those individuals who have all three characteristics—that is, those who are low income, first generation, and at high risk for academic failure--would of course be counted in the two-thirds.
Fields #17–19—Evidence of High Risk Status for Academic Failure (At Initial Selection)
As indicated above, one criterion for eligibility in the Upward Bound programs is high risk for academic failure. The program regulations define a veteran at such risk as one who, at the time of initial selection, (a) has been out of high school or dropped out of a program of postsecondary education for five or more years; (b) has scored on standardized tests below the level that demonstrates a likelihood of success in a program of postsecondary education; or (c) meets the definition of an individual with a disability as defined in §645.6(b). Information collected in fields #17–19 will indicate whether a participant is at high risk for academic failure, as so defined, and therefore eligible for services. In fields #17–19, please indicate “Yes,” “No,” or “Unknown” for each field. An individual participant might meet one, two, or all three criteria.
As explained in the discussion of field #16 (above), as of the 2014–15 project year the Department expects projects to assess all new participants’ eligibility based on all three criteria; this will include determining if the participant has been out of school for five years, has low standardized test scores or is disabled, so as to be able to respond to fields #17–19 without extensive use of the “Unknown” option. In 2012–13, of course, for any student coded in eligibility field #16 as 4 (high risk), 5 (low income and high risk), 6 (first generation and high risk), or 7 (met all three criteria), the project must indicate that the student was at high risk in at least one of fields #17, 18, or 19. If the project did not collect data on at-risk status for new participants in 2012–13 or 2013-14, the project should choose “Unknown” as necessary in fields #17–19. Since grantees would not have collected data on these at-risk criteria for prior participants served before the 2012–17 cycle, option 9 (“Not applicable, prior or continuing participant served before 2012–17 cycle”) is provided in fields #17–18.
Regarding Field #18, also note that proficiency on standardized tests is used for two purposes in the APR: as a criterion for at-risk status here, and as a measure of the academic improvement PE objective in field #29. A project’s response for field #29 might change over several reporting periods, but for field #18, the response must not change once it is submitted.
For Field #19 (Disability), disability is defined in section 12102 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) and is one of three criteria used to determine if a participant is “at high risk for academic failure”. In the prior APR, a VUB project was required to report on the disability status of a participant for demographic purposes. Therefore, in this new field, report on the disability status of all current year and prior-year participants.
Field #20 (Academic Need, At Initial Selection)
In accordance with 34 CFR 645.3(c), a project, in selecting individuals to participate in an VUB program, must determine that an individual needs academic support if he or she is to pursue successfully a program of postsecondary education. Field #20 lists criteria (other than those listed in fields #17–19) commonly used by projects to determine an individual’s need for services; please choose whichever criterion was primary for the student. If the project has already indicated in fields #17–19 that a participant has academic need sufficient to demonstrate at-risk status for academic failure (as defined in the UB program regulations), the project should select option 1 in field #20, signifying that the student’s need was identified in those fields.
Field # 21—Recruitment
Please indicate how the participant came to your project.
Field #22 –Date of First Project Service
Do not use the date of acceptance into the project unless that is the same as the date of first service. Use the original month and year of service at this project even if the participant subsequently left and reentered. If the participant transferred from another VUB project, in this field give the month and year of first service at the project submitting the report.
For continuing and prior participants, use the date entered in the earlier APR, even if it was a date of entry that differed from the date of first service. Please note that accuracy is particularly important for this field.
Fields #23–25
Self-explanatory.
Field #26—Participant Status
For each participant, the grantee must review the options available and select or update this field as appropriate. The participant status options, defined in Section II, for 2012–13 include:
New participant
Continuing participant
Reentry participant, previously served by project submitting report
Prior-year participant
Unknown
Reference the “Definitions That Apply” section of these instructions for participant eligibility requirements (as noted in 34 CFR 645.3) and the definition of a veteran (as noted in § 645.6).
Fields #27--Served By Another Federal Program Similar to VUB
Self-explanatory.
Field# 28— Called To Active Duty
Select option 1 for an individual who was called to active duty during the 2012–13 project year as a current participant (that is, a new, continuing, or reentry participant). Select option 2 for prior-year participants who had been called to active duty and who served in the military during project year 2012–13.
Field #29—Academic Improvement on Standardized Test
This field refers to the first performance objective listed in the VUB application package for the 2012 competition: applicants were required to indicate what percentage of participants who would complete their VUB program during each project year would improve their academic skills as measured by a standardized test taken before and after receiving services from the project. For all participants who completed their VUB program during the 2012–13 budget period, select among options 1, 2, 3, or 0. For those who did not complete the program during 2012–13, select option 8 or 0.
For participants coded with option 1 or 2, grantees should keep records of the test each participant took, the dates of administration, and the participant’s scores. Grantees should also document their rationale for determining whether a change in scores constituted improvement; such a rationale should presumably be based on the design and content of the test, on background information the test publisher provided about the test, and on the experience of the project with similar students using the test.
Field #30—Date of Last Project Service
If a veteran is still a participant in the VUB project, enter “8s” (“Not applicable, still in the educational program offered by the project”). Report a date of last service only for those participants who the project believes will not return. When reporting a date of last service, please do so regardless of the amount of time the veteran spent in the program. Providing these dates will allow the Department to obtain an accurate measure of the average length of time spent in the program. If a project omitted in last year’s report a date of last service for a given participant who subsequently did not participate in the year on which the project is now reporting, please include that participant in this year’s report as a prior participant and record a date of last project service for him or her, even if the date occurred in the prior reporting period.
For those VUB participants who dropped out of the program, it would be best to use the date the participant last attended a program activity or received any kind of help from the project. This could include contacting a participant regarding attendance in project activities, providing advice, counseling, etc. If that information is not available, you may use the date the participant was no longer on the project’s active list.
For reentry participants, use 88/88/8888 (“Not applicable, participant is still in the program”) if the individual did not complete the program during the project year; enter a new date of last service if the student has again left the program or completed it.
Field #31--VUB Educational Program Completion Year
Grantees should follow the instructions in Section II carefully, as this field is used for calculating performance measures and PE points for three objectives (academic improvement on standardized test, education program retention and completion, and postsecondary enrollment). Because this information was not collected on prior APRs, the grantee must report on participants who completed the VUB program prior to the 2011-12 project year as well as those participants that completed the VUB program in either the 2011-12 or 2012-13 project years.
Projects should determine completion years based on dates of their project years. For the majority of projects, which have September 1–August 31 project years, a participant must have completed the VUB program by August 31, 2013 to be counted in the 2012–13 completion year. For the projects with October 1 start dates, however, a participant must have completed the program by September 30, 2013 to belong in that completion year.
Field #32--Reason for Leaving VUB Program
Self-explanatory
Fields #33–36—Select Project Services
Of the academic instruction and services required or permitted by the authorizing statute and implementing regulations, the APR requests data on four services and activities of special interest to the Department. Complete these fields only for those participants served by the project during the reporting period. If the participant received the service, select 1 = Yes; if not, select 2 = No. If the project did not offer the service, choose “8”; use 9, Not Applicable, for prior participants. Please refer to the section on “Definitions That Apply” for definitions of the services and activities.
Field #37 – Date of First Postsecondary School Enrollment
Report the date of first postsecondary enrollment only for those VUB participants who have left the program (either successfully completing VUB or not). Do not use dates of any postsecondary enrollment prior to participation in VUB. If the participant has taken one or more non-credit postsecondary courses but is still participating in VUB, the participant should not be considered enrolled in postsecondary education. (Note that, as cited in field #26 [Participant Status], participants who enroll in a program of postsecondary education after leaving VUB are no longer eligible to reenter the VUB program.)
You do not need to provide the exact day; you may use 15 (midpoint of the month). If exact month or year is uncertain, use an estimate. If there is no basis for estimating the month, but the year is known or can be estimated, use 01 for the month (e.g., 01/15/2013). If there is no basis for estimating the year, use 00/00/0000 ("Unknown").
Once the date of first postsecondary enrollment has been submitted in one year’s APR, the date must not change in a later reporting year.
Field #38-- Postsecondary Education Enrollment Cohort
This field is used to establish the cohort of participants who will form the denominator for each project’s postsecondary completion objective and for relevant performance measures described in the 2012 VUB grant application instructions and listed in “Definitions That Apply.” Once established, specific cohort years in this field will not be adjusted in later years.
The postsecondary education enrollment cohort can be set for a participant only when he or she has both completed the VUB educational program at any time and enrolled in a program of postsecondary education, for the first time since completing the VUB program, during the project year. Thus, for the 2012–13 APR, participants who had completed the VUB program at any time and enrolled in postsecondary education from August 2012 through July 2013 will be part of the 2012 postsecondary education enrollment (PSEE) cohort. Those participants who had completed the VUB program and enrolled in postsecondary education from August 2013 through July 2014 will be part of the 2013 PSEE cohort. Once established, specific cohort years will not be adjusted in later years. Also, please note that you must report all participants who qualify for the 2012 PSEE in the 2012–13 APR. You will not be able to add any additional participants to the 2012 cohort once the 2012–13 APR has been submitted.
Establishing cohorts for participants in 2007–12 cycle: Grantees that were funded in the 2007–12 grant cycle were directed during that period to maintain indefinitely on their APR file all participants with a scheduled completion year of 2007–08 or later and, to the extent possible, provide updated information on these participants’ academic progress. (Note: The scheduled completion year field was discontinued in the 2012–17 APR.) Because projects were required to maintain these participant records on the APR, these grantees should thus have reliable records of participants who have finished the VUB program and, if applicable, the year in which the participants enrolled in a program of postsecondary education for the first time since completing the VUB program. Using this data as reported in the APRs, the Department has established a postsecondary enrollment cohort year for each prior participant who qualifies for one. For example, a participant who completed the VUB program in the 2010–11 project year and enrolled in postsecondary education in the fall 2011 will have a cohort of 2011; a participant who completed the program in 2009–10 and enrolled in fall 2011 will also have a cohort of 2011. In addition, for several grantees, the Department identified a few participants who finished the VUB program and enrolled in postsecondary education between 2007 and 2012 and who were erroneously dropped from the 2011–12 APR data file. The Department has assigned a postsecondary cohort year for these participants and will require the grantees to add these records to the 2011–12 APR.
Because the postsecondary enrollment cohort year codes in the download file for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 are derived from the data the grantees submitted in prior APRs, the Department will not allow any changes to those codes in the 2012–13 or subsequent years’ APRs.
VUB participants not assigned a cohort year have been coded as follows:
5555 = Left the VUB program before completing it; following VUB participation, enrolled in a postsecondary education by the end of the 2011–12 reporting year;
6666 = Left the VUB program before completing it; following VUB participation, has not enrolled in a postsecondary education program by the end of the 2011–12 reporting year;
7777 = Completed the VUB program but had not enrolled in postsecondary education by the end of the 2011–12 reporting year;
8888 =Not applicable, still in the VUB educational program at the end of 2011–12; and
9999 = Not applicable; for example, prior to 2007–08 academic year, participant was enrolled in postsecondary education program following VUB participation; or APR data previously submitted for the participant was insufficient to establish a cohort
At the start of the 2012–13 APR data collection, in the APR Web application the Department will make available to grantees a downloadable Excel file that “crosswalks,” to the extent possible, the data grantees submitted in the 2011–12 APR to comparable data fields in the new 2012–13 APR; we will add to this file data for this field on prior participants’ postsecondary enrollment cohort years (or a code of 5555, 6666, 7777, 8888, and 9999 as discussed above).
Please note that VUB participants coded as 5555 or 9999 cannot be changed. Those coded 5555 enrolled in postsecondary education without completing the VUB educational program and therefore are not eligible for a postsecondary education cohort year. Some participants coded as 9999 enrolled in postsecondary education prior to the 2007–08 academic year and have not been given a postsecondary cohort year because they enrolled prior to the timeframe established for measuring the postsecondary completion objective. APR data on others coded 9999 was insufficient to establish a cohort.
Codes of 6666, 7777, and 8888 may be changed in a subsequent reporting year. For example, if a participant coded as 6666 returns to VUB, completes the VUB educational program, and then enrolls in postsecondary education, the postsecondary cohort year would be the academic year in which the participant enrolls in postsecondary education.
The Department will be able to use 2013–14 APR data to calculate the postsecondary completion objective for those participants who finished the VUB program at any time and who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education during the 2008–09 academic year. The participants in this group who completed their postsecondary program within six years (that is, by August 30, 2014) will count towards the project’s success in meeting its postsecondary completion objective.
Fields #39–41:
Self-explanatory
Field #42-- Postsecondary Remediation
This information is needed for reporting on one of the performance measures described in the 2012 VUB grant application instructions and listed in “Definitions That Apply.” Please provide data as available at the time the APR is submitted on participants in the 2012 postsecondary education enrollment cohort (see field #38)—that is, those who completed the VUB educational program at any time and enrolled in a program of postsecondary education in project year 2012–13. Select option 1 for members of the 2012 cohort who placed into college-level math and English without need for remediation in their first year of postsecondary education in the 2012–13 project year. For a definition of remediation, please see “Definitions That Apply.”
Fields #43–48-- Postsecondary Credentials Earned
The information in fields #43–48 will allow the Department to report on participants’ attainment of various kinds of credentials over varying lengths of time, as specified in the performance measures described in the 2012 VUB grant application instructions. Each type of credential is to be reported separately, as indicated in the fields.
If a participant has received more than one credential of a particular kind (e.g., more than one certificate), the project should report the date that the first certificate was completed. If a participant attained more than one kind of credential (e.g., an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree), each one should be shown in the report in the respective field.
In field #47 (Bachelor’s Degree Attained), for a student enrolled in a dual degree program (see “Definitions That Apply”) who has completed four years of postsecondary instruction, use option 1 (“Yes, attained bachelor’s degree”) to indicate that the student has accomplished the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree, though a degree was not awarded.
Field #49 –Length of Active Duty
This field is designed to gather data on the extent to which participants in the postsecondary enrollment cohort year that is six years prior to the reporting period (e.g., 2007–08 for the 2012-13 reporting year) (field #38) were called to active duty, and on the duration of service of participants so called. The Department wishes to know to what extent this data might illuminate patterns of postsecondary completion.
Field #50—Participant’s Name Change (Optional)
If the participant changed his or her name and the project needs to use this information to help track the student, please enter the participant’s changed full name (i.e., first and last name). If the student has not changed his or her name from that provided in fields LastNM and FirstNM (fields 5 and 6), there is no need to complete this field; leave it blank. You will be able to update this field in subsequent reporting periods, if needed.
DEFINITIONS THAT APPLY
Veterans Upward Bound
Veterans Upward Bound Standard Objectives From the 2012 Competition
Academic Improvement on Standardized Test: X% of participants who completed their VUB educational program during the project year will improve their academic performance as measured by a standardized test taken before and after receiving services from the project.
Education Program Retention and Completion: X_% of participants served during the project year will complete their VUB educational program by the end of the project year or remain enrolled in the program.
Postsecondary Enrollment: X% of participants who completed their prescribed VUB educational program in the project year (e.g., 2011–12) will enroll in a program of postsecondary education by the end of the next project year (e.g., 2012–13).
Postsecondary Completion: X% of participants who completed the VUB educational program at any time and who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education in the project year (e.g., 2013–14) will complete a program of postsecondary education within six project years (e.g., by project year 2018–19).
Veterans Upward Bound Performance Measures From the 2012 Competition
The success of the VUB Program is measured by the percentage of VUB participants who enroll in and complete postsecondary education. The following performance measures have been developed to track progress toward achieving program success:
The percentage of VUB participants who enrolled in postsecondary education;
The percentage of VUB participants who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education and who attained either an associate degree within three years or a bachelor’s degree within six years;
The percentage of VUB participants who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education and who in the first year of postsecondary education placed into college-level math and English without need for remediation;
The percentage of VUB participants who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education and who graduated on time –- within four years for the bachelor’s degree and within two years for the associate degree;
The cost per successful participant.
Note: To assess the fifth performance measure on efficiency of the program, the Department will track the average cost, in Federal funds, of achieving a successful outcome, where success is defined as enrollment in postsecondary education by a VUB participant no later than one year after program completion.
Veteran means a person who—
Served on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States for a period of more than 180 days and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable;
Served on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces of the United States and was discharged or released because of a service connected disability;
Was a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States and was called to active duty for a period of more than 30 days; or
Was a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces of the United States who served on active duty in support of a contingency operation (as that term is defined in section 101(a) (13) of title 10, United States Code) on or after September 11, 2001.
Ethnicity Category (Field #10)
Hispanic or Latino - A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
Race Categories (Fields #11–15)
American Indian or Alaska Native - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central America), and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment.
Asian - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. This area includes, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Black or African American - A person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.
White - A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East.
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii or other Pacific islands such as Samoa and Guam.
Participant Eligibility (Fields #16–20)
Low-income individual means an individual whose family taxable income did not exceed 150 percent of the poverty level amount in the calendar year preceding the year in which the individual initially participated in the project. The poverty level amount is determined using criteria of poverty established by the Bureau of the Census of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
First-generation college student means an individual neither of whose natural or adoptive parents received a baccalaureate degree; or a student who, prior to the age of 18, regularly resided with and received support from only one natural or adoptive parent and whose supporting parent did not receive a baccalaureate degree.
High risk for academic failure includes veterans who:
Have been out of high school or dropped out of a program of postsecondary education for five or more years;
Have on standardized tests scored beneath the level that demonstrates a likelihood of success in a program of postsecondary education; or
Meet the definition of an individual with a disability as defined in §645.6(b).
Select Project Services (Fields #33–36)
Field #33 (Basic Skills Development): Intensive basic skills development in those academic subjects required for successful completion of a high school equivalency program and for admission to postsecondary education programs.
Field #34 (Short Term Courses): Short-term remedial or refresher courses for veterans who are high school graduates but who have delayed pursuing postsecondary education.
Field #35 (Local Support): Assistance to veterans in securing support services from other locally available resources such as the Veterans Administration, State veterans agencies, veterans associations, and other State and local agencies that serve veterans.
Field #36 (Special Services): Special services that supplement the project’s instructional program in mathematics and science to prepare veterans for postsecondary education.
Fields 37-48 (Postsecondary Enrollment and Completion)
Provide postsecondary enrollment information only for those VUB participants who have left the program (either successfully completing VUB or not). Do not use dates of any postsecondary enrollment (or degree completion) prior to participation in VUB. If the participant has taken one or more non-credit postsecondary courses but is still participating in VUB (for example, if the student is taking a non-credit postsecondary English course but still completing preparatory work in other content areas in the VUB program), the participant should not be considered enrolled in postsecondary education. (Note that, as cited in field #26 [Participant Status], participants who enroll in a program of postsecondary education after leaving VUB are no longer eligible to reenter the VUB program.]
A participant is considered enrolled if he or she has completed registration requirements (excluding payment of tuition and fees) at the institution he or she is attending.
Postsecondary Remediation (Field #42)
For the purpose of APR reporting, remedial education courses in English/writing or mathematics are courses for college-level students lacking those skills necessary to perform college-level work at the level required by the institution.
Bachelor’s Degree Attained (Field #47)
A dual degree program is a program of study that awards an individual both the bachelor’s and a graduate degree upon successful completion of the program of study. For a student enrolled in such a program who has completed four years of postsecondary instruction, in field #47 grantees may use option 1 (“Yes, attained bachelor’s degree”) to indicate that the student has accomplished the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree, though a degree was not yet awarded.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Authorised User |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-01-27 |