OMB Approval No.: 1840-0832
Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX
Veterans
Upward Bound (VUB) Program
General
Instructions for Completing the Annual Performance Report
for
Program Year 2022-23
INTRODUCTION
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 program as a whole.
Title IV, Part A, Subpart 2, Chapter 1, Section 402A and Section 402C, of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), 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).
All grantees funded under the Veterans Upward Bound program must submit an annual performance report as a condition of the grant award.
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.
Need for data: As noted at the outset of these instructions, the Department needs grantees’ data not only to calculate prior experience (PE) points, but also to meet program-level reporting requirements and to perform other data analyses.
Relevance to PE calculations: PE points are calculated using the middle three years of the five-year grant cycle. PE points would be based on 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26. The Department will provide a Standard Objectives Report in lieu of the PE Points Report in the 1st and 5th years of the grant cycle (2022-23 and 2026-27) to help grantees continue to monitor their accomplishments.
Participant records that you need to include in your APR:
Records for all new participants—that is, veterans for whom Participant Status (field #26) is 1 (new).
You will need to include data on veterans that you reported on in your 2021-22 APR, with the following three (3) exceptions, in which cases reported last year have been retired:
Criterion 1 – VetPSECohort = 2016
Criterion 2 – VetPSECohort = 8888 or 9999 AND BachDegreeDT has a date value
Criterion 3 – VetPSECohort =
8888 or 9999 AND VetLastSerDate is on or before 08/31/2013 AND
VetProjEntryDT is on or before 08/31/2013 AND VetPartCD = 4 AND
VetFirstEnrollDT is before 08/01/2017 or option 99/99/9999.
In the web application we are providing a file for you to download that contains your data from the previous year with retired cases removed.
Update all the student records in the download file. Update information about prior-year participants, as required. For former participants whom you have been unable to track, you may choose the option “Unknown” wherever appropriate in updating the file.
Note on the postsecondary completion objective (see full content in “Definitions That Apply”): This objective measures the percentage of participants who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education within a certain timeframe and who completed such a program within six years of the cohort year. For purposes of demonstrating that a given participant contributed to the project’s meeting the postsecondary completion objective, a grantee need only show that the former participant earned one postsecondary credential. For fuller understanding of the VUB program, however, the Department wishes to have data on the extent to which VUB participants earned more than one credential (such as a certificate and an associate degree, or an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree) within the six-year period; we also believe that this information will be valuable for grantees. We therefore urge grantees to continue to track diligently and report over the full six years the academic progress of former participants who earn a credential prior to the end of the six-year period.
Case numbers are unique identifiers established by the Department. Each participant in the match file that grantees must download will have a case number; for each participant in a grantee’s APR file who is coded “New” in the Participant Status Code field (VetPartCD, field #26), the system will provide a case number when the grantee submits its APR. The grant project, when uploading or entering a new student record, must leave the Case Number Field blank. For all other records the grant project must report the exact case number for the same students as it appears in the match file.
Case numbers will allow TRIO to link records for the same individual participant over multiple reporting years, so that the Department can track academic outcomes for the students whom grantees have served. The Department will require grantees to report valid case numbers in field #4 of the APR, now with the field name “CaseNumber.”
In preparing their 2022-23 APRs, grantees must include in the uploaded APR file all the records in the download file, including the case numbers that the Department established for these records. Moreover, for each individual in the download file, grantees must provide in their APR values for the following fields that are identical to those of the download file:
Case number (field #4)
Last name (field #5)
First name (field #6)
Date of birth (field #8)
Cohort value (field #38), if the download file value is a year or 9999 (not applicable, does not qualify for a cohort)
In the upload file, the grantee is allowed to include only those in the download file, with the exception of participants who are coded “new” in the Participant Status field (PartCD, field #26). Any participant that the Department has dropped from the 2021-22 file (for example, participants with a cohort of 2016) must not appear in the upload file.
As noted on page 2 of these instructions, for the 2022-27 grant cycle, the Department will calculate PE points based on data submitted in the 2023–24, 2024–25, and 2025-26 APRs, using the average of the highest two years’ total scores. Further information on PE calculations may be found in these instructions and in the appendix that will be available on the VUB web pages devoted to performance and the APR.
The report consists of two sections, both of which grantees are required to complete: Section I requests project-identifying data, while Section II contains detailed instructions for preparing a data file of information on individual participants.
The annual report is normally submitted electronically within 90 days after the end of each 12-month project year. In the case of the 2022-23 APR, the planned date for availability of the online APR is Month XX, 2024, with a planned due date of Month XX, 2024.
All VUB grantees must complete the APR online using our contractor’s web application. The entire report should be submitted via the 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. Only Section I, not the entire report, should be uploaded. The upload must be completed within five business days of final submission of your online APR.
Because the APR requests personal and confidential information on project participants, the secured website 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 thus 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 email.
The web application that VUB grantees must use to submit the annual performance report will be available at http://www2.ed.gov/programs/triovub/report.html and 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 XLSX file format.
Functionality to view, delete, and 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.
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 “Preview PE Report” button that will allow you to see your PE results prior to submission.
A “Submit” button to send the entire report to the Department.
An email confirmation that the report has been submitted (a valid email address must be provided in Section I).
A button to upload a signed copy of Section I only. Do not upload a copy of the entire report.
The online application provides, on an annual basis, a report of PE points awarded once a grantee has successfully submitted an APR for one of the PE assessment years.
A project will receive confirmation when the report has been successfully submitted. If you do not receive an email 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.
Please contact your program specialist directly if you have questions regarding the performance report requirements. A state listing of program 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: 703-885-8008 or via e-mail at: [email protected].
11. Confidentiality/Privacy Act Information
The following statement appears at the end of the OMB-approved APR data collection instrument (Section II of the APR) to which grantees respond:
Note to the Data Collector: Please see Privacy Act Statement below and convey its content to participants as you collect the information.
Privacy Act Statement – In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (Public Law No. 93-579, 5 U.S.C. 552A), you are hereby notified that the Department of Education is authorized to collect information to implement the Upward Bound program under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (Pub. Law 102-325, sec. 402A and 402C). In accordance with this authority, the Department receives and maintains personal information on participants in the Upward Bound program. The principal purpose for collecting this information is to administer the program, including tracking and evaluating participants’ academic progress. Providing the information on this form is voluntary; failure to disclose personal information will not result in denial of any right, benefit, or privilege to which the participant is entitled. The information that is collected on this form will be retained in the program files and may be released to other Department officials in the performance of official duties. The information will not be disclosed outside of the Department, except as allowed by the Privacy Act of 1974, pursuant to the routine uses identified in the System of Records Notice titled “TRIO Programs Annual Performance Report (APR) System (TRIO APR).”
Access the website. To begin completing this report online, from the Department’s web page (http:/www2.ed.gov/programs/triovub/report.html) 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. Then please follow these steps:
Click on the Login and Registration button or on the image for the VUB program; then, after reading the content on the Warning page, click on the OK button.
Enter the project's PR award number (found on your Grant Award Notification).
Enter the project director’s e-mail address and first and last names.
Enter your desired password; then retype it to confirm. Your password must contain eight to 12 characters, and must include:
at least one English uppercase character (A-Z),
at least one English lowercase character (a-z),
at least one numeric number (0-9), and
at least one non-alphanumeric special character (e.g., :, !, @, #, $, &, *, %, /, +, -).
Select and answer two security questions and click “Submit.”
If the project director’s information matches the data that the Department currently has on file, you will be able to proceed by reentering your password.
If the project director’s information does not match the data that the Department currently has on file, you will be directed to a "Registration Failed" page, at which you will be asked to complete a form. Your program specialist and the Help Desk will be sent an e-mail message requesting verification of your information.
Verification will occur within two business days if the program specialist can readily confirm a change in project director or email address. Once the Help Desk has received verification from the program specialist, you will be notified to continue with registration following the steps above.
Once registered, if you forget your password, you will find a "Forgot Password" link on the login page. The link will route you to a screen that will allow you to retrieve your password by answering the two security questions you provided at initial registration. Once you answer the two questions, you can reset your password.
Note also that, after three failed attempts to access the website, you will be required to reset your password using the security questions established at registration.
Section I is divided into Parts 1 and 2. The first part covers 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 2022 grant competition.
Section I, Part 1
Section I, Part 1 covers the project’s identification and characteristics, along with certification and a warning statement. Your PR award number will be automatically inserted into line 1 of Section 1; the system will also pre-populate most of the other data fields in this section. Please review the pre-populated fields, including the project director’s email 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. The Certification 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. You must scan and upload the signed Section I--Certification page within five business days of submitting your online APR.
Section I, Part 2: Competitive Preference Priorities
The 2022 VUB grant competition established three (3) competitive preference priorities to encourage applicants to propose for their projects: activities that demonstrate a rationale; enhanced capacity to support programming that meets veterans’ social, emotional, academic, and career development; and strengthened cross-agency coordination and community engagement to advance systemic change. In this section, each grantee that indicates that the project addressed the priority in its grant application will be asked to respond.
Please see pages 2–4 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.
As you may be aware from recent experience, the Department has required that you retain in your data file all student records found in the previous year’s APR. To assist you in doing this, in the web application we have provided a file for you to download that contains data from the previous year. As indicated on pages 2–4 of these instructions, for the 2022-23 APR the Department has dropped certain older records from the files of some grantees; these grantees’ download files will thus contain not all of the participant records found in the 2021-22 APR. Note also that only records in the download file, plus records that you add this year in which Participant Status (field #26) is 1 (new), may be included in your 2022-23 APR. The new case numbers for VUB will help ensure the completeness and accuracy of your data.
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 2022-23 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 2021-22 APR, even if you have discovered errors or misspellings in last year’s APR. Identifying data includes case number (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, and are identified in Section II by a checkmark in the section’s fifth column:
Field # |
Field Name |
#4 |
Case 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 |
#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 code in the case of field #38). The specific data for these fields that has been submitted in one year’s APR must not change in subsequent years’ APRs. These fields are:
Field # |
Field Name |
#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:
Field # |
Field Name |
#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 |
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). Moreover, the Department needs an accurate month and a year for several fields used in establishing cohorts and calculating objectives: Date of First Project Service (field #22), Date of Last Project Service in VUB (field #30), Date of First Postsecondary Enrollment (field #37), and dates of completing postsecondary credentials (fields #44, 46, and 48). If the day is unknown, use 15. For example, a participant’s date of first project service of September 2018 would be formatted as follows: 09/15/2018. To ensure that the date is properly imported, always insert slashes, and use the zero before one-digit months and days.
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 uses “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.
The objectives for the program are found in the “Definitions That Apply” pages at the end of this document. A tab in the web application will be pre-populated with the target percentages you have set for your project’s objectives.
Once the grantee has successfully logged in to the VUB APR Web application, this field will be pre-populated for each participant record.
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 2022 funds are used to support project activities in the 2022-23 program year. Thus, the data file for Batch Year 2022 will include information on project participants served or tracked during program year 2022-23.
Please refer to pages 4-5 of this document.
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 2022-23 APR (except for students new in 2022-23).
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.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2007-10-19/pdf/E7-20613.pdf
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.
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.
If the participant declines to answer questions about race and ethnicity, the grantee should use observation, as discussed in the guidance. While grantees should make a good effort to collect data on race and ethnicity for all participants, if for some highly unusual reason the race and/or ethnicity of a particular student is unknown, as a last resort the grantee may leave the race and/or ethnicity fields blank. For further details on the guidance for collecting data, please see the full Federal Register notice. Grantees are responsible for implementing all relevant aspects of the guidance. For definitions of the ethnicity and race categories, refer to the “Definitions That Apply” section of these instructions.
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 requires projects to assess a new 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 the participant meets at least one of the criteria for high-risk status, the project should select option “7” (low income, first generation, and at high risk).
Because the high-risk eligibility status was new to the 2012–17 grant cycle, the Department was aware that information on high risk would not be available for participants first served prior to the 2012–13 project year; further, the Department recognized 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, projects were 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.
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 expected projects to assess all new participants’ eligibility based on all three criteria; this includes determining if the participant has been out of school for five years, has low standardized test scores, or has a disability, so as to be able to respond to fields #17–19 without extensive use of the “Unknown” option. 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 2013–14 or 2014–15, the project may continue to use “Unknown” as necessary for those participants 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.” As far back as the 2007–12 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.
In accordance with 34 CFR 645.3(c), a project, in selecting individuals to participate in a VUB program, must determine that an individual needs academic support if that individual 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 might or might not choose option 1 (Need established in one or more of the At-Risk fields), depending on which criterion in fields #17–20 was primary for the student’s need for services.
Please indicate how the participant came to your project.
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.
Self-explanatory.
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, include:
New participant
Continuing participant
Reentry participant, previously served by project submitting report
Prior-year participant
Refer to the VUB APR, Section II (Record Structure for Participant List), for definitions of the participant status options, and to 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).
With regard to reentry participants, please note that participants who enrolled in postsecondary education after leaving VUB are not eligible to reenter VUB.
Self-explanatory.
Select option 1 for an individual who was called to active duty during the 2022-23 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 2022-23.
This field refers to the first performance objective listed in the VUB application package for the 2021 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 2022-23 budget period, select among options 1, 2, or 3. For those who did not complete the program during 2022-23, select option 8 or 9.
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.
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.
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).
Please refer to column one of the “Calculating Postsecondary Enrollment Cohorts” table at the end of these instructions for guidance on selecting the correct completion year for participants served during the reporting year. Projects should determine completion years based on dates of their project years. The majority of projects have September 1–August 31 project years, and for these projects, a participant must have completed the VUB program by August 31, 2023, to be counted in the 2022-23 completion year (also referred to as the 2022 completion year). For the projects with October 1 start dates, however, a participant must have completed the program by September 30, 2023, to belong in that completion year.
Note that a project should choose the 2023 completion year (2023-24) for a participant only in situations in which the individual actually completed the program no earlier than September 1 or October 1, 2023, depending on the starting date of the project year. The participant’s date of last service (field #30) should be no later than the date you submit the APR.
For any participant for whom you report a VUB completion year in field #31, you should also select option 1, successfully completed program, in field #32. For participants still in the VUB program, select 88. If the participant left VUB without completing the VUB educational program, select one of the other options.
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.
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 not eligible to reenter the VUB program.)
You do not need to provide the exact day; you may use 15 (midpoint of the month). If the exact month or year is uncertain, 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.
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 2021 VUB grant application instructions and listed in “Definitions That Apply.” A postsecondary education enrollment cohort can be set for a participant only when he or she has
completed the VUB program in one project year and
enrolled in a program of postsecondary education no later than the end of the subsequent project year for the first time since completing the VUB program.
Once established, specific cohort years will not be adjusted in later years.
A participant is disqualified from belonging to a cohort year if he or she
completed the VUB program but did not enroll in a postsecondary education program within the specified timeframe, or
enrolled in a postsecondary education program without having completed the VUB program.
Please note that project years and cohort years do not coincide precisely: project years run September 1–August 31 or October 1–September 30, while cohort years run August 1–July 31 to coincide with the most common postsecondary enrollment patterns. Thus, a participant who completed VUB in project year 2021-22 and enrolled in a postsecondary program in project year 2022-23 will belong in a cohort, but it will be the 2022 cohort if he or she enrolls by July 31, 2022, or the 2023 cohort if enrollment occurs in August or September 2023. (Please see the cohort table at the end of “Definitions That Apply.”)
A cohort may be set for a participant only when he or she completed the VUB program in one project year and enrolled in a program of postsecondary education no later than the end of the subsequent project year for the first time since completing the VUB program. Please note that any participant who completed the program in the 2021-22 project year (field #31, Completion Year = 2021) must enroll in postsecondary education by the end of the 2022-23 project year to be counted as a member of a cohort; otherwise, the participant will not qualify for one. Therefore, you should be sure to ascertain whether these individuals did enroll in postsecondary education before the end of the 2022-23project year, and, for those that enrolled, you must report in field #37 the date of first post-secondary school enrollment in the 2022-23 APR. As noted above, such participants who enrolled within the period August 1, 2022, through July 31, 2023, will be members of the 2022 cohort; those who enrolled within the two-month period August 1, 2023, through September 30, 2023, will be members of the 2023 cohort.
Also note that all participants who qualify for the 2022 postsecondary enrollment cohort must be reported in the 2022-23 APR; this includes any individuals who completed the VUB program in 2022 and enrolled in postsecondary by the end of the 2022-23 academic year, i.e., by July 31, 2023. No participants will be added to the 2022 postsecondary enrollment cohort in an APR later than the 2022-23 APR.
In addition to cohort years, field #38 contains the following codes:
8888 refers to participants who have not yet enrolled in a postsecondary program; the rules for establishing cohort years allow these participants to have the potential to belong to a cohort. 8888 is correctly used for:
Individuals who were participating (or had reentered) in VUB at the end of the project year reported, and had not previously completed the VUB program and enrolled in postsecondary education following participation in VUB;
Participants who had completed VUB during the project year but have not yet enrolled in a postsecondary education program (they have until the end of the subsequent project year to do so); and
Participants who left VUB without completing the program and who have not yet enrolled in a postsecondary program.
9999 refers to participants who do not qualify for a cohort. 9999 is correctly used for:
Participants who completed VUB during one project year, but had not enrolled in a postsecondary program by the end of the subsequent project year.
Participants who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education after leaving, but not completing, VUB.
Participants who completed VUB during the 2021-22 project year and enrolled in a postsecondary education program on a date within the 2020 cohort (see table at end of these instructions), but whose enrollment date and cohort year were not reported in the 2021-22 APR.
Participants coded as 8888 in one project year may remain coded 8888 in the next project year (if, for example, they are still in the VUB project at the end of the next project year), may become members of a cohort if they complete VUB and enroll in a postsecondary program within the established timeframe, or may be coded 9999 in the next project year if they become disqualified for a cohort.
For the 2022-23 reporting year, the Department will be able to calculate the postsecondary completion objective for those participants who have been assigned a PSE cohort year of 2017. The participants in this group who completed their postsecondary program within six years (that is, by August 31, 2023) will count towards the project’s success in meeting its postsecondary completion objective.
Self-explanatory.
This information is needed for reporting on one of the performance measures described in the 2021 VUB grant application instructions and listed in “Definitions That Apply.” Please provide data as available at the time the APR is submitted for participants in the 2022 postsecondary education enrollment cohort (see field #38)—that is, those who completed the VUB educational program in project year 2020-21, 2021-22, or 2022-23 and enrolled in a program of postsecondary education in the period August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 (for more specific information on timeframes, please refer to the cohort table at the end of “Definitions That Apply”). Select option 1 for members of the 2022 cohort who placed into college-level math and English without need for remediation in their first year of postsecondary education in the 2022-23 project year. For a definition of remediation, please see “Definitions That Apply.”
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 2021 VUB grant application instructions. Each type of credential is to be reported separately, as indicated in the fields.
Please note that, for calculating postsecondary completion, data in both of the fields for any credential must support enrollment. That is, a participant will count towards your completion objective only if your data comprises 1 for field #43 (Certificate/Diploma Completed) and an acceptable date for field #44 (Date of First Certificate/Diploma); or the same sort of data in both fields for an associate degree; or the same sort of data in both fields for a bachelor’s degree.
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.
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., 2017 in field #38 for the 2022-23reporting year) 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.
If the participant changed their name, and if 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). Note that the first and last names provided in fields #5 and 6 (VetLastNM and VetFirstNM) remain identifiers that the Department will use to track the student; thus fields #5 and 6 must not change from year to year.
Names entered in field #50 may be in a variety of formats, e.g., John Doe, John D. Doe, Jane Smith-Doe, Jane Smith Doe, John Doe II, John Doe, Jr. Moreover, you will be able to update this field in subsequent reporting periods.
If the name of the student has not changed, the project need not complete field #50.
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., 2021-22) will enroll in a program of postsecondary education by the end of the next project year (e.g., 2022-23).
Postsecondary Completion: X% of participants who completed the VUB educational program in one project year (e.g., 2016-17) and who enrolled in a program of postsecondary education by the end of the next project year (e.g., 2017-18) will complete a program of postsecondary education within six project years (e.g., by project year 2022-23).
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.
Hispanic or Latino - A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
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.
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).
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.
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 will no longer be eligible to reenter the VUB program as of the 2015-16 project year.)
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.
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.
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.
If participant completed the VUB program in the 2020-21 project year… |
…and enrolled in a PSE program in this date range… |
…within this academic year |
…then the participant’s PSE enrollment cohort is… |
September 1, 2019-August 31, 2020 |
September 1, 2020–July 31, 2021 |
August 1, 2020–July 31, 2021 |
2020 (grantee cannot select this year in 2022-23 APR) |
|
August 1, 2021–July 31, 2022 |
August 1, 2020–July 31, 2021 |
2020 (grantee cannot select this year in 2021-22 APR) |
|
August 1–September 30, 2022 |
August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
2022 (Note: Grantees must report enrollment in 2022-23 APR if a cohort year is to be assigned to these participants.) |
|
Enrolled after September 30, 2022, or not enrolled by October 1, 2022 |
August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
9999 |
October 1, 2020–September 30, 2021 |
October 1, 2020–July 31, 2021 |
August 1, 2020–July 31, 2021 |
2020 (grantee cannot select this year in 2022-23 APR) |
|
August 1, 2021–July 31, 2022 |
August 1, 2021–July 31, 2022 |
2021 (grantee cannot select this year in 2022-23 APR) |
|
August 1–September 30, 2022 |
August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
2022 (Note: Grantees must report enrollment in 2022-23 APR if a cohort year is to be assigned to these participants.) |
|
Enrolled after September 30, 2022, or not enrolled by October 1, 2022 |
August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
9999 |
If participant completed the VUB program in the 2021-22 project year… |
…and enrolled in a PSE program in this date range… |
…within this academic year |
…then the participant’s PSE enrollment cohort is… |
September 1, 2021–August 31, 2022 |
September 1, 2021–July 31, 2022 |
August 1, 2021–July 31, 2022 |
2021 (grantee cannot select this year in 2022-23 APR) |
|
August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
2022 (Note: Grantees must report enrollment in 2022-23 APR if a cohort year is to be assigned to these participants.) |
|
August 1–September 30, 2023 |
August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024 |
2023 |
|
Enrolled after September 30, 2023, or not enrolled by October 1, 2023 |
August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024 |
9999 |
October 1, 2021–September 30, 2022 |
October 1, 2021–July 31, 2022 |
August 1, 2021–July 31, 2022 |
2021 (grantee cannot select this year in 2022-23 APR) |
|
August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
2022 (Note: Grantees must report enrollment in 2022-23 APR if a cohort year is to be assigned to these participants.) |
|
August 1–September 30, 2023 |
August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024 |
2023 |
|
Enrolled after September 30, 2023, or not enrolled by October 1, 2023 |
August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024 |
9999 |
If participant completed the VUB program in the 2022-23 project year… |
…and enrolled in a PSE program in this date range… |
…within this academic year |
…then the participant’s PSE enrollment cohort is… |
September 1, 2022–August 31, 2023 |
September 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
August 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
2022 (Note: Grantees must report enrollment in 2022-23 APR if a cohort year is to be assigned to these participants.) |
|
August 1, 2023-July 31, 2024 |
August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024 |
2023 |
|
August 1–September 30, 2024 |
August 1, 2024–July 31, 2025 |
2024 (grantee cannot select this year in 2022-23 APR) |
|
Enrolled after September 30, 2024; or not enrolled by October 1, 2024 |
August 1, 2024–July 31, 2025 |
9999 |
October 1, 2022–September 30, 2023 |
October 1, 2022–July 31, 2023 |
August 1, 2022-July 31, 2023 |
2022 (Note: Grantees must report enrollment in 2022-23 APR if a cohort year is to be assigned to these participants.) |
|
August 1, 2023–July 31, 2024 |
August 1, 2023-July 31, 2024 |
2023 |
|
August 1–September 30, 2024 |
August 1, 2024–July 31, 2025 |
2024 (grantee cannot select this year in 2022-23 APR) |
|
Enrolled after September 30, 2024; or not enrolled by October 1, 2024 |
August 1, 2024–July 31, 2025 |
9999 |
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 0000-00-00 |