The Department of Education (ED) collects Annual Performance Reports (APRs) from Educational Opportunity Centers (EOC) grantees under the authority of Title IV, Part A, Subpart 2, Division 1, Sections 402A and 402B of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, the program regulations in 34 CFR 644, and the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR), in 34 CFR 74.51, 75.720, and 75.732. The information that grantees submit in their APRs allows ED to annually assess each grantee's progress in meeting their project's approved goals and objectives. The APR data that grantees submit are compared with the projects' approved objectives to determine the projects' accomplishments, to make decisions regarding whether funding should be continued, and to award "prior experience" points. The regulations for this program provide for awarding up to 15 points for prior experience (34 CR 644.22). During a competition for new grant awards, the prior experience points are added to the average of the peer reviewers' scores to arrive at a total score for each application. Funding recommendations and decisions are primarily based on the rank order of applications on the slate; therefore, assessment of prior experience points, based on data in the annual performance report, is a crucial part of the overall application process.
Further, this performance report form is the main source of data for the Department's response to the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) for this program. In addition, the Department uses the annual performance reports to produce program level data for annual reporting, budget submissions to OMB, Congressional hearings and inquiries, and responding to inquiries from higher education interest groups and the general public.
EOC APRs are prepared and submitted by EOC grant projects. For each EOC grant project, the grant project director of record completes, or supervises the completion of the data submission process. The grant project director supervises the administration of an EOC grant. An EOC grant provides counseling and information on college admissions to qualified adults who want to enter or continue a program of postsecondary education. The program also provides services to improve the financial and economic literacy of participants. An important objective of the program is to counsel participants on financial aid options, including basic financial planning skills, and to assist in the application process. The goal of the EOC program is to increase the number of adult participants who enroll in postsecondary education institutions.
The proposed revision to the APR entails replacement of Competitive Preference Priority (CPP) questions with new CPP questions of equal response time. In addition, the annual number of responses and total annual burden hours have been adjusted to reflect an increase in the size of the reporting universe.
The number of respondents (funded grant projects) has decreased by 2 from 183 to 181, and total burden has decreased accordingly.
$217,440
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No
No
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Marie Julienne 202 987-1054
No
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
EOC APR
83C_EOC (1).pdf
Supporting Statement Part A EOC 3.18.25.docx
Educational Opportunity Centers Annual Performance Report