The Performance Measurement Study Of The Title III Institutional Aid Program

What is Title III ?

Thirty years ago the U.S. Congress recognized the critical need to assure that the benefits of a higher education be made accessible to everyone. Title III of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) was enacted to provide Federal assistance for a program to strengthen and improve the academic quality, strengthen the administrative capacity, and establish an endowment fund in order to achieve growth and self-sufficiency for developing institutions. Amendments to the Act have altered some of the elements of the program, but it remains basically as written--an instrument to provide assistance to institutions demonstrating a constructive effort to strengthen themselves. The annual amount allocated by Congress to support the Title III Programs exceeds $200,000,000. In recent years, nearly 500 colleges and universities throughout the United States, its territories, and possessions have received Title III funds annually.

The Title III Institutional Aid Program is intended to equalize educational opportunity for disadvantaged students by assisting eligible colleges and universities. Eligible institutions are as follows:

• Historically Black Colleges and Universities
• Historically Black Graduate Institutions
• Other institutions with limited financial resources, that serve a high percentage of students receiving need-based federal financial assistance

This federal program currently provides assistance to more than 350 postsecondary institutions. Grant funds may be used to improve academic programs, student services, institutional management, and financial stability. At the institutional level, a wide range of activities has been funded under these umbrella objectives. Even within a single institution, Title III funds are typically used to support more than one activity.

Understanding the Study

The diversity of activities funded under Title III has made it difficult to compile and evaluate the results of the program in overall terms. Last year, Congress asked the U.S. Department of Education to review the Title III program, and to develop a system of performance measurement that can report the accomplishments of the program as a whole. The three-year performance measurement study has four main goals:

1. To reach consensus on a set of specific, measurable goals for the Title III program overall.
2. To develop a performance measurement system and reporting format that can show how well the program is meeting its goals.
3. To identify examples of "best practice" uses of Title III funds.
4. To review the management processes of the Title III program office.

With the help of the grantee institutions, we can achieve these goals. Grantees' assistance is needed in providing complete and accurate data about the outcomes of their Title III activities, so that Congress can see how effective the program has been. The results of the study will also help the program comply with the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act and the National Performance Review.

The study will proceed under the guidance of an advisory panel, which consists of five experts on institutional development and finance and eight representatives from institutions that are Title III grantees.

Why Performance Indicators?

The present era of budgetary constraints has prompted a re-examination of many federal programs, including Title III. The grantees have provided extensive documentation thus far on the results of individual activities at their institutions. An overall picture, however, has been lacking. We must now respond to a call for greater accountability, which means aggregating the results of the program at the national level, in a way that is meaningful to federal decision-makers. The present study aims to develop a system of performance indicators that can show the outcomes of Title III nationwide.

There is an important distinction between performance indicators and national benchmarks or standards. An indicator provides information about progress toward a stated objective, while a national benchmark or standard sets a minimum level of performance that all are expected to achieve. This project is designed to produce indicators of progress toward the Title III goals.