(a) Quality Assurance Program

(1) In general

The Secretary is authorized to select institutions for voluntary participation in a Quality Assurance Program that provides participating institutions with an alternative management approach through which individual schools develop and implement their own comprehensive systems, related to processing and disbursement of student financial aid, verification of student financial aid application data, and entrance and exit interviews, thereby enhancing program integrity within the student aid delivery system.

(2) Criteria and consideration

The Quality Assurance Program authorized by this section shall be based on criteria that include demonstrated institutional performance, as determined by the Secretary, and shall take into consideration current quality assurance goals, as determined by the Secretary. The selection criteria shall ensure the participation of a diverse group of institutions of higher education with respect to size, mission, and geographical distribution.

(3) Waiver

The Secretary is authorized to waive for any institution participating in the Quality Assurance Program any regulations dealing with reporting or verification requirements in this subchapter that are addressed by the institution’s alternative management system, and may substitute such quality assurance reporting as the Secretary determines necessary to ensure accountability and compliance with the purposes of the programs under this subchapter. The Secretary shall not modify or waive any statutory requirements pursuant to this paragraph.

(4) Determination

The Secretary is authorized to determine—

(A) when an institution that is unable to administer the Quality Assurance Program shall be removed from such program; and

(B) when institutions desiring to cease participation in such program will be required to complete the current award year under the requirements of the Quality Assurance Program.

(5) Review and evaluation

The Secretary shall review and evaluate the Quality Assurance Program conducted by each participating institution and, on the basis of that evaluation, make recommendations regarding amendments to this chapter that will streamline the administration and enhance the integrity of Federal student assistance programs. Such recommendations shall be submitted to the authorizing committees.

(b) Regulatory improvement and streamlining experiments

(1) In general

The Secretary shall continue the voluntary participation of any experimental sites in existence as of July 1, 2007, unless the Secretary determines that such site’s participation has not been successful in carrying out the purposes of this section. Any experimental sites approved by the Secretary prior to such date that have not been successful in carrying out the purposes of this section shall be discontinued not later than June 30, 2010.

(2) Report

The Secretary shall review and evaluate the experience of institutions participating as experimental sites and shall, on a biennial basis, submit a report based on the review and evaluation to the authorizing committees. Such report shall include—

(A) a list of participating institutions and the specific statutory or regulatory waivers granted to each institution;

(B) the findings and conclusions reached regarding each of the experiments conducted; and

(C) recommendations for amendments to improve and streamline this chapter, based on the results of the experiment.

(3) Selection

(A) In general

The Secretary is authorized to periodically select a limited number of additional institutions for voluntary participation as experimental sites to provide recommendations to the Secretary on the impact and effectiveness of proposed regulations or new management initiatives.

(B) Waivers

The Secretary is authorized to waive, for any institution participating as an experimental site under subparagraph (A), any requirements in this subchapter, including requirements related to the award process and disbursement of student financial aid (such as innovative delivery systems for modular or compressed courses, or other innovative systems), verification of student financial aid application data, entrance and exit interviews, or other management procedures or processes as determined in the negotiated rulemaking process under section 1098a of this title, or regulations prescribed under this subchapter, that will bias the results of the experiment, except that the Secretary shall not waive any provisions with respect to award rules (other than an award rule related to an experiment in modular or compressed schedules), grant and loan maximum award amounts, and need analysis requirements unless the waiver of such provisions is authorized by another provision under this subchapter.

(4) Determination of success

For the purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make a determination of success regarding an institution’s participation as an experimental site based on—

(A) the ability of the experimental site to reduce administrative burdens to the institution, as documented in the Secretary’s biennial report under paragraph (2), without creating costs for the taxpayer; and

(B) whether the experimental site has improved the delivery of services to, or otherwise benefitted, students.

(c) “Current award year” defined

For purposes of this section, the term “current award year” means the award year during which the participating institution indicates the institution’s intention to cease participation.