§ 1138.
(a)
Authority
The Secretary is authorized to make grants to, or enter into contracts with, institutions of higher education, combinations of such institutions, and other public and private nonprofit institutions and agencies, to enable such institutions, combinations, and agencies to improve postsecondary education opportunities by—
(1)
the encouragement of reform and improvement of, and innovation in, postsecondary education and the provision of educational opportunity for all students, including nontraditional students;
(2)
the creation of institutions, programs, and joint efforts involving paths to career and professional training, including—
(A)
efforts that provide academic credit for programs; and
(B)
combinations of academic and experiential learning;
(3)
the establishment and continuation of institutions, programs, consortia, collaborations, and other joint efforts based on communications technology, including those efforts that utilize distance education and technological advancements to educate and train postsecondary students (including health professionals serving medically underserved populations);
(4)
the carrying out, in postsecondary educational institutions, of changes in internal structure and operations designed to clarify institutional priorities and purposes;
(5)
the design and introduction of cost-effective methods of instruction and operation;
(6)
the introduction of institutional reforms designed to expand individual opportunities for entering and reentering postsecondary institutions and pursuing programs of postsecondary study tailored to individual needs;
(7)
the introduction of reforms in graduate education, in the structure of academic professions, and in the recruitment and retention of faculties;
(8)
the creation of new institutions and programs for examining and awarding credentials to individuals, and the introduction of reforms in current institutional practices related thereto;
(9)
the introduction of reforms in remedial education, including English language instruction, to customize remedial courses to student goals and help students progress rapidly from remedial courses into core courses and through postsecondary program completion;
(10)
the provision of support and assistance to partnerships between institutions of higher education and secondary schools with a significant population of students identified as late-entering limited English proficient students, to establish programs that—
(A)
result in increased secondary school graduation rates of limited English proficient students; and
(B)
increase the number of participating late-entering limited English proficient students who pursue postsecondary education;
(11)
the creation of consortia that join diverse institutions of higher education to design and offer curricular and cocurricular interdisciplinary programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, sustained for not less than a 5 year period, that—
(A)
focus on poverty and human capability; and
(B)
include—
(i)
a service-learning component; and
(ii)
the delivery of educational services through informational resource centers, summer institutes, midyear seminars, and other educational activities that stress the effects of poverty and how poverty can be alleviated through different career paths;
(12)
the provision of support and assistance for demonstration projects to provide comprehensive support services to ensure that homeless students, or students who were in foster care or were a ward of the court at any time before the age of 13, enroll and succeed in postsecondary education, including providing housing to such students during periods when housing at the institution of higher education is closed or generally unavailable to other students; and
(13)
the support of efforts to work with institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations, that seek to promote cultural diversity in the entertainment media industry, including through the training of students in production, marketing, and distribution of culturally relevant content.
([Pub. L. 89–329, title VII, § 741], as added [Pub. L. 105–244, title VII, § 701], Oct. 7, 1998, [112 Stat. 1796]; amended [Pub. L. 110–315, title VII, § 707(a)]–(e), Aug. 14, 2008, [122 Stat. 3356–3358].)