Where can I find information on OFA’s policies for enrolling existing students and providing adult basic education services for HPOG 2.0?

OFA has outlined below its positions and related policies for both Enrolling Existing Students and Providing ABE services.

Enrollment of Existing/Currently Enrolled Students: 

The intention of the HPOG program is to provide education and training to individuals who would not otherwise have access to it. The currently enrolled student body has access to education and training so the HPOG program should not recruit from it. There are some ways that existing students find their way to the HPOG program without having been recruited. For example, an existing student may go to a TANF agency, American Job Center or other program partner who refers them back to the HPOG program. There may also be some existing students who are only able to continue their education if they receive the additional support that HPOG could provide. Retention office staff may refer those students to the HPOG program. Given that there is the possibility for exceptions to exist, grantees should give highest priority to working with partners to recruit individuals who would not otherwise have access to postsecondary education. Any such enrollments should be considered exceptions and assessed on case by case bases. 

Any HPOG program with a recruitment and eligibility determination process that accepts existing students must create a policy which identifies clear and objective definitions for exceptions based on the above guidance and is subject to OFA approval prior to implementation. The grantee will upload an existing students policy containing the following items to GrantSolutions as a Grant Note using the naming convention Existing Students Policy MM YYYY Proposed.

• Provide clear definitions for exceptions that can be uniformly and objectively applied to facilitate the eligibility determination process. For example, “at risk of dropping out” should have objective characteristics that can be consistently observed.

• Reasonably ensures that currently enrolled student exceptions do not comprise the vast majority of HPOG participants served. To this effect, the policy should indicate the maximum number of currently enrolled students that will be enrolled under the exception per academic term (i.e. no more than 15% of overall enrollments).

• Provides internal guidelines for tracking enrollment of existing students.

OFA will note approval for the policy in GrantSolutions and once OFA has done this, the policy can be implemented.

Providing Adult Basic Education: 

The intention of HPOG is to serve individuals who would not otherwise have access to education and training, including those with low reading and math skills. All grantees are expected to provide basic skills education to some of the participants that they enroll. There may be variation in terms of the minimum academic ability required to be eligible for enrollment in HPOG. At a minimum, HPOG programs should assist some participants that do not meet the minimum academic requirements to begin postsecondary education at intake to make the academic progress necessary so that they can begin postsecondary education. All grantees must provide a projection for the number of participants that will begin basic skills education. Grantees may be required to submit a written description of how they plan to implement basic skills education if it is not clearly stated in their application materials. OFA will consider and may approve of budget revisions and revisions to the other quantifiable projections if they are necessary to support more robust services to individuals with low reading and math skills.