The Study of Enhanced College Advising in Upward Bound will test the effectiveness of providing Upward Bound projects with a professional development package and tools to provide semi-customized college advising to students participating in Upward Bound. Upward Bound projects will be invited to volunteer for the demonstration, and the first 200 projects to volunteer for the demonstration will be included. Volunteer projects will be randomly assigned so that half receive the staff training, materials, tools, and resources in the first wave (spring, summer, fall 2015), and the other half will receive the staff training, materials, tools, and resources in the second wave (summer and fall 2016). The study will follow students who participate in both groups of projects as 11th graders in the 2014-2015 school year. The study will examine the impact of the demonstration on key outcomes including college application behavior, college acceptance and matriculation, and receipt of financial aid. This first of two ICRs for the study requests approval for the overall evaluation design, to collect 11th grade student rosters at each participating project in order to define the evaluation sample, and to administer the student baseline survey. A later ICR will request approval for other data collection, including a Project Director survey and a follow-up student survey.
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.