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The Department’s Compliance with Experimental Sites Initiative Reporting Requirements

Submitting OIG: 
Department of Education OIG
Report Description: 
The objective of our inspection was to determine the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) compliance with Experimental Sites Initiative (ESI) reporting requirements. We found that the Department is not complying with ESI reporting requirements. The Department has not published a comprehensive ESI report since the 2010–2011 award year report. The Department published two ESI reports in 2020, but these reports did not satisfy the reporting requirements as they each covered only one experiment, not all recently completed and ongoing experiments. There are 15 ESI experiments that have been implemented by the Department since the issuance of the last comprehensive report that have not yet been reported on by the Department.
Date Issued: 
Monday, October 31, 2022
Agency Reviewed / Investigated: 
Department of Education
Submitting OIG-Specific Report Number: 
I22DC0054
Component, if applicable: 
Federal Student Aid
Location(s): 
Agency-Wide
Type of Report: 
Inspection / Evaluation
Questioned Costs: 
$0
Funds for Better Use: 
$0
Number of Recommendations: 
2
Additional Details Link: 
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/auditreports/esi-reporting-req.pdf

Related Open Recommendations

Recommendation Number Recommendation Status Significant Recommendation Additional Details
1.1 Open Yes
Ensure that reporting on each of the ongoing experiments conducted under the ESI, as well as those that have been completed or discontinued that have not yet been reported on, is completed and submitted to the Congressional authorizing committees at least every 2 years, as required by Section 487A(b)(2) of the HEA.
1.2 Open Yes
Put in place measures, such as applicable performance agreement standards, to ensure that the individuals responsible for completing these reports and the individuals responsible for submitting these reports are held accountable for doing so.
Displaying 2 of 2 Recommendations