Details Emerge on Round 2 of Gates Foundation’s Student-Aid Project

Plans for the second phase of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Reimagining Aid Design and Delivery” project are under way, according to a news release issued by a recipient of the foundation’s grants.

The RADD project, announced last fall, is intended to spark innovative ideas for student aid and find ways to use them to encourage college completion. The project’s first round, which wrapped up in the spring, resulted in white papers by 16 grant recipients.

The new announcement, made by the National College Access Network on Friday, describes the plans of a consortium, consisting of the network and six other groups, to “further explore the issue of financial-aid simplification and transparency.” For that purpose, the consortium will receive a $340,000 grant from the foundation.

The other members of the consortium are the Center for Law & Social Policy, the College Board, the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the New America Foundation, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and Young Invincibles. All but the College Board were also involved in the first round.

Three other consortia will participate in Round 2, said Elizabeth Morgan, director of external relations at the National College Access Network. Each consortia has a focus area, and the others will consider loans, grants and work-study, and tax benefits, she said.

A spokeswoman at the Gates foundation was unable to provide further detail on Friday. The Chronicle will continue to follow Round 2 as more information becomes available.