FINISH Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1521 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to support innovative, evidence- based approaches that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of postsec- ondary education for all students, to allow pay for success initiatives, to provide additional evaluation authority, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 2, 2021 Ms. SHERRILL (for herself, Mr. KATKO, Mr. SIRES, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to support innovative, evidence-based approaches that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of postsecondary education for all students, to allow pay for success initiatives, to provide additional evaluation authority, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fund for Innovation 4 and Success in Higher Education Act’’ or the ‘‘FINISH 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1521 IH SEC. 2. INNOVATION GRANTS. 1 Part B of title VII of the Higher Education Act of 2 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1138 et seq.) is amended— 3 (1) by redesignating section 745 as section 746; 4 and 5 (2) by inserting after section 744 the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 745. INNOVATION GRANTS. 7 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 8 to— 9 ‘‘(1) increase access to, retention in, and com- 10 pletion of postsecondary education opportunities for 11 high-need students; 12 ‘‘(2) address the adverse impacts on postsec- 13 ondary educational access and attainment for high- 14 need students brought about as a result of the 15 COVID–19 pandemic; 16 ‘‘(3) identify and support the most effective 17 interventions to increase postsecondary degree at- 18 tainment and career success of high-need students, 19 particularly those adversely impacted by the 20 COVID–19 pandemic; and 21 ‘‘(4) improve the efficiency of postsecondary 22 education, including by reducing the percentage of 23 students enrolling in postsecondary remediation and 24 increasing the effectiveness of postsecondary remedi- 25 ation. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1521 IH ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 2 tity’ means any of the following: 3 ‘‘(A) A State educational agency. 4 ‘‘(B) A public or private nonprofit institu- 5 tion of higher education. 6 ‘‘(C) The Bureau of Indian Education. 7 ‘‘(D) A consortium of any of the entities 8 described in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 9 ‘‘(E) A partnership between a State edu- 10 cational agency or public or private nonprofit 11 institution of higher education and one or more 12 of the following: 13 ‘‘(i) A nonprofit organization. 14 ‘‘(ii) An intermediary organization. 15 ‘‘(iii) A business. 16 ‘‘(iv) A sponsor of a program receiv- 17 ing assistance under the National and 18 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 19 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.). 20 ‘‘(v) A local educational agency. 21 ‘‘(2) FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT.— 22 The term ‘first generation college student’ means— 23 ‘‘(A) an individual both of whose parents 24 did not complete a baccalaureate degree; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1521 IH ‘‘(B) in the case of any individual who reg- 1 ularly resided with and received support from 2 only one parent, an individual whose only such 3 parent did not complete a baccalaureate degree. 4 ‘‘(3) HIGH-NEED STUDENT.—The term ‘high- 5 need student’— 6 ‘‘(A) means a postsecondary student who 7 is at risk of educational failure or otherwise in 8 need of special assistance and support; and 9 ‘‘(B) may include an adult learner, work- 10 ing student, part-time student, student from a 11 low-income background, student of color, 12 former foster youth, first generation college stu- 13 dent, student with a disability, student who is 14 deaf or blind or visually impaired, or student 15 who is an English learner. 16 ‘‘(4) INTERMEDIARY ORGANIZATION.—The term 17 ‘intermediary organization’ means an entity— 18 ‘‘(A) with strong skills and a track record 19 of success in— 20 ‘‘(i) identifying effective interventions 21 to address State, regional, or local prob- 22 lems; 23 ‘‘(ii) managing high-quality subgrant 24 processes; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1521 IH ‘‘(iii) providing technical assistance 1 and support to subgrantees to ensure qual- 2 ity and improve outcomes; and 3 ‘‘(B) that utilizes an evidence-based deci- 4 sionmaking strategy when selecting high-per- 5 forming entities, on a competitive basis, to re- 6 ceive subgrants in order to validate and grow 7 effective interventions. 8 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail- 10 able to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 11 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible enti- 12 ties to enable the eligible entities to create, develop, 13 implement, replicate, or scale evidence-based and 14 field-initiated innovations, including through pay for 15 success initiatives (as defined in section 124(a)), in 16 order to improve postsecondary access and comple- 17 tion or career success for high-need students. 18 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The grants awarded under this 19 section shall implement and evaluate programs, 20 interventions, and strategies that address the pur- 21 poses described under subsection (a) and, to the ex- 22 tent practicable based on the strength of the applica- 23 tions, include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1521 IH ‘‘(A) early-phase grants to fund the devel- 1 opment, implementation, and feasibility testing 2 of a practice, program, or intervention that 3 prior research suggests has promise, for the 4 purpose of determining whether the practice, 5 program, or innovation can successfully im- 6 prove, for high-need students— 7 ‘‘(i) access to, retention in, and com- 8 pletion of a postsecondary program of 9 study; or 10 ‘‘(ii) career success; 11 ‘‘(B) mid-phase grants to fund implemen- 12 tation and a rigorous evaluation of a practice, 13 program, or intervention that has been success- 14 fully implemented under an early phase grant 15 described in subparagraph (A) or another effort 16 meeting similar criteria, for the purpose of 17 measuring (using existing administrative data 18 where possible) the impact and cost-effective- 19 ness of the practice, program, or intervention; 20 or 21 ‘‘(C) expansion grants to fund implementa- 22 tion and a rigorous replication evaluation of a 23 practice, program, or intervention that has been 24 found to produce sizable, important impacts 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1521 IH under a mid-phase grant described in subpara- 1 graph (B) or another effort meeting similar cri- 2 teria, for the purposes of— 3 ‘‘(i) determining whether such impacts 4 can be successfully reproduced and sus- 5 tained over time; and 6 ‘‘(ii) identifying the conditions in 7 which the practice, program, or initiative is 8 most effective. 9 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 11 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec- 12 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 13 and containing such information as the Secretary 14 may require. 15 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 16 under paragraph (1) shall include— 17 ‘‘(A) a description of the high-need stu- 18 dents that the eligible entity is proposing to 19 serve through the grant; and 20 ‘‘(B) a description of the outcome meas- 21 ures, including explicit outcome measures for 22 high-need students, that the eligible entity will 23 use, in addition to the outcome measures de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1521 IH scribed in subsection (f)(2)(A), to evaluate the 1 success of the grant. 2 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 3 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 4 that— 5 ‘‘(1) propose to serve the largest number of 6 high-need students; or 7 ‘‘(2) serve a high proportion of students from 8 one or more school districts with a school district lo- 9 cale code of 31, 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined 10 by the Secretary using the school district locale 11 codes in effect on December 1, 2021. 12 ‘‘(f) EVALUATIONS.—Each recipient of a grant under 13 this section shall conduct, and submit to the Secretary, 14 a rigorous, independent evaluation of— 15 ‘‘(1) the effectiveness of the practice, program, 16 or intervention carried out under such grant; 17 ‘‘(2) the outcomes achieved by such grant, 18 which shall include— 19 ‘‘(A) the numbers and percentages, in the 20 aggregate and disaggregated by each subgroup 21 of students (as defined in section 1111(c)(2) of 22 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 23 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(2))), of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1521 IH ‘‘(i) students supported by the grant 1 entering, persisting, and completing post- 2 secondary education; 3 ‘‘(ii) such students enrolling in reme- 4 dial coursework at the institution; 5 ‘‘(iii) such students enrolling and 6 completing such remedial coursework; and 7 ‘‘(iv) such students enrolling in and 8 completing such remedial coursework and 9 successfully completing first-year credit- 10 bearing coursework within 16 months of 11 enrollment in an institution of higher edu- 12 cation; and 13 ‘‘(B) the recipient’s performance on any 14 other outcome measures described in the appli- 15 cation in accordance with subsection (d)(2)(B); 16 and 17 ‘‘(3) the activities carried out under such grant. 18 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 20 after the date of enactment of the Fund for Innova- 21 tion and Success in Higher Education Act, and 22 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare 23 and submit to the authorizing committees a report 24 on the grants carried out under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1521 IH ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report issued under 1 this subsection shall— 2 ‘‘(A) include— 3 ‘‘(i) information from the outcomes 4 reported in the evaluations submitted 5 under subsection (f) for the reporting pe- 6 riod about the success of the grants sup- 7 ported under this section; and 8 ‘‘(ii) the number of high-need stu- 9 dents served through the grants under this 10 section during the reporting period; 11 ‘‘(B) disaggregate all data on student out- 12 comes related to the grants by, at a minimum, 13 race and income, and, to the extent practicable, 14 any other relevant student characteristic, as de- 15 termined by the Secretary; and 16 ‘‘(C) consider— 17 ‘‘(i) how the tiered-evidence grant 18 structure described in subsection (c)(2) can 19 be applied to other grant programs author- 20 ized under this Act, in order to strengthen 21 those programs; and 22 ‘‘(ii) how the evidence generated by 23 the projects, programs, and interventions 24 supported by grants under this section can 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1521 IH inform how to carry out other grants au- 1 thorized under this Act. 2 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 3 shall make each report issued under this subsection 4 available to the public through the website of the 5 Department.’’. 6 SEC. 3. OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES. 7 Section 741(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 8 (20 U.S.C. 1138(a)) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 10 the semicolon; 11 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period 12 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(14) making all forms of postsecondary in- 15 structional content widely available, which may in- 16 clude the use of open educational resources (defined, 17 for purpose of this paragraph, as teaching, learning, 18 or research resources that reside in the public do- 19 main or have been released under a copyright license 20 that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and 21 sharing with others).’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1521 IH SEC. 4. PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVES. 1 Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 2 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 3 the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 124. PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVES. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 7 tity’ means a partnership between— 8 ‘‘(A) a private entity (which may include a 9 private nonprofit entity); and 10 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education, a 11 Federal, State, or local public entity, or a Trib- 12 al entity. 13 ‘‘(2) PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVE.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘pay for 15 success initiative’ means a performance-based 16 grant, contract, or other agreement— 17 ‘‘(i) between an eligible entity and the 18 Secretary or a grant recipient, as author- 19 ized under subsection (b)(1); 20 ‘‘(ii) in which— 21 ‘‘(I) a commitment is made to 22 pay the eligible entity for improved 23 outcomes, including measureable im- 24 provement in the lives of service re- 25 cipients or meaningful output meas- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:15 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1521.IH H1521 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1521 IH ures strongly correlated to outcomes, 1 that result in increased public value or 2 social benefit to students and the pub- 3 lic sector, such as increased effective- 4 ness in improving outcomes, direct 5 cost savings or cost av [Text truncated for display. 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