Promoting Readiness in Education to Prevent Additional Remediation and Expense Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1516 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to strengthen the future work- force and reduce the cost of postsecondary education by reducing rates of postsecondary remediation. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 16, 2019 Mr. JONES (for himself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to strengthen the future workforce and reduce the cost of postsec- ondary education by reducing rates of postsecondary re- mediation. 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 ‘‘Promoting Readiness 4 in Education to Prevent Additional Remediation and Ex- 5 pense Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1516 IS SEC. 2. REDUCING RATES OF POSTSECONDARY REMEDI- 1 ATION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title IV of the Higher 3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) is amend- 4 ed— 5 (1) by redesignating subparts 4, 5, 6, and 7, as 6 subparts 5, 6, 7, and 8, respectively; 7 (2) by inserting after subpart 3 the following: 8 ‘‘Subpart 4—Reducing Rates of Postsecondary 9 Remediation 10 ‘‘SEC. 414A. PURPOSE. 11 ‘‘The purpose of this subpart is to strengthen the fu- 12 ture workforce and reduce the cost of postsecondary edu- 13 cation by reducing rates of postsecondary remediation and 14 increasing postsecondary completion rates. 15 ‘‘SEC. 414B. DEFINITIONS. 16 ‘‘In this subpart: 17 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED COURSEWORK.—The term ‘ad- 18 vanced coursework’ means coursework designed for 19 students to earn postsecondary credit upon its suc- 20 cessful completion while still in high school, such as 21 Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, 22 dual or concurrent enrollment programs, and early 23 college high school programs. 24 ‘‘(2) CO-REQUISITE COURSES.—The term ‘co- 25 requisite courses’ means courses designed for college 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1516 IS students in need of remediation that combines cred- 1 it-bearing college-level coursework with supplemental 2 instruction. 3 ‘‘(3) DUAL OR CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT 4 PROGRAM.—The term ‘dual or concurrent enrollment 5 program’ has the meaning given the term in section 6 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 7 Act of 1965. 8 ‘‘(4) EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL.—The 9 term ‘early college high school’ has the meaning 10 given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary 11 and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 12 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 13 tity’ means a partnership that— 14 ‘‘(A) shall include— 15 ‘‘(i) 1 local educational agency; and 16 ‘‘(ii) an institution of higher education 17 or higher education system, operating in 18 the same State as the local educational 19 agency; and 20 ‘‘(B) may include— 21 ‘‘(i) a consortium of entities described 22 in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A); 23 ‘‘(ii) a State educational agency; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1516 IS ‘‘(iii) a State higher education agency; 1 or 2 ‘‘(iv) a nonprofit or community-based 3 organization, business, or public or private 4 entity with a demonstrated record of suc- 5 cess in implementing activities under this 6 subpart. 7 ‘‘(6) EVIDENCE-BASED.—The term ‘evidence- 8 based’ has the meaning given the term in section 9 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 10 Act of 1965. 11 ‘‘(7) FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT.— 12 The term ‘first generation college student’ means— 13 ‘‘(A) an individual both of whose parents 14 did not complete a baccalaureate degree; or 15 ‘‘(B) in the case of any individual who reg- 16 ularly resided with and received support from 17 only 1 parent, an individual whose only such 18 parent did not complete a baccalaureate degree. 19 ‘‘(8) HIGH-NEED HIGH SCHOOL.—The term 20 ‘high-need high school’ means a secondary school 21 that meets any of the following: 22 ‘‘(A) Serves students not less than 50 per- 23 cent of whom are students who meet either of 24 the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1516 IS ‘‘(i) Meet a measure of poverty as de- 1 scribed in section 1113(a)(5) of the Ele- 2 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 3 1965. 4 ‘‘(ii) Are students described in any of 5 the following subclauses: 6 ‘‘(I) Racial or ethnic groups that 7 are historically underserved. 8 ‘‘(II) Children with disabilities, 9 as defined in section 602 of the Indi- 10 viduals with Disabilities Education 11 Act. 12 ‘‘(III) English learners, as de- 13 fined in section 8101 of the Elemen- 14 tary and Secondary Education Act of 15 1965. 16 ‘‘(IV) Migratory children, as de- 17 fined in section 1309 of the Elemen- 18 tary and Secondary Education Act of 19 1965. 20 ‘‘(V) Homeless children and 21 youths. 22 ‘‘(VI) Students who are in foster 23 care or are aging out of the foster 24 care system. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1516 IS ‘‘(VII) Students with a parent 1 who is a member of the Armed Forces 2 (as defined in section 101(a)(4) of 3 title 10, United States Code) on active 4 duty (as defined in section 101(d) of 5 such title). 6 ‘‘(B) Is identified for comprehensive sup- 7 port and improvement under section 8 1111(c)(4)(D)(i) of the Elementary and Sec- 9 ondary Education Act of 1965. 10 ‘‘(C) Is implementing a targeted support 11 and improvement plan as described in section 12 1111(d)(2) of the Elementary and Secondary 13 Education Act of 1965. 14 ‘‘(9) HIGH-NEED INSTITUTION OF HIGHER 15 EDUCATION.—The term ‘high-need institution of 16 higher education’ means an institution of higher 17 education with respect to which not less than 50 18 percent of the undergraduate students enrolled in an 19 academic program leading to a degree are described 20 in any of the following subparagraphs: 21 ‘‘(A) Are eligible to receive a Federal Pell 22 Grant under subpart 1. 23 ‘‘(B) Come from families that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1516 IS ‘‘(i) received benefits under a means- 1 tested Federal benefit program while the 2 student was enrolled in high school; or 3 ‘‘(ii) receive benefits under a means- 4 tested Federal benefit program while the 5 student is enrolled in an undergraduate 6 academic program leading to a degree. 7 ‘‘(C) Attended a public or nonprofit private 8 secondary school, in which the enrollment of 9 children counted under a measure of poverty 10 described in section 1113(a)(5) of the Elemen- 11 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ex- 12 ceeds 40 percent of the total enrollment of such 13 school. 14 ‘‘(D) Are first generation college students. 15 ‘‘(10) HIGH-NEED LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN- 16 CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 17 means a local educational agency— 18 ‘‘(A) that serves not fewer than 10,000 19 children from families with incomes below the 20 poverty line; 21 ‘‘(B) for which not less than 20 percent of 22 the children served by the agency are from fam- 23 ilies with incomes below the poverty line; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1516 IS ‘‘(C) that is in the highest quartile of local 1 educational agencies in the State, based on stu- 2 dent poverty. 3 ‘‘(11) HIGH SCHOOL.—The term ‘high school’ 4 has the meaning given the term in section 8101 of 5 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 6 1965. 7 ‘‘(12) HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED 8 STUDENT.—The term ‘historically underrepresented 9 student’— 10 ‘‘(A) means a student, or a prospective 11 student, at an institution of higher education 12 who is at risk of educational failure or other- 13 wise in need of special assistance and support; 14 and 15 ‘‘(B) may include an adult learner, work- 16 ing student, part-time student, student from a 17 low-income background, student of color, Native 18 youth, single parent (including a single preg- 19 nant woman), student who is a homeless child 20 or youth, youth who is in, or has aged out of, 21 the foster care system, first-generation college 22 student, and student with a disability. 23 ‘‘(13) HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTHS.— 24 The term ‘homeless children and youths’ has the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1516 IS meaning given the term in section 725 of the 1 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 2 U.S.C. 11434a). 3 ‘‘(14) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 4 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 5 meaning given the term in section 101(a). 6 ‘‘(15) LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUAL.—The term 7 ‘low-income individual’ means an individual from a 8 family whose taxable income for the preceding year 9 did not exceed 150 percent of an amount equal to 10 the poverty level determined by using criteria of pov- 11 erty established by the Bureau of the Census. 12 ‘‘(16) MEANS-TESTED FEDERAL BENEFIT PRO- 13 GRAM.—The term ‘means-tested Federal benefit pro- 14 gram’ means a program of the Federal Government, 15 other than a program under this title, in which eligi- 16 bility for the program’s benefits or the amount of 17 such benefits is determined on the basis of income 18 or resources of the individual or family seeking the 19 benefit. 20 ‘‘(17) MIDDLE GRADES.—The term ‘middle 21 grades’ has the meaning given the term in section 22 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 23 Act of 1965. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1516 IS ‘‘(18) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 1 term ‘minority-serving institution’ means an institu- 2 tion described in section 371(a). 3 ‘‘(19) OUTLYING AREA.—The term ‘outlying 4 area’ means the United States Virgin Islands, 5 Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of 6 the Northern Mariana Islands. 7 ‘‘(20) REGULAR HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA.—The 8 term ‘regular high school diploma’ has the meaning 9 given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary 10 and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 11 ‘‘(21) SELF-REGULATED LEARNING.—The term 12 ‘self-regulated learning’ means learning through 13 teaching students about how they learn and which 14 study strategies are most effective for the individual 15 student. 16 ‘‘(22) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 17 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the 18 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 19 ‘‘(23) SUBGROUP OF STUDENTS.—The term 20 ‘subgroup of students’ means— 21 ‘‘(A) economically disadvantaged students; 22 ‘‘(B) students from each major racial and 23 ethnic group; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1516 IS ‘‘(C) children with disabilities, as defined 1 in section 602 of the Individuals with Disabil- 2 ities Education Act; 3 ‘‘(D) English learners, as defined in sec- 4 tion 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary 5 Education Act of 1965; 6 ‘‘(E) students disaggregated by gender; 7 ‘‘(F) migratory children, as defined in sec- 8 tion 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary 9 Education Act of 1965; 10 ‘‘(G) homeless children and youths; 11 ‘‘(H) students who are in foster care or are 12 aging out of the foster care system; and 13 ‘‘(I) students with a parent who is a mem- 14 ber of the Armed Forces (as defined in section 15 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States Code) on 16 active duty (as defined in section 101(d) of 17 such title). 18 ‘‘(24) SUMMER BRIDGE PROGRAM.—The term 19 ‘summer bridge program’ means a pre-college pro- 20 gram focused on preparing high school students aca- 21 demically and otherwise to attend and succeed in 22 postsecondary education. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1516 IS ‘‘SEC. 414C. FORMULA GRANTS TO STATES. 1 ‘‘(a) RESERVATIONS.—From the total amount appro- 2 priated under section 414I for a fiscal year, the Secretary 3 shall reserve— 4 ‘‘(1) one-half of 1 percent for allotments for 5 payments to the outlying areas, to be distributed 6 among those outlying areas on the basis of their rel- 7 ative need, as determined by the Secretary, in ac- 8 cordance with the purpose of this subpart; 9 ‘‘(2) one-half of 1 percent for the Secretary of 10 the Interior for programs under this subpart in 11 schools operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian 12 Education; 13 ‘‘(3) 2 percent for technical assistance dissemi- 14 nation, which may include— 15 ‘‘(A) providing, directly or through grants, 16 contracts, or cooperative agreements, technical 17 assistance by qualified experts on using prac- 18 tices grounded in evidence to improve the out- 19 comes of programs funded under this subpart; 20 and 21 ‘‘(B) disseminating information on prac- 22 tices that evidence indicates are successful in 23 improving the quality of remedial education at 24 the postsecondary level; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 May 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1516.IS S1516 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1516 IS ‘‘(4) 2 percent to conduct the evaluation de- 1 scribed in section 414F. 2 ‘‘(b) STATE ALLOTMENTS.— 3 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—The Secretary shall award 4 grants to States under this section from allotments 5 made under paragraph (2). 6 ‘‘(2) ALLOTMENT.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 8 graph (B) and subsection (c), from the amount 9 appropriated to carry out this subpart for a fis- 10 cal year that remains after the Secretary makes 11 the reservations under subsection (a), the Sec- 12 retary shall allot to each State having a plan 13 approved under subsection (d), an amount that 14 bears the same relationship to the remainder as 15 the amount the State received under subpart 2 16 of part A [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]