ASPIRE Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1855 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve college access and college completion for all students. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 13, 2019 Mr. COONS (for himself and Ms. ROSEN) 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 improve college access and college completion for all students. 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 ‘‘Access, Success, and 4 Persistence In Reshaping Education Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘ASPIRE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:33 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1855 IS SEC. 2. IMPROVING COLLEGE ACCESS AND COMPLETION 1 FOR ALL STUDENTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part G of title IV of the Higher 3 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amend- 4 ed by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 493E. IMPROVING COLLEGE ACCESS AND COMPLE- 6 TION FOR ALL STUDENTS. 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—Except as otherwise provided in 8 this section, in this section: 9 ‘‘(1) AVERAGE STUDENT-RELATED EXPENDI- 10 TURE.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘average 12 student-related expenditure’ means, with re- 13 spect to the most recent fiscal year ending be- 14 fore the October of an academic year, the total 15 amount of an institution’s instructional expend- 16 itures, student services expenditures, and the 17 proportion of academic support expenditures 18 that goes towards instruction, divided by the 19 number of full-time equivalent students enrolled 20 in the institution for the academic year. 21 ‘‘(B) INSTRUCTIONAL EXPENDITURES.— 22 The term ‘instructional expenditures’— 23 ‘‘(i) includes— 24 ‘‘(I) expenditures for the colleges, 25 schools, departments, and other in- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1855 IS structional divisions of the institution 1 and expenses for departmental re- 2 search and public service that are not 3 separately budgeted; 4 ‘‘(II) general academic instruc- 5 tion, occupational and vocational in- 6 struction, community education, pre- 7 paratory and adult basic education, 8 and remedial and tutorial instruction 9 conducted by the teaching faculty for 10 the institution’s students; and 11 ‘‘(III) expenses for both credit 12 and non-credit activities; 13 ‘‘(ii) may include information tech- 14 nology expenses related to instructional ac- 15 tivities if the institution separately budgets 16 and expenses information technology re- 17 sources; and 18 ‘‘(iii) does not include expenses for 19 academic administration where the primary 20 function is administration. 21 ‘‘(C) STUDENT SERVICES EXPENDI- 22 TURES.—The term ‘student services expendi- 23 tures’— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1855 IS ‘‘(i) includes expenses for admissions, 1 registrar activities, and activities whose 2 primary purpose is to contribute to the 3 emotional and physical well-being of stu- 4 dents and to their intellectual, cultural, 5 and social development outside the context 6 of the formal instructional program; and 7 ‘‘(ii) may include information tech- 8 nology expenses related to student service 9 activities if the institution separately budg- 10 ets and expenses information technology 11 resources, otherwise these expenses are in- 12 cluded in institutional support. 13 ‘‘(D) ACADEMIC SUPPORT EXPENDI- 14 TURES.—The term ‘academic support expendi- 15 tures’ includes— 16 ‘‘(i) expenses of activities and services 17 that support the institution’s primary mis- 18 sions of instruction, research, and public 19 service, including— 20 ‘‘(I) the retention, preservation, 21 and display of educational materials; 22 ‘‘(II) organized activities that 23 provide support services to the aca- 24 demic functions of the institution; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1855 IS ‘‘(III) media such as audiovisual 1 services; 2 ‘‘(IV) academic administration; 3 and 4 ‘‘(V) formally organized and sep- 5 arately budgeted academic personnel 6 development and course and cur- 7 riculum development expenses; and 8 ‘‘(ii) information technology expenses 9 related to academic support activities or, if 10 an institution does not separately budget 11 and expense information technology re- 12 sources, the costs associated with the three 13 primary programs shall be applied to this 14 function and the remainder to institutional 15 support. 16 ‘‘(E) FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT STUDENTS 17 ENROLLED.—The term ‘full-time equivalent 18 students enrolled’ means the number of full- 19 time students enrolled, plus— 20 ‘‘(i) in the case of an institution of 21 higher education that is a public, 4-year 22 institution— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1855 IS ‘‘(I) the number of part-time un- 1 dergraduate students enrolled multi- 2 plied by 0.403543; and 3 ‘‘(II) the number of part-time 4 graduate students enrolled multiplied 5 by 0.361702; 6 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an institution of 7 higher education that is a private, non- 8 profit or for profit, 4-year institution— 9 ‘‘(I) the number of part-time un- 10 dergraduate students enrolled multi- 11 plied by 0.392857; and 12 ‘‘(II) the number of part-time 13 graduate students enrolled multiplied 14 by 0.382059; 15 ‘‘(iii) in the case of an institution of 16 higher education that is a public, 2-year 17 institution, the number of part-time under- 18 graduate students enrolled multiplied by 19 0.335737; and 20 ‘‘(iv) in the case of an institution of 21 higher education that is not described in 22 clause (i), (ii), or (iii), the number of part- 23 time undergraduate students enrolled mul- 24 tiplied by 0.397058. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:33 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1855 IS ‘‘(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 1 The term ‘institution of higher education’ means an 2 institution of higher education (as defined in section 3 101(a)) or a proprietary institution of higher edu- 4 cation (as defined in section 102(b))— 5 ‘‘(A) that predominately awards more 6 bachelor’s degrees than associate’s degrees and 7 certificates; and 8 ‘‘(B) that enrolls not less than 30 first- 9 time, full-time, degree- or certificate-seeking un- 10 dergraduate students. 11 ‘‘(3) LOW-INCOME OR WORKING CLASS STU- 12 DENT.—The term ‘low-income or working class stu- 13 dent’ means a student who is eligible to receive a 14 Federal Pell Grant. 15 ‘‘(4) MODERATE-INCOME STUDENT.—The term 16 ‘moderate-income student’ means a student who is 17 eligible to receive a subsidized Federal Direct Staf- 18 ford Loan but not eligible to receive a Federal Pell 19 Grant. 20 ‘‘(5) REMEDIAL COURSE.—The term ‘remedial 21 course’ means a course of study that is determined 22 by the institution which offers such course to be nec- 23 essary to help a student be prepared for the pursuit 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1855 IS of a first undergraduate bachelor’s degree but does 1 not count for credit toward the degree. 2 ‘‘(6) UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY.—The 3 term ‘underrepresented minority’ means Alaskan 4 Native, Black (not of Hispanic origin), Hispanic (in- 5 cluding persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, 6 and Central or South American origin), Native 7 American, or Pacific Islander (including Native Ha- 8 waiian) minority group. 9 ‘‘(b) IMPROVING COLLEGE ACCESS.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 11 ‘‘(A) REQUIRED PARTICIPATION.—In order 12 for an institution of higher education to partici- 13 pate in any student financial assistance pro- 14 gram under this title, the institution shall par- 15 ticipate in the improving college access program 16 under this subsection. 17 ‘‘(B) NO CONDITION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR 18 PARTICIPATION FOR RANKING.—Eligibility to 19 participate in any student financial assistance 20 program under this title shall not be condi- 21 tioned on an institution’s position on the rank- 22 ing completed under this subsection. 23 ‘‘(2) CALCULATION OF PERCENTAGES OF FED- 24 ERAL PELL GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1855 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For academic year 1 2020–2021 and for each succeeding academic 2 year, the Secretary shall determine, for each in- 3 stitution of higher education, the percentage of 4 bachelor’s degree-seeking students who enrolled 5 at the institution for the first-time in a full- 6 time capacity for the academic year who re- 7 ceived a Federal Pell Grant for such academic 8 year. 9 ‘‘(B) RANKING.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For academic year 11 2020–2021 and for each succeeding aca- 12 demic year, the Secretary shall rank the 13 institutions according to the percentages 14 determined under subparagraph (A). 15 ‘‘(ii) TRIGGER MARK.—For academic 16 year 2020–2021 and for each succeeding 17 academic year, the Secretary shall deter- 18 mine, based on the rankings under this 19 subparagraph, the percentage, determined 20 under subparagraph (A), at which and 21 above which marks the top 95 percent of 22 those institutions ranked. 23 ‘‘(C) SAFE HARBOR REACHED.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1855 IS ‘‘(i) SAFE HARBOR MARK.—For aca- 1 demic year 2020–2021, the Secretary shall 2 determine, based on the rankings under 3 subparagraph (B)(i) for such academic 4 year, the percentage, determined under 5 subparagraph (A), at which and above 6 which marks the top 90 percent of those 7 institutions ranked. 8 ‘‘(ii) COMPARISON OF TRIGGER MARK 9 TO SAFE HARBOR MARK.—If the trigger 10 mark determined under subparagraph 11 (B)(ii) for an academic year is at or above 12 the safe harbor mark determined under 13 clause (i), no institution shall be subject to 14 the provisions of paragraph (3) for such 15 academic year. 16 ‘‘(3) CONSEQUENCES OF LOW RANKING.— 17 ‘‘(A) NOTIFICATION.— 18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to para- 19 graph (2)(C)(ii), for academic year 2020– 20 2021 and for each succeeding academic 21 year, the Secretary shall notify each insti- 22 tution of higher education that is in the 23 bottom 5 percent of those institutions 24 ranked under paragraph (2)(B)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1855 IS ‘‘(I) that the institution is in 1 such bottom 5 percent of those insti- 2 tutions ranked; 3 ‘‘(II) of the trigger mark de- 4 scribed in paragraph (2)(B)(ii) that 5 such institution must meet or rise 6 above; and 7 ‘‘(III) that the institution has 90 8 days to appeal to the Secretary to be 9 removed from the bottom 5 percent of 10 those institutions ranked. 11 ‘‘(ii) APPEAL.—An institution of high- 12 er education that is in the bottom 5 per- 13 cent of those institutions ranked under 14 paragraph (2)(B) for an academic year 15 may appeal to the Secretary, within 90 16 days of the notification under clause (i), to 17 be removed from such bottom 5 percent 18 ranking if— 19 ‘‘(I) the Secretary’s calculation of 20 its ranking is not accurate, and that 21 recalculation of such ranking would 22 raise the ranking of the institution 23 above the bottom 5 percent of those 24 institutions ranked; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1855 IS ‘‘(II) the institution’s percentage 1 of all bachelor’s degree-seeking stu- 2 dents enrolled at the institution who 3 received a Federal Pell Grant for the 4 academic year is sufficiently high, as 5 determined by the Secretary. 6 ‘‘(iii) AUTOMATIC REMOVAL.—An in- 7 stitution of higher education that is in the 8 bottom 5 percent of those institutions 9 ranked under paragraph (2)(B) for an aca- 10 demic year but whose average percentage 11 for the academic year and the 2 preceding 12 academic years of bachelor’s degree-seek- 13 ing students who enrolled at the institution 14 for the first-time in a full-time capacity for 15 the academic year and the 2 preceding aca- 16 demic years who received a Federal Pell 17 Grant for the academic year and the 2 pre- 18 ceding academic years is at or above the 19 trigger mark described in paragraph 20 (2)(B)(ii) for the academic year, shall be 21 automatically removed from such bottom 5 22 percent ranking. 23 ‘‘(B) PLAN.—An institution of higher edu- 24 cation that is in the bottom 5 percent of those 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1855.IS S1855 jspears on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1855 IS institutions ranked under paragraph (2)(B) for 1 an academic year and not removed under sub- 2 paragraph (A) shall develop a plan, not later 3 than 1 year after the date of the notification 4 under subparagraph (A)(i) and in consultation 5 with the Secretary, to meet or rise above the 6 trigger mark described in paragraph (2)(B)(ii) 7 applicable for the academic year for which the 8 institution is in the bottom 5 percent of those 9 institutions ranked and not removed. 10 ‘‘(C) CALCULATION OF AVERAGE.—For 11 each institution of higher education that is in 12 the bottom 5 percent of those institutions 13 ranked under paragraph (2)(B) for an academic 14 year and not removed under subparagraph (A), 15 the Secretary shall— 16 ‘‘(i) grant the institution a hold harm- 17 less year for the academic year succeeding 18 the academic year for which the institution 19 receives notification under subparagraph 20 (A)(i); and 21 ‘‘(ii) determine the average percentage 22 over the 3 succeeding academic years fol- 23 lowing the hold harmless academic year de- 24 scribed in clause (i) of bachelor’s degree- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:49 Jun 15, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6 [Text truncated for display. 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