America's College Promise Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2250 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish State and Indian tribe grants for community colleges and grants for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority- Serving Institutions, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 24, 2019 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. MENENDEZ) 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 establish State and Indian tribe grants for community colleges and grants for Historically Black Colleges and Univer- sities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority- Serving Institutions, 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 ‘‘America’s College 4 Promise Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2250 IS SEC. 2. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 1 Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 2 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 3 the following: 4 ‘‘PART J—AMERICA’S COLLEGE PROMISE 5 FEDERAL-STATE PARTNERSHIP 6 ‘‘Subpart 1—State and Indian Tribe Grants for 7 Community Colleges 8 ‘‘SEC. 499A. IN GENERAL. 9 ‘‘From amounts appropriated under section 499G for 10 any fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants to eligible 11 States and Indian tribes to pay the Federal share of ex- 12 penditures needed to carry out the activities and services 13 described in section 499E. 14 ‘‘SEC. 499B. FEDERAL SHARE; NON-FEDERAL SHARE. 15 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL SHARE.— 16 ‘‘(1) FORMULA.—Subject to paragraph (2), the 17 Federal share of a grant under this subpart shall be 18 based on a formula, determined by the Secretary, 19 that— 20 ‘‘(A) accounts for the State or Indian 21 tribe’s share of eligible students; 22 ‘‘(B) accounts for the ratio between a 23 State or Indian tribe’s funding per full-time 24 equivalent (FTE) student at public colleges and 25 universities and the average net price at State 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2250 IS public four-year colleges and universities, in 1 such a way as to reward States that keep net 2 prices for students low while maintaining their 3 investment in higher education; and 4 ‘‘(C) provides, for each eligible student in 5 the State or Indian tribe, a per-student amount 6 that is at least 75 percent of— 7 ‘‘(i) for the 2020–2021 award year, 8 the average resident community college tui- 9 tion and fees per student in all States for 10 the most recent year for which data are 11 available; and 12 ‘‘(ii) for each subsequent award year, 13 the amount determined under this clause 14 for the preceding award year, increased by 15 the lesser of— 16 ‘‘(I) a percentage equal to the es- 17 timated percentage increase in the 18 Consumer Price Index (as determined 19 by the Secretary) since the date of 20 such determination; or 21 ‘‘(II) 3 percent. 22 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN INDIAN 23 TRIBES.—In any case in which not less than 75 per- 24 cent of the students at the community colleges oper- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2250 IS ated or controlled by an Indian tribe are low-income 1 students, the amount of the Federal share for such 2 Indian tribe shall be not less than 95 percent of the 3 total amount needed to waive tuition and fees for all 4 eligible students enrolled in such community col- 5 leges. 6 ‘‘(b) STATE OR TRIBAL SHARE.— 7 ‘‘(1) FORMULA.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State or tribal 9 share of a grant under this subpart for each fis- 10 cal year shall be the amount needed to pay 25 11 percent of the average community college resi- 12 dent tuition and fees per student in all States 13 in the 2020–2021 award year for all eligible 14 students in the State or Indian tribe, respec- 15 tively, for such fiscal year, except as provided in 16 subparagraph (B). 17 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN INDIAN 18 TRIBES.—In the case of an Indian tribe de- 19 scribed in subsection (a)(2), the amount of such 20 Indian tribe’s tribal share shall not exceed 5 21 percent of the total amount needed to waive tui- 22 tion and fees for all eligible students enrolled in 23 such community colleges. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2250 IS ‘‘(2) NEED-BASED AID.—A State or Indian 1 tribe may include, as part of the State or tribal 2 share, any need-based financial aid that— 3 ‘‘(A) is provided from State or tribal funds 4 to an eligible student; and 5 ‘‘(B) may be used by such student to pay 6 costs of attendance other than tuition and fees. 7 ‘‘(3) NO IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—A State or 8 Indian tribe shall not include in-kind contributions 9 for purposes of the State or tribal share described 10 in paragraph (1). 11 ‘‘(c) DETERMINING NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE STU- 12 DENTS.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education 14 shall develop and implement a process for accurately 15 estimating the number of eligible students in a State 16 or Indian tribe for purposes of subsection (a) and 17 (b). 18 ‘‘(2) INITIAL DETERMINATION.—For the first 19 year for which grants are awarded under this sub- 20 part, the number of eligible students in a State or 21 Indian tribe shall be considered to be equal to the 22 number of eligible students that were in the State or 23 tribe for the 2020–2021 school year. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2250 IS ‘‘(d) ADJUSTMENT OF GRANT AMOUNT.—Not later 1 than 180 days after the date on which a State or Indian 2 tribe receives a grant under this subpart, the Secretary 3 shall— 4 ‘‘(1) in consultation with the State or tribe con- 5 cerned, determine whether the actual number of eli- 6 gible students in the State or Tribe for the year cov- 7 ered by the grant is greater than the estimated num- 8 ber of such students that was used to determine the 9 amount of the grant; and 10 ‘‘(2) if it is determined under paragraph (1) 11 that the actual number of eligible students in the 12 State or Tribe is higher than such estimate, issue a 13 supplementary grant payment to the State or tribe 14 in an amount that ensures that the total amount of 15 the grant funds received by the State or tribe under 16 this subpart for the year covered by the grant accu- 17 rately reflects the higher number of eligible students. 18 ‘‘SEC. 499C. APPLICATIONS. 19 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION.—In order to receive a grant under 20 this subpart, a State or tribe shall submit an application 21 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con- 22 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 23 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—Each application under subsection 24 (a) shall include, at a minimum— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2250 IS ‘‘(1) an estimate of the number of eligible stu- 1 dents in the State or Indian tribe and the cost of 2 waiving community college resident tuition and fees 3 for all eligible students for each fiscal year covered 4 by the grant; 5 ‘‘(2) an assurance that all community colleges 6 in the State or under the jurisdiction of the Indian 7 tribe, respectively, will waive resident tuition and 8 fees for eligible students in accordance with section 9 499D(a); 10 ‘‘(3) a description of the promising and evi- 11 dence-based institutional reforms and innovative 12 practices to improve student outcomes, including 13 completion or transfer rates, that have been or will 14 be adopted by the participating community colleges, 15 such as— 16 ‘‘(A) providing comprehensive academic 17 and student support services, including men- 18 toring and advising, especially for low-income, 19 first-generation, adult, and other underrep- 20 resented students; 21 ‘‘(B) the provision of direct support serv- 22 ices such as— 23 ‘‘(i) childcare, transportation, emer- 24 gency financial assistance, and mental 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2250 IS health and substance use disorder treat- 1 ment; 2 ‘‘(ii) assistance in obtaining health in- 3 surance coverage; 4 ‘‘(iii) assistance securing affordable 5 housing; 6 ‘‘(iv) efforts to address food insecurity 7 and campus hunger; and 8 ‘‘(v) efforts to facilitate student par- 9 ticipation in means-tested Federal benefit 10 programs (as defined in section 479(d)); 11 ‘‘(C) providing accelerated learning oppor- 12 tunities, such as dual or concurrent enrollment 13 programs, including early college high school 14 programs; 15 ‘‘(D) strengthening remedial education, es- 16 pecially for low-income, first-generation, adult 17 and other underrepresented students; 18 ‘‘(E) implementing course redesigns of 19 high-enrollment courses to improve student out- 20 comes and reduce cost; or 21 ‘‘(F) utilizing career pathways or degree 22 pathways; 23 ‘‘(4) a description of how the State or Indian 24 tribe will ensure that programs leading to a recog- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2250 IS nized postsecondary credential meet the quality cri- 1 teria established by the State under section 123(a) 2 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 3 (29 U.S.C. 3153(a)) or other quality criteria deter- 4 mined appropriate by the State or Indian tribe; 5 ‘‘(5) an assurance that all participating commu- 6 nity colleges in the State or under the authority of 7 the Indian tribe have entered into program partici- 8 pation agreements under section 487; 9 ‘‘(6) an assurance that the State or Indian tribe 10 will, to the extent practicable, assist eligible students 11 in obtaining information about and accessing means- 12 tested Federal benefit programs (as defined in sec- 13 tion 479(d)) for which such students may be eligible; 14 ‘‘(7) an assurance that, for each year of the 15 grant, the State or Indian tribe will notify each eligi- 16 ble student of the student’s remaining eligibility for 17 assistance under this subpart; and 18 ‘‘(8) if the application is submitted by a 19 State— 20 ‘‘(A) an assurance that the State will, to 21 the extent practicable, consider changes to 22 State law that will enable more community col- 23 lege students to be eligible for means-tested 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2250 IS Federal benefit programs (as defined in section 1 479(d)); 2 ‘‘(B) an assurance that the State will meet 3 the requirements of section 499D(b)(1) relating 4 to the alignment of secondary and postsec- 5 ondary education; and 6 ‘‘(C) an assurance that the State will meet 7 the requirements of section 499D(b)(2) relating 8 to the improvement of transfer pathways be- 9 tween institutions of higher education. 10 ‘‘SEC. 499D. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. 11 ‘‘(a) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR STATES AND IN- 12 DIAN TRIBES.—As a condition of receiving a grant under 13 this subpart a State or Indian tribe shall meet the fol- 14 lowing requirements: 15 ‘‘(1) For each year of the grant the total 16 amount of community college resident tuition and 17 fees charged to an eligible student in the State or 18 Indian tribe shall be $0. 19 ‘‘(2) For each year of the grant no amount of 20 financial assistance for which an eligible student 21 qualifies may be applied to such tuition or fees. 22 ‘‘(b) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—As a condition of re- 23 ceiving a grant under this subpart a State shall meet the 24 following requirements: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2250 IS ‘‘(1) ALIGNMENT OF K–12 AND HIGHER EDU- 1 CATION.— 2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The State shall— 3 ‘‘(i) submit a plan to align the re- 4 quirements for receiving a regular high 5 school diploma from a public high school 6 with the requirements for entering credit- 7 bearing coursework at a participating com- 8 munity college; and 9 ‘‘(ii) not later than three years after 10 the date on which the State first receives 11 a grant under this subpart, certify to the 12 Secretary that such alignment has been 13 achieved. 14 ‘‘(B) FAILURE TO CERTIFY.—If a State 15 does not provide the certification required 16 under subparagraph (A) by the date specified in 17 such subparagraph, the State shall submit to 18 the Secretary, at such time and in such manner 19 as the Secretary may require— 20 ‘‘(i) a written explanation for the 21 delay in making the certification; and 22 ‘‘(ii) a plan that will enable the State 23 to make the certification by not later than 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:49 Aug 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2250.IS S2250 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 2250 IS 5 years after the date on which the State 1 first received a grant under this subpart. 2 ‘‘(2) TRANSFER PATHWAYS.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 4 after the date on which a State first receives a 5 grant under this subpart, such State shall cer- 6 tify to the Secretary that each public institution 7 of higher education participating in any pro- 8 gram under this title has entered into an ar- 9 ticulation agreement (as defined in section 10 486A(a)) held in common with the other public 11 institutions of higher education located in such 12 State that are participating in any such pro- 13 gram. Such articulation agreement shall, at a 14 minimum, include— 15 ‘‘(i) a common general education core 16 curriculum consisting of not less than 30 17 credit hours or the equivalent coursework, 18 which are fully transferrable to any such 19 public institution of higher education in 20 the State toward meeting specific degree or 21 certificate requirements; 22 ‘‘(ii) common course numbering for 23 substantially similar courses in such com- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Aug 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 S [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]