FINISH Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4083 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 JULY 26, 2019 Mr. MCADAMS (for himself, Mr. WRIGHT, and Mr. KATKO) 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 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4083 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) identify and support the most effective 13 interventions to increase postsecondary degree at- 14 tainment and career success of high-need students; 15 and 16 ‘‘(3) improve the efficiency of postsecondary 17 education, including by reducing the percentage of 18 students enrolling in postsecondary remediation and 19 increasing the effectiveness of postsecondary remedi- 20 ation. 21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 23 tity’ means any of the following: 24 ‘‘(A) A State educational agency. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4083 IH ‘‘(B) A public or private nonprofit institu- 1 tion of higher education. 2 ‘‘(C) The Bureau of Indian Education. 3 ‘‘(D) A consortium of any of the entities 4 described in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 5 ‘‘(E) A partnership between a State edu- 6 cational agency or public or private nonprofit 7 institution of higher education and one or more 8 of the following: 9 ‘‘(i) A nonprofit organization. 10 ‘‘(ii) An intermediary organization. 11 ‘‘(iii) A business. 12 ‘‘(iv) A sponsor of a program receiv- 13 ing assistance under the National and 14 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 15 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.). 16 ‘‘(v) A local educational agency. 17 ‘‘(2) FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT.— 18 The term ‘first generation college student’ means— 19 ‘‘(A) an individual both of whose parents 20 did not complete a baccalaureate degree; or 21 ‘‘(B) in the case of any individual who reg- 22 ularly resided with and received support from 23 only one parent, an individual whose only such 24 parent did not complete a baccalaureate degree. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4083 IH ‘‘(3) HIGH-NEED STUDENT.—The term ‘high- 1 need student’— 2 ‘‘(A) means a postsecondary student who 3 is at risk of educational failure or otherwise in 4 need of special assistance and support; and 5 ‘‘(B) may include an adult learner, work- 6 ing student, part-time student, student from a 7 low-income background, student of color, 8 former foster youth, first generation college stu- 9 dent, student with a disability, student who is 10 deaf or blind or visually impaired, or student 11 who is an English learner. 12 ‘‘(4) INTERMEDIARY ORGANIZATION.—The term 13 ‘intermediary organization’ means an entity— 14 ‘‘(A) with strong skills and a track record 15 of success in— 16 ‘‘(i) identifying effective interventions 17 to address State, regional, or local prob- 18 lems; 19 ‘‘(ii) managing high-quality subgrant 20 processes; and 21 ‘‘(iii) providing technical assistance 22 and support to subgrantees to ensure qual- 23 ity and improve outcomes; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4083 IH ‘‘(B) that utilizes an evidence-based deci- 1 sionmaking strategy when selecting high-per- 2 forming entities, on a competitive basis, to re- 3 ceive subgrants in order to validate and grow 4 effective interventions. 5 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail- 7 able to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 8 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible enti- 9 ties to enable the eligible entities to create, develop, 10 implement, replicate, or scale evidence-based and 11 field-initiated innovations, including through pay for 12 success initiatives (as defined in section 124(a)), in 13 order to improve postsecondary access and comple- 14 tion or career success for high-need students. 15 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The grants awarded under this 16 section shall implement and evaluate programs, 17 interventions, and strategies that address the pur- 18 poses described under subsection (a) and, to the ex- 19 tent practicable based on the strength of the applica- 20 tions, include— 21 ‘‘(A) early-phase grants to fund the devel- 22 opment, implementation, and feasibility testing 23 of a practice, program, or intervention that 24 prior research suggests has promise, for the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4083 IH purpose of determining whether the practice, 1 program, or innovation can successfully im- 2 prove, for high-need students— 3 ‘‘(i) access to, retention in, and com- 4 pletion of a postsecondary program of 5 study; or 6 ‘‘(ii) career success; 7 ‘‘(B) mid-phase grants to fund implemen- 8 tation and a rigorous evaluation of a practice, 9 program, or intervention that has been success- 10 fully implemented under an early phase grant 11 described in subparagraph (A) or another effort 12 meeting similar criteria, for the purpose of 13 measuring (using existing administrative data 14 where possible) the impact and cost-effective- 15 ness of the practice, program, or intervention; 16 or 17 ‘‘(C) expansion grants to fund implementa- 18 tion and a rigorous replication evaluation of a 19 practice, program, or intervention that has been 20 found to produce sizable, important impacts 21 under a mid-phase grant described in subpara- 22 graph (B) or another effort meeting similar cri- 23 teria, for the purposes of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4083 IH ‘‘(i) determining whether such impacts 1 can be successfully reproduced and sus- 2 tained over time; and 3 ‘‘(ii) identifying the conditions in 4 which the practice, program, or initiative is 5 most effective. 6 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 8 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec- 9 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 10 and containing such information as the Secretary 11 may require. 12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 13 under paragraph (1) shall include— 14 ‘‘(A) a description of the high-need stu- 15 dents that the eligible entity is proposing to 16 serve through the grant; and 17 ‘‘(B) a description of the outcome meas- 18 ures, including explicit outcome measures for 19 high-need students, that the eligible entity will 20 use, in addition to the outcome measures de- 21 scribed in subsection (f)(2)(A), to evaluate the 22 success of the grant. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4083 IH ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec- 1 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 2 that— 3 ‘‘(1) propose to serve the largest number of 4 high-need students; or 5 ‘‘(2) serve a high proportion of students from 6 one or more school districts with a school district lo- 7 cale code of 31, 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined 8 by the Secretary using the school district locale 9 codes in effect on December 1, 2019. 10 ‘‘(f) EVALUATIONS.—Each recipient of a grant under 11 this section shall conduct, and submit to the Secretary, 12 a rigorous, independent evaluation of— 13 ‘‘(1) the effectiveness of the practice, program, 14 or intervention carried out under such grant; 15 ‘‘(2) the outcomes achieved by such grant, 16 which shall include— 17 ‘‘(A) the numbers and percentages, in the 18 aggregate and disaggregated by each subgroup 19 of students (as defined in section 1111(c)(2) of 20 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 21 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(2))), of— 22 ‘‘(i) students supported by the grant 23 entering, persisting, and completing post- 24 secondary education; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4083 IH ‘‘(ii) such students enrolling in reme- 1 dial coursework at the institution; 2 ‘‘(iii) such students enrolling and 3 completing such remedial coursework; and 4 ‘‘(iv) such students enrolling in and 5 completing such remedial coursework and 6 successfully completing first-year credit- 7 bearing coursework within 16 months of 8 enrollment in an institution of higher edu- 9 cation; and 10 ‘‘(B) the recipient’s performance on any 11 other outcome measures described in the appli- 12 cation in accordance with subsection (d)(2)(B); 13 and 14 ‘‘(3) the activities carried out under such grant. 15 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 17 after the date of enactment of the Fund for Innova- 18 tion and Success in Higher Education Act, and 19 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare 20 and submit to the authorizing committees a report 21 on the grants carried out under this section. 22 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report issued under 23 this subsection shall— 24 ‘‘(A) include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4083 IH ‘‘(i) information from the outcomes 1 reported in the evaluations submitted 2 under subsection (f) for the reporting pe- 3 riod about the success of the grants sup- 4 ported under this section; and 5 ‘‘(ii) the number of high-need stu- 6 dents served through the grants under this 7 section during the reporting period; 8 ‘‘(B) disaggregate all data on student out- 9 comes related to the grants by, at a minimum, 10 race and income, and, to the extent practicable, 11 any other relevant student characteristic, as de- 12 termined by the Secretary; and 13 ‘‘(C) consider— 14 ‘‘(i) how the tiered-evidence grant 15 structure described in subsection (c)(2) can 16 be applied to other grant programs author- 17 ized under this Act, in order to strengthen 18 those programs; and 19 ‘‘(ii) how the evidence generated by 20 the projects, programs, and interventions 21 supported by grants under this section can 22 inform how to carry out other grants au- 23 thorized under this Act. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4083 IH ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 1 shall make each report issued under this subsection 2 available to the public through the website of the 3 Department.’’. 4 SEC. 3. OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES. 5 Section 741(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 6 (20 U.S.C. 1138(a)) is amended— 7 (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 8 the semicolon; 9 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period 10 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(14) making all forms of postsecondary in- 13 structional content widely available, which may in- 14 clude the use of open educational resources (defined, 15 for purpose of this paragraph, as teaching, learning, 16 or research resources that reside in the public do- 17 main or have been released under a copyright license 18 that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and 19 sharing with others).’’. 20 SEC. 4. PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVES. 21 Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 22 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 23 the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4083 IH ‘‘SEC. 124. PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVES. 1 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 2 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 3 tity’ means a partnership between— 4 ‘‘(A) a private entity (which may include a 5 private nonprofit entity); and 6 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education, a 7 Federal, State, or local public entity, or a Trib- 8 al entity. 9 ‘‘(2) PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVE.— 10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘pay for 11 success initiative’ means a performance-based 12 grant, contract, or other agreement— 13 ‘‘(i) between an eligible entity and the 14 Secretary or a grant recipient, as author- 15 ized under subsection (b)(1); 16 ‘‘(ii) in which— 17 ‘‘(I) a commitment is made to 18 pay the eligible entity for improved 19 outcomes, including measureable im- 20 provement in the lives of service re- 21 cipients or meaningful output meas- 22 ures strongly correlated to outcomes, 23 that result in increased public value or 24 social benefit to students and the pub- 25 lic sector, such as increased effective- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:15 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4083.IH H4083 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 4083 IH ness in improving outcomes, direct 1 cost savings or cost avoidance, or in- 2 creased public revenue; and 3 ‘‘(II) the entity providing the 4 funds under the grant, contract, or 5 agreement imposes minimal adminis- 6 trative requirements to allow for max- 7 imum flexibility to achieve improve- 8 m [Text truncated for display. 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