Degrees Not Debt Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4638 To give middle-class families access to the maximum Federal Pell Grant, to increase college transparency, and State maintenance of efforts, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 11, 2019 Mr. CARBAJAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To give middle-class families access to the maximum Federal Pell Grant, to increase college transparency, and State maintenance of efforts, 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 ‘‘Degrees Not Debt Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4638 IH SEC. 2. INCREASE IN THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF A FED- 1 ERAL PELL GRANT. 2 Section 401(b)(7)(C) of the Higher Education Act of 3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(7)(C)) is amended— 4 (1) in clause (i)(I), by striking ‘‘clause (iv)(II)’’ 5 and inserting ‘‘clause (v)(II)’’; 6 (2) in clause (ii)(I), by striking ‘‘clause (iv)(II)’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘clause (v)(II)’’; 8 (3) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as 9 clauses (iv) and (v), respectively; 10 (4) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 11 ‘‘(iii) AWARD YEAR 2019–2020.—For 12 award year 2019–2020, the amount deter- 13 mined under this subparagraph for pur- 14 poses of subparagraph (B)(iii) shall be 15 equal to— 16 ‘‘(I) $10,000; reduced by 17 ‘‘(II) the maximum Federal Pell 18 Grant for which a student would be 19 eligible using the criteria provided 20 under section 479; and 21 ‘‘(III) rounded to the nearest 22 $5.’’; and 23 (5) by striking clause (iv), as redesignated by 24 paragraph (3), and inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4638 IH ‘‘(iv) SUBSEQUENT AWARD YEARS.— 1 For award year 2020–2021 and each sub- 2 sequent award year, the amount deter- 3 mined under this subparagraph for pur- 4 poses of subparagraph (B)(iii) shall be 5 equal to— 6 ‘‘(I) the amount determined 7 under this subparagraph for the pre- 8 ceding award year; increased by 9 ‘‘(II) a percentage equal to the 10 annual adjustment percentage for the 11 award year for which the amount 12 under this subparagraph is being de- 13 termined; and 14 ‘‘(III) rounded to the nearest 15 $5.’’. 16 SEC. 3. INCREASE FAMILY INCOME THRESHOLD FOR DE- 17 TERMINATION OF EXPECTED FAMILY CON- 18 TRIBUTION EQUAL TO ZERO. 19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 479 of the Higher Edu- 20 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ss) is amended to read 21 as follows: 22 ‘‘SEC. 479. SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION. 23 ‘‘(a) SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION SECTION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4638 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 1 and use an easily identifiable simplified application 2 section as part of the common financial reporting 3 form prescribed under section 483(a) for families de- 4 scribed in subsection (b). 5 ‘‘(2) REDUCED DATA REQUIREMENTS.—The 6 simplified application form shall in the case of a 7 family meeting the requirements of subsection (b), 8 permit such family to be treated as having an ex- 9 pected family contribution equal to zero for purposes 10 of establishing such eligibility and to submit only the 11 data elements required to make a determination 12 under subsection (b). 13 ‘‘(b) ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION.— 14 The Secretary shall consider an applicant to have an ex- 15 pected family contribution equal to zero if— 16 ‘‘(1) in the case of a dependent student, the 17 sum of the adjusted gross income of the student’s 18 parents is less than or equal to 250 percent of the 19 poverty line (as defined by the Office of Manage- 20 ment and Budget, and revised annually in accord- 21 ance with section 673(2) of the Community Services 22 Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) applicable to 23 a family of the size involved; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4638 IH ‘‘(2) in the case of an independent student with 1 dependents other than a spouse, the sum of the ad- 2 justed gross income of the student and the student’s 3 spouse (if appropriate) is less than or equal to 250 4 percent of the poverty line (as defined by the Office 5 of Management and Budget, and revised annually in 6 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community 7 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) ap- 8 plicable to a family of the size involved; or 9 ‘‘(3) in the case of an independent student 10 without dependents other than a spouse, the sum of 11 the adjusted gross income of the student and the 12 student’s spouse (if appropriate) is less than or 13 equal to 250 percent of the poverty line (as defined 14 by the Office of Management and Budget, and re- 15 vised annually in accordance with section 673(2) of 16 the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 17 9902(2))) applicable to a family of the size involved. 18 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENTS.—An individual is not required 19 to qualify or file for the earned income credit in order to 20 be eligible under this subsection. The Secretary shall an- 21 nually adjust the income level necessary to qualify an ap- 22 plicant for the zero expected family contribution. The in- 23 come level shall be adjusted according to increases in the 24 Consumer Price Index, as defined in section 478(f).’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4638 IH (b) ADJUSTMENTS IN INCOME PROTECTION ALLOW- 1 ANCES.—For each academic year, the Secretary of Edu- 2 cation shall continue to publish in the Federal Register 3 a revised table of income protection allowances pursuant 4 to section 478(b)(1)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087rr(b)(1)(A)). 6 SEC. 4. STATE RESPONSIBILITY. 7 (a) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT REQUIREMENTS.— 8 Section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 9 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 10 lowing: 11 ‘‘(k) INSTITUTIONAL INELIGIBILITY BASED ON FAIL- 12 URE OF STATE TO MAINTAIN HIGHER EDUCATION AP- 13 PROPRIATIONS LEVEL.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State that receives 15 funds under this Act shall maintain expenditures 16 and State financial aid for institutions of higher 17 education in the State, with respect to a fiscal year, 18 at an amount that is equal to or more than the aver- 19 age amount of State expenditures and State finan- 20 cial aid for institutions of higher education in the 21 State for the 10 fiscal years preceding such fiscal 22 year. 23 ‘‘(2) CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE TO MAINTAIN 24 EFFORT.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4638 IH law and beginning 5 years after the date of enact- 1 ment of the Degrees Not Debt Act of 2019, the Sec- 2 retary shall not make a payment under this subpart 3 to an institution of higher education for a fiscal year 4 for the purpose of making a Federal Pell Grant to 5 eligible students in attendance at such institution 6 and any such student shall not be eligible to receive 7 a Federal Pell Grant for attendance at such institu- 8 tion for the fiscal year, if the institution— 9 ‘‘(A) is an institution of higher education, 10 as defined in section 102; and 11 ‘‘(B) is located in a State that has not 12 maintained expenditures and State financial aid 13 for institutions of higher education in the State, 14 with respect to the fiscal year, at an amount 15 that is equal to or more than the average 16 amount of State expenditures and State finan- 17 cial aid for institutions of higher education in 18 the State for the 5 fiscal years preceding such 19 fiscal year. 20 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 21 requirement of paragraph (1) for a State, for one 22 fiscal year at a time, and the provisions of para- 23 graph (2) shall have no effect for such fiscal year if 24 the Secretary determines that granting a waiver 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4638 IH would be equitable due to exceptional or uncontrol- 1 lable circumstances such as a natural disaster or a 2 precipitous and unforeseen decline in the financial 3 resources of the State.’’. 4 SEC. 5. COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY RESPONSIBILITY. 5 (a) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.—Sec- 6 tion 487 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7 1094) is amended— 8 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 9 following: 10 ‘‘(30) The institution will put a prominent link 11 on the homepage of the institution’s primary website 12 that goes directly to a report of a standard set of 13 key performance indicators with respect to the insti- 14 tution, as described in subsection (k).’’; and 15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 16 ‘‘(k) PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The key performance indi- 18 cators under this subsection are the following: 19 ‘‘(A)(i) Graduation rates— 20 ‘‘(I) at 100 percent of the normal 21 time for graduation; 22 ‘‘(II) at 150 percent of the normal 23 time for graduation; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4638 IH ‘‘(III) at 200 percent of the normal 1 time for graduation; and 2 ‘‘(IV) each of which is disaggregated 3 by age (25 years old and younger, and 4 older than 25 years old), income, race and 5 ethnicity, and first-generation college sta- 6 tus. 7 ‘‘(ii) Transfer out rates. Each such rate 8 shall be disaggregated by age (25 years old and 9 younger, and older than 25 years old), income, 10 race and ethnicity, and first-generation college 11 status. 12 ‘‘(iii) Withdrawal rates, including rates of 13 students who withdraw from a certificate pro- 14 gram to seek employment in a related field of 15 study. 16 ‘‘(B) Employment outcomes, including the 17 following: 18 ‘‘(i) The average salary of a graduate 19 3 years after graduation. 20 ‘‘(ii) The percentage of graduates 21 who, 180 days after graduation— 22 ‘‘(I) are employed full-time; 23 ‘‘(II) are employed part-time; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4638 IH ‘‘(III) are employed in the grad- 1 uate’s field of study or certificate; and 2 ‘‘(IV) make more than $25,000 a 3 year. 4 ‘‘(iii) The cohort repayment rate. 5 ‘‘(C) Student satisfaction rate as indicated 6 by a survey of all students and recent alumni 7 with the following 2 questions using a 5-point 8 Likert scale: 9 ‘‘(i) How satisfied are you with your 10 educational experience at [name of institu- 11 tion]? 12 ‘‘(ii) If you were making the decision 13 today, how likely would you be to choose to 14 attend [name of institution] again? 15 ‘‘(D) The percentage of students who con- 16 tinue enrollment at the institution after the 17 first year of enrollment. 18 ‘‘(E) The average net price for the institu- 19 tion’s most recent cohort of graduates, disag- 20 gregated by income quartile. 21 ‘‘(F) The average annual net price for full- 22 time attendance, broken out by tuition, fees, liv- 23 ing costs, and other (indirect) costs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4638 IH ‘‘(G) The median time to degree comple- 1 tion. 2 ‘‘(H) The percentage of enrolled students 3 with student loan debt. 4 ‘‘(I) The average student loan debt at time 5 of graduation for the most recent cohort of 6 graduates who borrowed money. 7 ‘‘(J) The average student loan debt at time 8 of withdrawal for the most recent cohort of 9 non-graduates who borrowed money. 10 ‘‘(2) COHORT REPAYMENT RATE.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the 12 term ‘cohort repayment rate’ means, for any 13 fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2023— 14 ‘‘(i) in the case in which 30 or more 15 borrowers at the institution enter repay- 16 ment on Federal Direct Stafford Loans, 17 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 18 Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, or 19 Federal Direct Consolidation Loans, re- 20 ceived for attendance at the institution, the 21 percentage of those borrowers who are not 22 in default and who make at least a one 23 dollar reduction on their initial student 24 loan principal balance before the end of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4638 IH second fiscal year following the fiscal year 1 in which the borrowers entered repayment, 2 except as provided in subparagraph (B); 3 and 4 ‘‘(ii) in the case in which less than 30 5 borrowers at the institution enter repay- 6 ment on Federal Direct Stafford Loans, 7 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 8 Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, or 9 Federal Direct Consolidation Loans, re- 10 ceived for attendance at the institution, the 11 percentage of those borrowers plus all of 12 the borrowers at the institution who en- 13 tered repayment on such loans (or on the 14 portion of a loan made under section 428C 15 that is used to repay any such loans) in 16 the 3 fiscal years preceding the fiscal year 17 for which the determination is made, who 18 are not in default and who make at least 19 a one dollar reduction on their initial stu- 20 dent loan principal balance before the end 21 of the second fiscal year following the year 22 in which the borrowers entered repayment, 23 except as provided in subparagraph (B). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:32 Oct 15, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4638.IH H4638 lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 4638 IH ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The ‘cohort repayment 1 rate’ calculation under subparagraph (A) shall 2 not include in the calculation a [Text truncated for display. 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