Satisfactory Academic Progress Reset and Reform Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 5033 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to support college students to meet satisfactory academic progress. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 16, 2020 Mr. BOOKER 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 support college students to meet satisfactory academic progress. 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 ‘‘Satisfactory Academic 4 Progress Reset and Reform Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6 The purposes of this Act are the following: 7 (1) To support college students to meet satis- 8 factory academic progress requirements under the 9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 5033 IS seq.), allowing them to continue receiving Federal 1 student aid and persist in college. 2 (2) To empower students who had lost access to 3 Federal student aid due to previously failing to meet 4 satisfactory academic progress requirements under 5 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 6 et seq.) to become eligible again for Federal student 7 aid after 2 years away from college. 8 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 9 Congress finds the following: 10 (1) Satisfactory academic progress (SAP) re- 11 quirements for Federal student aid programs have 12 become increasingly strict and inflexible for students 13 over the last 40 years. 14 (2) The increase in SAP requirements has 15 made the need-based Federal Pell Grant resemble a 16 performance-based scholarship, despite the dis- 17 proportionately negative impact on students and 18 families who are low-income. 19 (3) Approximately 40 percent of first-year Fed- 20 eral Pell Grant recipients risk losing Federal student 21 aid due to not meeting the credit completion compo- 22 nent of SAP requirements. 23 (4) Institutions are responsible for setting SAP 24 requirements; however, Federal statute establishes 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 5033 IS guidance for minimum grade point average (GPA) 1 and credit completion standards. 2 (5) Many institutions conduct an SAP status 3 check every payment period, allowing students at 4 risk of not meeting the SAP standards to benefit 5 from a one-term ‘‘warning status’’ before losing 6 Federal student aid or filing an appeal; however, 7 students at institutions that only evaluate SAP sta- 8 tus once per year are at risk of losing their Federal 9 student aid immediately upon learning of their sta- 10 tus. 11 (6) While many students struggle to meet min- 12 imum academic standards, current SAP policy tar- 13 gets students and families with the lowest incomes— 14 those earning less than $50,000 per year. Federal 15 student aid recipients with low GPAs leave college 16 more quickly than students with low GPAs that do 17 not rely on Federal student aid. 18 (7) Current SAP policy also disproportionately 19 harms Black, Latino, and Native American students. 20 In 2015 through 2016, 57 percent of Black stu- 21 dents, 47 percent of Latino students, and 51 percent 22 of Native American students relied on Federal Pell 23 Grants to pay for college, while for that same year, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 5033 IS 39 percent of all undergraduate students received a 1 Federal Pell Grant. 2 (8) SAP requirements apply to all Federal stu- 3 dent aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act 4 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), including Federal 5 Pell Grants, Federal Direct Loans, and Federal 6 Work-Study. State and institutional need-based pro- 7 grams also often base their own requirements on the 8 Federal SAP rules. 9 SEC. 4. SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS RESET. 10 Section 484(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 11 (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)) is amended to read as follows: 12 ‘‘(c) SATISFACTORY PROGRESS.— 13 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 ‘‘(A) APPEAL.—The term ‘appeal’ means a 15 process by which a student who is not meeting 16 the institution’s satisfactory academic progress 17 standards petitions the institution for reconsid- 18 eration of the student’s eligibility for assistance 19 under this title. 20 ‘‘(B) FINANCIAL AID PROBATION.—The 21 term ‘financial aid probation’ means a status 22 assigned by an institution to a student who fails 23 to make satisfactory academic progress and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 5033 IS who has appealed and has had eligibility for aid 1 reinstated. 2 ‘‘(C) FINANCIAL AID WARNING.—The term 3 ‘financial aid warning’ means a status assigned 4 to a student who fails to make satisfactory aca- 5 demic progress at the end of a semester or 6 equivalent period. 7 ‘‘(2) SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS POL- 8 ICY.—An institution shall establish a reasonable sat- 9 isfactory academic progress policy for determining 10 whether an otherwise eligible student is making sat- 11 isfactory academic progress in the student’s edu- 12 cational program and may receive assistance under 13 this title. The Secretary shall consider the institu- 14 tion’s policy to be reasonable if— 15 ‘‘(A) the policy is at least as strict as the 16 policy the institution applies to a student who 17 is not receiving assistance under this title; 18 ‘‘(B) the policy provides for consistent ap- 19 plication of standards to all students within the 20 category of students, including full-time, part- 21 time, undergraduate, and graduate students, 22 and educational programs established by the in- 23 stitution; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 5033 IS ‘‘(C)(i) the policy specifies the grade point 1 average (GPA) that a student must achieve at 2 each evaluation, or if a GPA is not an appro- 3 priate qualitative measure, a comparable assess- 4 ment measured against a norm; and 5 ‘‘(ii) if a student is enrolled in an edu- 6 cational program of more than 2 academic 7 years, the policy specifies that at the end of the 8 second academic year, the student must have a 9 GPA of at least a ‘C’ or its equivalent, or have 10 academic standing consistent with the institu- 11 tion’s requirements for graduation; 12 ‘‘(D) the policy provides for measurement 13 of the student’s progress at each evaluation; 14 ‘‘(E) the policy describes— 15 ‘‘(i) how a student’s GPA and 16 progress toward completion are affected by 17 course incompletes, withdrawals, or repeti- 18 tions, or transfers of credit from other in- 19 stitutions, including that credit hours from 20 another institution that are accepted to- 21 ward the student’s educational program 22 are counted as both attempted and com- 23 pleted hours; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 5033 IS ‘‘(ii) how after a student reenrolls 1 after the student’s satisfactory academic 2 progress was reset pursuant to paragraph 3 (3)(B), the student may have any credits 4 that were earned before the student was 5 determined not to be making satisfactory 6 academic progress counted for purposes of 7 determining progress when the student re- 8 enrolls, but any attempted hours (including 9 incompletes, withdrawn courses, and failed 10 courses) the student may have accumu- 11 lated before the student was determined 12 not to be making satisfactory academic 13 progress would not negatively impact the 14 determination of the student’s making sat- 15 isfactory academic progress after such 16 reset; 17 ‘‘(F) the policy provides that, a student 18 who has not achieved the required GPA, or who 19 is not making progress toward completion in 20 the student’s educational program, at the time 21 of each evaluation with respect to a student 22 who is in an educational program of 2 academic 23 years or less in length, or at the end of the sec- 24 ond academic year with respect to a student 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 5033 IS who is in an educational program of more than 1 2 academic years in length, is no longer eligible 2 to receive assistance under this title, except as 3 provided in subparagraph (G) with respect to a 4 student placed on financial aid warning or fi- 5 nancial aid probation; 6 ‘‘(G) if the institution places students on 7 financial aid warning, or on financial aid proba- 8 tion, the policy describes these statuses and 9 that— 10 ‘‘(i) a student on financial aid warn- 11 ing— 12 ‘‘(I) may receive assistance under 13 this title for one payment period de- 14 spite a determination that the student 15 is not making satisfactory academic 16 progress; and 17 ‘‘(II) may be assigned such sta- 18 tus without an appeal or other action 19 by the student; and 20 ‘‘(ii) a student on financial aid proba- 21 tion may receive assistance under this title 22 for one payment period and the institution 23 may require the student to fulfill specific 24 terms and conditions, such as taking a re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jan 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 5033 IS duced course load or enrolling in specific 1 courses, and, at the end of such one pay- 2 ment period, the student must meet the in- 3 stitution’s satisfactory academic progress 4 standards or meet the requirements of the 5 academic plan developed by the institution 6 and the student to qualify for continued 7 assistance under this title; 8 ‘‘(H) if the institution permits a student to 9 appeal a determination by the institution that 10 the student is not making satisfactory academic 11 progress, the policy describes— 12 ‘‘(i) how the student may reestablish 13 the student’s eligibility to receive assist- 14 ance under this title; 15 ‘‘(ii) the basis on which the student 16 may file an appeal, including because of 17 the death of a relative, an injury or illness 18 of the student, or another special cir- 19 cumstances; and 20 ‘‘(iii) information the student must 21 submit regarding why the student failed to 22 make satisfactory academic progress, and 23 what has changed in the student’s situa- 24 tion that will allow the student to dem- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 5033 IS onstrate satisfactory academic progress at 1 the next evaluation; 2 ‘‘(I) if the institution does not permit a 3 student to appeal a determination by the insti- 4 tution that the student is not making satisfac- 5 tory academic progress, the policy describes 6 how the student may reestablish the student’s 7 eligibility to receive assistance under this title; 8 ‘‘(J) the policy provides for notification to 9 students of the results of an evaluation that im- 10 pacts the student’s eligibility for assistance 11 under this title; and 12 ‘‘(K) the policy does not impose satisfac- 13 tory progress limitations on institutional aid 14 that are more stringent than the standard ap- 15 plied under this subsection without dem- 16 onstrating to the Secretary the effectiveness of 17 such limitations on improving student persist- 18 ence in, and completion of, postsecondary study. 19 ‘‘(3) REGAINING ELIGIBILITY.— 20 ‘‘(A) STUDENTS WHO REMAIN IN 21 SCHOOL.—Whenever a student fails to meet the 22 eligibility requirements of subsection (a)(2) as a 23 result of the application of this subsection and 24 subsequent to that failure the student has aca- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 5033 IS demic standing consistent with the require- 1 ments for graduation, as determined by the in- 2 stitution, for any grading period, the student 3 may, subject to this subsection, again be eligible 4 under subsection (a)(2) for a grant, loan, or 5 work assistance under this title. 6 ‘‘(B) STUDENTS WHO LEAVE SCHOOL.—If 7 a student has not been enrolled in any institu- 8 tion of higher education for the immediately 9 preceding 2 years, any previous failure to meet 10 the eligibility requirements of subsection (a)(2) 11 shall not be used in any determination of eligi- 12 bility of such student under such subsection. 13 Such student described in the preceding sen- 14 tence shall, after the date of enrollment subse- 15 quent to such 2 year period, meet the require- 16 ments described in paragraph (2). A student 17 shall be eligible for a reset of eligibility pursu- 18 ant to this paragraph not more than 2 times. 19 The Secretary shall— 20 ‘‘(i) send a notification to each stu- 21 dent who failed to meet the eligibility re- 22 quirements of subsection (a)(2) once such 23 student regains eligibility for a grant, loan, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 5033 IS or work assistance under this title pursu- 1 ant to this paragraph, including— 2 ‘‘(I) information that the student 3 may use grant, loan, or work assist- 4 ance under this title for enrollment at 5 any eligible institution, not just the 6 institution in which the student was 7 previously enrolled; 8 ‘‘(II) information on how many 9 semesters of eligibility for a grant, 10 loan, or work assistance under this 11 title to which the student still has ac- 12 cess; and 13 ‘‘(III) that the student should 14 ask any prospective eligible institution 15 how many of the student’s previously 16 completed credits the student would 17 be able to transfer; and 18 ‘‘(ii) submit an annual report to Con- 19 gress on the outcomes of students who 20 have received a reset of eligibility pursuant 21 to this paragraph, including— 22 ‘‘(I) the number of students who 23 reenroll in an eligible institution after 24 such reset, disaggregated by race or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5 [Text truncated for display. 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