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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Satisfactory Academic 

5 Progress Reset and Reform Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are the following: 

8 (1) To support college students to meet satis9 factory academic progress requirements under the 

10 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et 


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1 seq.), allowing them to continue receiving Federal 

2 student aid and persist in college. 

3 (2) To empower students who had lost access to 

4 Federal student aid due to previously failing to meet 

5 satisfactory academic progress requirements under 

6 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 

7 et seq.) to become eligible again for Federal student 

8 aid after 2 years away from college. 

9 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

10 Congress finds the following: 

11 (1) Satisfactory academic progress (SAP) re12 quirements for Federal student aid programs have 

13 become increasingly strict and inflexible for students 

14 over the last 40 years. 

15 (2) The increase in SAP requirements has 

16 made the need-based Federal Pell Grant resemble a 

17 performance-based scholarship, despite the dis18 proportionately negative impact on students and 

19 families who are low-income. 

20 (3) Approximately 40 percent of first-year Fed21 eral Pell Grant recipients risk losing Federal student 

22 aid due to not meeting the credit completion compo23 nent of SAP requirements. 

24 (4) Institutions are responsible for setting SAP 

25 requirements; however, Federal statute establishes 


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1 guidance for minimum grade point average (GPA) 

2 and credit completion standards. 

3 (5) Many institutions conduct an SAP status 

4 check every payment period, allowing students at 

5 risk of not meeting the SAP standards to benefit 

6 from a one-term ‘‘warning status’’ before losing 

7 Federal student aid or filing an appeal; however, 

8 students at institutions that only evaluate SAP sta9 tus once per year are at risk of losing their Federal 

10 student aid immediately upon learning of their sta11 tus. 

12 (6) While many students struggle to meet min13 imum academic standards, current SAP policy tar14 gets students and families with the lowest incomes— 

15 those earning less than $50,000 per year. Federal 

16 student aid recipients with low GPAs leave college 

17 more quickly than students with low GPAs that do 

18 not rely on Federal student aid. 

19 (7) Current SAP policy also disproportionately 

20 harms Black, Latino, and Native American students. 

21 In 2015 through 2016, 57 percent of Black stu22 dents, 47 percent of Latino students, and 51 percent 

23 of Native American students relied on Federal Pell 

24 Grants to pay for college, while for that same year, 


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1 39 percent of all undergraduate students received a 

2 Federal Pell Grant. 

3 (8) SAP requirements apply to all Federal stu4 dent aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act 

5 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), including Federal 

6 Pell Grants, Federal Direct Loans, and Federal 

7 Work-Study. State and institutional need-based pro8 grams also often base their own requirements on the 

9 Federal SAP rules. 

10 SEC. 4. SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS RESET. 

11 Section 484(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

12 (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)) is amended to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(c) SATISFACTORY PROGRESS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 ‘‘(A) APPEAL.—The term ‘appeal’ means a 

16 process by which a student who is not meeting 

17 the institution’s satisfactory academic progress 

18 standards petitions the institution for reconsid19 eration of the student’s eligibility for assistance 

20 under this title. 

21 ‘‘(B) FINANCIAL AID PROBATION.—The 

22 term ‘financial aid probation’ means a status 

23 assigned by an institution to a student who fails 

24 to make satisfactory academic progress and 


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1 who has appealed and has had eligibility for aid 

2 reinstated. 

3 ‘‘(C) FINANCIAL AID WARNING.—The term 

4 ‘financial aid warning’ means a status assigned 

5 to a student who fails to make satisfactory aca6 demic progress at the end of a semester or 

7 equivalent period. 

8 ‘‘(2) SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS POL9 ICY.—An institution shall establish a reasonable sat10 isfactory academic progress policy for determining 

11 whether an otherwise eligible student is making sat12 isfactory academic progress in the student’s edu13 cational program and may receive assistance under 

14 this title. The Secretary shall consider the institu15 tion’s policy to be reasonable if— 

16 ‘‘(A) the policy is at least as strict as the 

17 policy the institution applies to a student who 

18 is not receiving assistance under this title; 

19 ‘‘(B) the policy provides for consistent ap20 plication of standards to all students within the 

21 category of students, including full-time, part22 time, undergraduate, and graduate students, 

23 and educational programs established by the in24 stitution; 


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1 ‘‘(C)(i) the policy specifies the grade point 

2 average (GPA) that a student must achieve at 

3 each evaluation, or if a GPA is not an appro4 priate qualitative measure, a comparable assess5 ment measured against a norm; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) if a student is enrolled in an edu7 cational program of more than 2 academic 

8 years, the policy specifies that at the end of the 

9 second academic year, the student must have a 

10 GPA of at least a ‘C’ or its equivalent, or have 

11 academic standing consistent with the institu12 tion’s requirements for graduation; 

13 ‘‘(D) the policy provides for measurement 

14 of the student’s progress at each evaluation; 

15 ‘‘(E) the policy describes— 

16 ‘‘(i) how a student’s GPA and 

17 progress toward completion are affected by 

18 course incompletes, withdrawals, or repeti19 tions, or transfers of credit from other in20 stitutions, including that credit hours from 

21 another institution that are accepted to22 ward the student’s educational program 

23 are counted as both attempted and com24 pleted hours; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) how after a student reenrolls 

2 after the student’s satisfactory academic 

3 progress was reset pursuant to paragraph 

4 (3)(B), the student may have any credits 

5 that were earned before the student was 

6 determined not to be making satisfactory 

7 academic progress counted for purposes of 

8 determining progress when the student re9 enrolls, but any attempted hours (including 

10 incompletes, withdrawn courses, and failed 

11 courses) the student may have accumu12 lated before the student was determined 

13 not to be making satisfactory academic 

14 progress would not negatively impact the 

15 determination of the student’s making sat16 isfactory academic progress after such 

17 reset; 

18 ‘‘(F) the policy provides that, a student 

19 who has not achieved the required GPA, or who 

20 is not making progress toward completion in 

21 the student’s educational program, at the time 

22 of each evaluation with respect to a student 

23 who is in an educational program of 2 academic 

24 years or less in length, or at the end of the sec25 ond academic year with respect to a student 


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1 who is in an educational program of more than 

2 2 academic years in length, is no longer eligible 

3 to receive assistance under this title, except as 

4 provided in subparagraph (G) with respect to a 

5 student placed on financial aid warning or fi6 nancial aid probation; 

7 ‘‘(G) if the institution places students on 

8 financial aid warning, or on financial aid proba9 tion, the policy describes these statuses and 

10 that— 

11 ‘‘(i) a student on financial aid warn12 ing— 

13 ‘‘(I) may receive assistance under 

14 this title for one payment period de15 spite a determination that the student 

16 is not making satisfactory academic 

17 progress; and 

18 ‘‘(II) may be assigned such sta19 tus without an appeal or other action 

20 by the student; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) a student on financial aid proba22 tion may receive assistance under this title 

23 for one payment period and the institution 

24 may require the student to fulfill specific 

25 terms and conditions, such as taking a reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 Jan 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033

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1 duced course load or enrolling in specific 

2 courses, and, at the end of such one pay3 ment period, the student must meet the in4 stitution’s satisfactory academic progress 

5 standards or meet the requirements of the 

6 academic plan developed by the institution 

7 and the student to qualify for continued 

8 assistance under this title; 

9 ‘‘(H) if the institution permits a student to 

10 appeal a determination by the institution that 

11 the student is not making satisfactory academic 

12 progress, the policy describes— 

13 ‘‘(i) how the student may reestablish 

14 the student’s eligibility to receive assist15 ance under this title; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the basis on which the student 

17 may file an appeal, including because of 

18 the death of a relative, an injury or illness 

19 of the student, or another special cir20 cumstances; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) information the student must 

22 submit regarding why the student failed to 

23 make satisfactory academic progress, and 

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1 onstrate satisfactory academic progress at 

2 the next evaluation; 

3 ‘‘(I) if the institution does not permit a 

4 student to appeal a determination by the insti5 tution that the student is not making satisfac6 tory academic progress, the policy describes 

7 how the student may reestablish the student’s 

8 eligibility to receive assistance under this title; 

9 ‘‘(J) the policy provides for notification to 

10 students of the results of an evaluation that im11 pacts the student’s eligibility for assistance 

12 under this title; and 

13 ‘‘(K) the policy does not impose satisfac14 tory progress limitations on institutional aid 

15 that are more stringent than the standard ap16 plied under this subsection without dem17 onstrating to the Secretary the effectiveness of 

18 such limitations on improving student persist19 ence in, and completion of, postsecondary study. 

20 ‘‘(3) REGAINING ELIGIBILITY.— 

21 ‘‘(A) STUDENTS WHO REMAIN IN

22 SCHOOL.—Whenever a student fails to meet the 

23 eligibility requirements of subsection (a)(2) as a 

24 result of the application of this subsection and 

25 subsequent to that failure the student has acaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Dec 29, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5033.IS S5033

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1 demic standing consistent with the require2 ments for graduation, as determined by the in3 stitution, for any grading period, the student 

4 may, subject to this subsection, again be eligible 

5 under subsection (a)(2) for a grant, loan, or 

6 work assistance under this title. 

7 ‘‘(B) STUDENTS WHO LEAVE SCHOOL.—If 

8 a student has not been enrolled in any institu9 tion of higher education for the immediately 

10 preceding 2 years, any previous failure to meet 

11 the eligibility requirements of subsection (a)(2) 

12 shall not be used in any determination of eligi13 bility of such student under such subsection. 

14 Such student described in the preceding sen15 tence shall, after the date of enrollment subse16 quent to such 2 year period, meet the require17 ments described in paragraph (2). A student 

18 shall be eligible for a reset of eligibility pursu19 ant to this paragraph not more than 2 times. 

20 The Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) send a notification to each stu22 dent who failed to meet the eligibility re23 quirements of subsection (a)(2) once such 

24 student regains eligibility for a grant, loan, 


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1 or work assistance under this title pursu2 ant to this paragraph, including— 

3 ‘‘(I) information that the student 

4 may use grant, loan, or work assist5 ance under this title for enrollment at 

6 any eligible institution, not just the 

7 institution in which the student was 

8 previously enrolled; 

9 ‘‘(II) information on how many 

10 semesters of eligibility for a grant, 

11 loan, or work assistance under this 

12 title to which the student still has ac13 cess; and 

14 ‘‘(III) that the student should 

15 ask any prospective eligible institution 

16 how many of the student’s previously 

17 completed credits the student would 

18 be able to transfer; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) submit an annual report to Con20 gress on the outcomes of students who 

21 have received a reset of eligibility pursuant 

22 to this paragraph, including— 

23 ‘‘(I) the number of students who 

24 reenroll in an eligible institution after 

25 such reset, disaggregated by race or 


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1 ethnicity, sex, age, socioeconomic sta2 tus, and disability status; 

3 ‘‘(II) the 250 eligible institutions 

4 with the highest numbers of enrolled 

5 students receiving grant, loan, or 

6 work assistance under this title after 

7 such a reset; and 

8 ‘‘(III) the average completion 

9 rate and time to completion for stu10 dents who reenroll in an eligible insti11 tution after such reset, broken down 

12 by institution. 

13 ‘‘(4) EVALUATION OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An institution that 

15 determines that a student is not making 

16 progress under its policy may disburse funds 

17 under this title to the student subject to this 

18 paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(B) PAYMENT PERIOD FOLLOWING NOT

20 MAKING ACADEMIC PROGRESS.—For the pay21 ment period following the payment period in 

22 which a student did not make satisfactory aca23 demic progress, the institution may place the 

24 student on financial aid warning and disburse 

25 funds under this title to the student. 


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1 ‘‘(C) PAYMENT PERIOD FOLLOWING FI2 NANCIAL AID WARNING.—For the payment pe3 riod following a payment period during which a 

4 student was on financial aid warning, the insti5 tution may place the student on financial aid 

6 probation, and disburse funds under this title to 

7 the student if— 

8 ‘‘(i) the institution evaluates the stu9 dent’s progress and determines that stu10 dent did not make satisfactory academic 

11 progress during the payment period the 

12 student was on financial aid warning; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the student appeals the deter14 mination; and 

15 ‘‘(iii)(I) the institution determines 

16 that the student should be able to meet the 

17 institution’s satisfactory academic progress 

18 standards by the end of the subsequent 

19 payment period; or 

20 ‘‘(II) the institution develops an aca21 demic plan for the student that, if fol22 lowed, will ensure that the student is able 

23 to meet the institution’s satisfactory aca24 demic progress standards by a specific 

25 point in time. 


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1 ‘‘(D) PAYMENT PERIOD FOLLOWING FI2 NANCIAL AID PROBATION.—A student on finan3 cial aid probation for a payment period may not 

4 receive funds under this title for the subsequent 

5 payment period unless the student makes satis6 factory academic progress or the institution de7 termines that the student met the requirements 

8 specified by the institution in the academic plan 

9 for the student.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. COMMUNICATING SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC 

11 PROGRESS STANDARDS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 484(c) of the Higher 

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)), as amended 

14 by section 4, is further amended by adding at the end the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(5) DETAILING REQUIREMENTS TO STU17 DENTS.—Each institution of higher education that 

18 enrolls students who receive any grant, loan, or work 

19 assistance under this title shall detail the institu20 tion’s requirements regarding students maintaining 

21 satisfactory progress— 

22 ‘‘(A) to such students before the students 

23 begin classes at the institution through a de24 tailed communication that may be separate 

25 from a financial aid offer; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) on the financial aid web page of the 

2 website of the institution.’’. 

3 (b) CONSUMER TESTING.—The Secretary of Edu4 cation— 

5 (1) shall conduct consumer testing to develop 

6 exemplary practices and templates— 

7 (A) to support institutions of higher edu8 cation in carrying out section 484(c)(5) of the 

9 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

10 1091(c)(5)); and 

11 (B) which shall be available as resources 

12 for institutions of higher education; and 

13 (2) shall not require the use of such practices 

14 and templates by institutions of higher education. 

15 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend16 ment made by this section shall take effect on— 

17 (1) the first July 30 following the date of enact18 ment of this Act; or 

19 (2) if the first July 30 following the date of en20 actment of this Act is less than 6 months from such 

21 date of enactment, the second July 30 following the 

22 date of enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. FREQUENCY OF SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC 

2 PROGRESS EVALUATION AND COMMUNICA3 TION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 484(c)(4) of the Higher 

5 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)), as amended 

6 by section 4, is further amended by adding at the end the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(E) FREQUENCY OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS

9 EVALUATION AND COMMUNICATION.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

11 (ii), for the purpose of determining wheth12 er presently enrolled students are main13 taining satisfactory progress, each institu14 tion of higher education that enrolls stu15 dents who receive any grant, loan, or work 

16 assistance under this title shall review the 

17 progress of such students at the end of 

18 each payment period (as described in sec19 tion 668.4 of title 34, Code of Federal 

20 Regulations, or any successor regulation). 

21 ‘‘(ii) SHORTER PAYMENT PERIODS.— 

22 For institutions described in clause (i) that 

23 have payment periods that are shorter 

24 than on the semester system basis (such as 

25 on a quarterly or trimester systems basis 

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1 gram), such institutions shall review the 

2 progress of presently enrolled students at 

3 the end of each semester or equivalent pe4 riod of 12 to 18 weeks. 

5 ‘‘(iii) FINANCIAL AID WARNING.— 

6 Each institution described in clause (i), at 

7 the end of the payment period (or at the 

8 end of the semester or equivalent period 

9 for institutions described in clause (ii)), 

10 shall send a financial aid warning to pres11 ently enrolled students that do not meet 

12 the GPA requirement described in para13 graph (2), or its equivalent or academic 

14 standing consistent with the requirements 

15 for graduation, as determined by the insti16 tution, that informs the students of their 

17 risk of being determined to not be main18 taining satisfactory progress and therefore 

19 losing eligibility for grant, loan, or work 

20 assistance under this title and provides in21 formation on— 

22 ‘‘(I) the specific criteria of the in23 stitution’s academic requirements that 

24 the student is not meeting and the 


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1 specific improvements needed to meet 

2 the requirements; and 

3 ‘‘(II) how to meet with the stu4 dent’s academic advisor to get the 

5 academic support the student needs.’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section and the amend7 ment made by this section shall take effect on— 

8 (1) the first July 30 following the date of enact9 ment of this Act; or 

10 (2) if the first July 30 following the date of en11 actment of this Act is less than 6 months from such 

12 date of enactment, the second July 30 following the 

13 date of enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 7. LEVERAGING THE STRENGTHENING INSTITUTIONS 

15 PROGRAM TO SUPPORT STUDENTS NOT 

16 MEETING SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC 

17 PROGRESS REQUIREMENTS. 

18 Section 311(c)(6) of the Higher Education Act of 

19 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1057(c)(6)) is amended by inserting 

20 ‘‘(especially students not meeting satisfactory academic 

21 progress requirements)’’ after ‘‘retain students’’. 

Æ 


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