II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 518 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to support innovative, evidencebased 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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2 (legislative day, MARCH 1), 2021 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself, Mr. BENNET, and Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina) 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 

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. 

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 ‘‘Fund for Innovation 

5 and Success in Higher Education Act’’ or the ‘‘FINISH 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INNOVATION GRANTS. 

2 Part B of title VII of the Higher Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1138 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating section 745 as section 746; 

5 and 

6 (2) by inserting after section 744 the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 745. INNOVATION GRANTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 

9 to— 

10 ‘‘(1) increase access to, retention in, and com11 pletion of postsecondary education opportunities for 

12 high-need students; 

13 ‘‘(2) address the adverse impacts on postsec14 ondary educational access and attainment for high15 need students brought about as a result of the 

16 COVID–19 pandemic; 

17 ‘‘(3) identify and support the most effective 

18 interventions to increase postsecondary degree at19 tainment and career success of high-need students, 

20 particularly such students who are adversely im21 pacted by the COVID–19 health pandemic; and 

22 ‘‘(4) improve the efficiency of postsecondary 

23 education, including by reducing the percentage of 

24 students enrolling in postsecondary remediation and 

25 increasing the effectiveness of postsecondary remedi26 ation. 


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

2 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en3 tity’ means any of the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) A State educational agency. 

5 ‘‘(B) A public or private nonprofit institu6 tion of higher education. 

7 ‘‘(C) The Bureau of Indian Education. 

8 ‘‘(D) A consortium of any of the entities 

9 described in subparagraphs (A) through (C). 

10 ‘‘(E) A partnership between a State edu11 cational agency or public or private nonprofit 

12 institution of higher education and one or more 

13 of the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) A nonprofit organization. 

15 ‘‘(ii) An intermediary organization. 

16 ‘‘(iii) A business. 

17 ‘‘(iv) A sponsor of a program receiv18 ing assistance under the National and 

19 Community Service Act of 1990 (42 

20 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.). 

21 ‘‘(v) A local educational agency. 

22 ‘‘(2) FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT.— 

23 The term ‘first generation college student’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) an individual both of whose parents 

25 did not complete a baccalaureate degree; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of any individual who reg2 ularly resided with and received support from 

3 only one parent, an individual whose only such 

4 parent did not complete a baccalaureate degree. 

5 ‘‘(3) HIGH-NEED STUDENT.—The term ‘high6 need student’— 

7 ‘‘(A) means a postsecondary student who 

8 is at risk of educational failure or otherwise in 

9 need of special assistance and support; and 

10 ‘‘(B) may include an adult learner, work11 ing student, part-time student, student from a 

12 low-income background, student of color, 

13 former foster youth, first generation college stu14 dent, student with a disability, student who is 

15 deaf or blind or visually impaired, or student 

16 who is an English learner. 

17 ‘‘(4) INTERMEDIARY ORGANIZATION.—The term 

18 ‘intermediary organization’ means an entity— 

19 ‘‘(A) with strong skills and a track record 

20 of success in— 

21 ‘‘(i) identifying effective interventions 

22 to address State, regional, or local prob23 lems; 

24 ‘‘(ii) managing high-quality subgrant 

25 processes; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) providing technical assistance 

2 and support to subgrantees to ensure qual3 ity and improve outcomes; and 

4 ‘‘(B) that utilizes an evidence-based deci5 sionmaking strategy when selecting high-per6 forming entities, on a competitive basis, to re7 ceive subgrants in order to validate and grow 

8 effective interventions. 

9 ‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail11 able to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 

12 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible enti13 ties to enable the eligible entities to create, develop, 

14 implement, replicate, or scale evidence-based and 

15 field-initiated innovations, including through pay for 

16 success initiatives (as defined in section 124(a)), in 

17 order to improve postsecondary access and comple18 tion or career success for high-need students. 

19 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The grants awarded under this 

20 section shall implement and evaluate programs, 

21 interventions, and strategies that address the pur22 poses described under subsection (a) and, to the ex23 tent practicable based on the strength of the applica24 tions, include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) early-phase grants to fund the devel2 opment, implementation, and feasibility testing 

3 of a practice, program, or intervention that 

4 prior research suggests has promise, for the 

5 purpose of determining whether the practice, 

6 program, or innovation can successfully im7 prove, for high-need students— 

8 ‘‘(i) access to, retention in, and com9 pletion of a postsecondary program of 

10 study; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) career success; 

12 ‘‘(B) mid-phase grants to fund implemen13 tation and a rigorous evaluation of a practice, 

14 program, or intervention that has been success15 fully implemented under an early-phase grant 

16 described in subparagraph (A) or another effort 

17 meeting similar criteria, for the purpose of 

18 measuring (using existing administrative data 

19 where possible) the impact and cost-effective20 ness of the practice, program, or intervention; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(C) expansion grants to fund implementa23 tion and a rigorous replication evaluation of a 

24 practice, program, or intervention that has been 

25 found to produce sizable, important impacts 


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1 under a mid-phase grant described in subpara2 graph (B) or another effort meeting similar cri3 teria, for the purposes of— 

4 ‘‘(i) determining whether such impacts 

5 can be successfully reproduced and sus6 tained over time; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) identifying the conditions in 

8 which the practice, program, or initiative is 

9 most effective. 

10 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 

12 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec13 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 

14 and containing such information as the Secretary 

15 may require. 

16 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 

17 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

18 ‘‘(A) a description of the high-need stu19 dents that the eligible entity is proposing to 

20 serve through the grant; and 

21 ‘‘(B) a description of the outcome meas22 ures, including explicit outcome measures for 

23 high-need students, that the eligible entity will 

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1 scribed in subsection (f)(2)(A), to evaluate the 

2 success of the grant. 

3 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec4 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(1) propose to serve the largest number of 

7 high-need students; or 

8 ‘‘(2) serve a high proportion of students from 

9 one or more school districts with a school district lo10 cale code of 31, 32, 33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined 

11 by the Secretary using the school district locale 

12 codes in effect on December 1, 2019. 

13 ‘‘(f) EVALUATIONS.—Each recipient of a grant under 

14 this section shall conduct, and submit to the Secretary, 

15 a rigorous, independent evaluation of— 

16 ‘‘(1) the effectiveness of the practice, program, 

17 or intervention carried out under such grant; 

18 ‘‘(2) the outcomes achieved by such grant, 

19 which shall include— 

20 ‘‘(A) the numbers and percentages, in the 

21 aggregate and disaggregated by each subgroup 

22 of students (as defined in section 1111(c)(2) of 

23 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

24 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6311(c)(2))), of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) students supported by the grant 

2 entering, persisting in, and completing 

3 postsecondary education; 

4 ‘‘(ii) such students enrolling in reme5 dial coursework at the institution; 

6 ‘‘(iii) such students enrolling in and 

7 completing such remedial coursework; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) such students enrolling in and 

9 completing such remedial coursework and 

10 successfully completing first-year credit11 bearing coursework within 16 months of 

12 enrollment in an institution of higher edu13 cation; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the recipient’s performance on any 

15 other outcome measures described in the appli16 cation in accordance with subsection (d)(2)(B); 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(3) the activities carried out under such grant. 

19 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

21 after the date of enactment of the Fund for Innova22 tion and Success in Higher Education Act, and 

23 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall prepare 

24 and submit to the authorizing committees a report 

25 on the grants carried out under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each report issued under 

2 this subsection shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) include— 

4 ‘‘(i) information from the outcomes 

5 reported in the evaluations submitted 

6 under subsection (f) for the reporting pe7 riod about the success of the grants sup8 ported under this section; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the number of high-need stu10 dents served through the grants under this 

11 section during the reporting period; 

12 ‘‘(B) disaggregate all data on student out13 comes related to the grants by, at a minimum, 

14 race and income, and, to the extent practicable, 

15 any other relevant student characteristic, as de16 termined by the Secretary; and 

17 ‘‘(C) consider— 

18 ‘‘(i) how the tiered-evidence grant 

19 structure described in subsection (c)(2) can 

20 be applied to other grant programs author21 ized under this Act, in order to strengthen 

22 those programs; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) how the evidence generated by 

24 the projects, programs, and interventions 

25 supported by grants under this section can 


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1 inform how to carry out other grants au2 thorized under this Act. 

3 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 

4 shall make each report issued under this subsection 

5 available to the public through the website of the 

6 Department.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES. 

8 Section 741(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

9 (20 U.S.C. 1138(a)) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

11 the semicolon; 

12 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period 

13 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(14) making all forms of postsecondary in16 structional content widely available, which may in17 clude the use of open educational resources (defined, 

18 for purpose of this paragraph, as teaching, learning, 

19 or research resources that reside in the public do20 main or have been released under a copyright license 

21 that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and 

22 sharing with others).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVES. 

2 Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

3 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

4 the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 124. PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVES. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en8 tity’ means a partnership between— 

9 ‘‘(A) a private entity (which may include a 

10 private nonprofit entity); and 

11 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education, a 

12 Federal, State, or local public entity, or a Trib13 al entity. 

14 ‘‘(2) PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVE.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘pay for 

16 success initiative’ means a performance-based 

17 grant, contract, or other agreement— 

18 ‘‘(i) between an eligible entity and the 

19 Secretary or a grant recipient, as author20 ized under subsection (b)(1); 

21 ‘‘(ii) in which— 

22 ‘‘(I) a commitment is made to 

23 pay the eligible entity for improved 

24 outcomes, including meaningful out25 put measures strongly correlated to 

26 outcomes, that result in increased 


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1 public value or social benefit to stu2 dents and the public sector, such as 

3 increased effectiveness in improving 

4 outcomes, direct cost savings or cost 

5 avoidance, or increased public rev6 enue; and 

7 ‘‘(II) the entity providing the 

8 funds under the grant, contract, or 

9 agreement imposes minimal adminis10 trative requirements to allow for max11 imum flexibility to achieve increased 

12 public value and social benefit; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) that requires— 

14 ‘‘(I) a study describing how the 

15 proposed intervention is based on evi16 dence of effectiveness, which may be a 

17 study not exclusively developed for the 

18 specific grant, contract, or other 

19 agreement; 

20 ‘‘(II) a rigorous, third-party eval21 uation that uses experimental or 

22 quasi-experimental design or other re23 search methodologies that allow for 

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1 ences to determine whether the initia2 tive has met its proposed outcomes; 

3 ‘‘(III) an annual, publicly avail4 able report on the progress of the ini5 tiative; and 

6 ‘‘(IV) that payments be made to 

7 the recipient of the grant, contract, or 

8 agreement only when agreed-upon 

9 outcomes are achieved, except as pro10 vided under paragraph (2) or (3) of 

11 subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘pay for suc13 cess initiative’ does not include any initiative 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(i) reduces the benefits to a student 

16 or the obligations of an entity under this 

17 Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 

18 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), the Americans with 

19 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 

20 et seq.), the Individuals with Disabilities 

21 Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), or 

22 any other law; or 

23 ‘‘(ii) reduces services that an indi24 vidual is entitled to receive under Federal, 

25 State, or local law. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVE AUTHORITY.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

3 provision of this Act and except as provided under 

4 subsection (c)— 

5 ‘‘(A) any recipient of a grant under this 

6 Act may request to use grant funds to carry out 

7 a pay for success initiative that accomplishes 

8 the objectives of the grant and meets all re9 quirements of the grant (except to the extent a 

10 requirement is specifically modified by the pay 

11 for success initiative), if such use is proposed in 

12 the application or plan submitted for such 

13 grant; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the Secretary may approve not more 

15 than 5 pilot demonstrations each fiscal year 

16 from the grant applications or plans that con17 tain a request to carry out a pay for success 

18 initiative. 

19 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS FOR FEASIBILITY STUDIES

20 AND RIGOROUS THIRD-PARTY EVALUATION.—If the 

21 Secretary, or a grant recipient, is authorized to 

22 carry out a pay for success initiative under para23 graph (1), the Secretary or grant recipient may use 

24 funds available for the pay for success initiative— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to conduct the feasibility study re2 quired under subsection (a)(2)(A)(iii)(I) or the 

3 rigorous third-party evaluation required under 

4 subsection (a)(2)(A)(iii)(II); or 

5 ‘‘(B) to provide funds to the entity car6 rying out the pay for success initiative for the 

7 costs of the initial costs associated with starting 

8 the initiative. 

9 ‘‘(3) USE OF REMAINING FUNDS.—Notwith10 standing any other provision of law, if the Secretary 

11 or a grant recipient is carrying out a pay for success 

12 initiative under paragraph (1) and the pay for suc13 cess initiative has met or exceeded its proposed out14 comes, the Secretary or grant recipient may use any 

15 funds remaining at the conclusion of the pay for 

16 success initiative to enter into an additional agree17 ment, through a competitive process, with an eligible 

18 entity to expand capacity under the pay for success 

19 initiative or to carry out additional pilot demonstra20 tions of pay for success initiatives. 

21 ‘‘(c) STUDENT PROTECTIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) NO NEGATIVE IMPACT ON STUDENT AID.— 

23 A pay for success initiative shall not be supported 

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1 dent access to, individual student aid awards made 

2 under section 401 or any other program supported 

3 under this Act. 

4 ‘‘(2) NONINCLUSION IN DETERMINATION OF

5 NEED.—A grant or aid provided directly to a stu6 dent under a pay for success initiative supported 

7 with funds under this Act shall not be considered in 

8 determining that student’s need for grant, loan, or 

9 work assistance under title IV of this Act, except 

10 that in no case shall the total amount of student fi11 nancial assistance awarded to a student through a 

12 pay for success initiative and under title IV exceed 

13 that student’s cost of attendance, as defined in sec14 tion 472. 

15 ‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 

16 any other provision of this Act, any funds made available 

17 for a fiscal year to an entity for a pay for success initiative 

18 authorized under this section shall remain available until 

19 expended.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. EVALUATION. 

21 Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

22 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.), as amended by section 4, is fur23 ther amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 125. EVALUATION AUTHORITY. 

25 ‘‘(a) EVALUATION RESERVATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation 

3 with the Director of the Institute of Education 

4 Sciences, may, for each fiscal year, reserve not more 

5 than 1 percent of the amount appropriated for each 

6 discretionary grant program authorized under this 

7 Act (except for the Federal Pell Grant program 

8 under section 401) in order to rigorously and inde9 pendently evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of 

10 the outcomes of all programs authorized under this 

11 Act. 

12 ‘‘(2) EFFECT ON OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The 

13 amount reserved under paragraph (1) shall be in ad14 dition to any other amounts reserved for evaluation 

15 under this Act. 

16 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION PLAN.—On a biennial basis, the 

17 Director of the Institute of Education Sciences shall de18 velop, submit to the authorizing committees, and make 

19 publicly available on the website of the Department, an 

20 evaluation plan for the next 2 fiscal years that— 

21 ‘‘(1) describes the specific activities that will be 

22 carried out under subsection (a) for the 2-year pe23 riod applicable to the plan, and the timelines of such 

24 activities; 


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1 ‘‘(2) contains the results of the activities car2 ried out under subsection (a) for the most recent 2- 

3 year period; and 

4 ‘‘(3) describes how programs authorized under 

5 this Act will be regularly evaluated, including the 

6 outcome measures to be used to evaluate each pro7 gram. 

8 ‘‘(c) POOLING AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any 

9 other provision of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation 

10 with the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences— 

11 ‘‘(1) may consolidate the funds reserved under 

12 subsection (a) for purposes of carrying out the ac13 tivities described in subsection (b); and 

14 ‘‘(2) shall not be required to evaluate each pro15 gram authorized under this Act each year. 

16 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be construed to conflict with or supercede any 

18 other evaluation requirement for a specific program or ac19 tivity authorized under this Act.’’. 

Æ 


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