I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7880 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require that institutions 

of higher education maintain certain adjusted cohort default rates to 

participate in programs under title IV of such Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2024 

Ms. PORTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require 

that institutions of higher education maintain certain 

adjusted cohort default rates to participate in programs 

under title IV of such Act, 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 ‘‘Accountability in Stu5 dent Loan Data Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROGRESS PERIOD STATUS. 

7 Section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1003) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (14) through 

2 (24) as paragraphs (15) through (25), respectively; 

3 and 

4 (2) by inserting after paragraph (13) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(14) PROGRESS PERIOD STATUS.—The term 

7 ‘progress period status’ means the status of an insti8 tution of higher education that is determined by the 

9 Secretary to be in danger of failing to meet title IV 

10 eligibility criteria relating to student debt because 

11 the institution has an adjusted cohort default rate of 

12 not less than 10 percent and not more than 15 per13 cent.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. CONSUMER INFORMATION. 

15 Section 132 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

16 U.S.C. 1015a) is amended in subsection (i)(1)(T), by 

17 striking ‘‘rate,’’ and inserting ‘‘rate and adjusted cohort 

18 default rate,’’. 

19 SEC. 4. FEDERAL PELL GRANTS. 

20 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 401(j) of the Higher 

21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(j)), as amended 

22 by section 703 of the FAFSA Simplification Act (title VII 

23 of division FF of Public Law 116–260), is amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting before the pe25 riod the following: ‘‘, or if such institution of higher 


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1 education is subject to an ineligibility determination 

2 under section 435(a)(9)’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, final ad4 justed cohort default rate, or on-time repayment 

5 rate,’’ before ‘‘determination’’. 

6 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

7 paragraph (1) shall take effect as if included in section 

8 703 of the FAFSA Simplification Act (title VII of division 

9 FF of Public Law 116–260) and subject to the effective 

10 date of section 701(b) of such Act, as amended by section 

11 102(a) of the FAFSA Simplification Act Technical Cor12 rections Act (division R of Public Law 117–103) (includ13 ing the authorization provided under section 102(c)(1)(A) 

14 of such Act). 

15 SEC. 5. DISBURSEMENT OF STUDENT LOANS. 

16 Section 428G of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

17 (20 U.S.C. 1078–7(a)) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(5) ADJUSTED COHORT DEFAULT RATE.—Be21 ginning on the date on which the final adjusted co22 hort default rates are published by the Secretary for 

23 not less than 3 fiscal years under section 435(m), an 

24 institution whose adjusted cohort default rate (as de25 termined under section 435(m)) for each of the 3 


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1 most recent fiscal years for which data are available 

2 is less than 5 percent may disburse any loan made, 

3 insured, or guaranteed under this part in a single in4 stallment for any period of enrollment that is not 

5 more than 1 semester, 1 trimester, 1 quarter, or 4 

6 months.’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (e), by inserting before the pe8 riod the following: ‘‘or, beginning on the date on 

9 which the final adjusted cohort default rates are 

10 published by the Secretary for fiscal year 2023 

11 under section 435(m), an adjusted cohort default 

12 rate (as determined under section 435(m)) of less 

13 than 2 percent’’. 

14 SEC. 6. COHORT DEFAULT RATES. 

15 (a) INELIGIBILITY BASED ON HIGH DEFAULT

16 RATES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 435(a) of the High18 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1085(a)) is 

19 amended— 

20 (A) in paragraph (7)(A), by adding at the 

21 end the following: 

22 ‘‘(iii) DEFAULT MANAGEMENT

23 PLAN.—The default management plan re24 quired under clause (i) may not include 

25 placing students in forbearance as a means 


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1 of reducing the cohort default rate or the 

2 adjusted cohort default rate of the institu3 tion.’’; and 

4 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(9) INELIGIBILITY BASED ON HIGH ADJUSTED

6 COHORT DEFAULT RATES.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

8 subparagraphs (B) and (D), beginning on the 

9 date that is one year after the date on which 

10 the final adjusted cohort default rates are pub11 lished by the Secretary for not less than 3 fiscal 

12 years, in a case in which one of the following 

13 determinations is made with respect to an insti14 tution, such institution shall be ineligible to 

15 participate in a program under this title for the 

16 fiscal year for which the determination is made 

17 and for the two succeeding fiscal years: 

18 ‘‘(i) The institution’s adjusted cohort 

19 default rate is greater than 20 percent for 

20 each of the three most recent fiscal years 

21 for which the final adjusted cohort default 

22 rates are published. 

23 ‘‘(ii) With respect to the six most re24 cent fiscal years for which the final ad25 justed cohort default rates are published— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the institution’s adjusted co2 hort default rate is greater than 15 

3 percent for each such fiscal year; and 

4 ‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 

5 that, during such 6-year period, the 

6 institution has not made adequate 

7 progress in meeting standards for stu8 dent achievement established by the 

9 relevant accrediting agency or associa10 tion pursuant to section 496(a)(5)(A). 

11 ‘‘(iii) With respect to the eight most 

12 recent fiscal years for which the final ad13 justed cohort default rates are published— 

14 ‘‘(I) the institution’s adjusted co15 hort default rate is greater than 10 

16 percent for each such fiscal year; and 

17 ‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 

18 that, during such 8-year period, the 

19 institution has not made adequate 

20 progress in meeting standards for stu21 dent achievement established by the 

22 relevant accrediting agency or associa23 tion pursuant to section 496(a)(5)(A). 

24 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN CAT25 EGORIES OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.—With 


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1 respect to an institution that loses eligibility to 

2 participate in a program under this title in ac3 cordance with subparagraph (A)(ii), such insti4 tution may request and be granted an exception 

5 to such loss of eligibility for a category of edu6 cational programs at such institution by dem7 onstrating to the Secretary that the adjusted 

8 cohort default rate for the category of edu9 cational programs is 15 percent or less for each 

10 fiscal year of the 6-year period on which such 

11 loss of eligibility for the institution is based. 

12 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF THE ADJUSTED

13 COHORT RATE FOR A CATEGORY OF EDU14 CATIONAL PROGRAMS.—In determining the ad15 justed cohort default rate for a category of edu16 cational programs for purposes of this para17 graph— 

18 ‘‘(i) subsection (m) shall be applied— 

19 ‘‘(I) in paragraph (1)— 

20 ‘‘(aa) in subparagraph (A), 

21 by substituting ‘received for en22 rollment in the category of edu23 cational programs for which such 

24 rate is being determined’ for ‘reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Apr 14, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7880.IH H7880

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1 ceived for attendance at the insti2 tution’; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) in subparagraph 

4 (E)(i)(II), by substituting, ‘per5 centage of students enrolled in 

6 the category of educational pro7 grams for which such rate is 

8 being determined’ for ‘percentage 

9 of students enrolled at the insti10 tution’; and 

11 ‘‘(II) as if the following were 

12 added at the end of paragraph (2): 

13 ‘‘ ‘(E) In the case of a student who has re14 ceived a loan for enrollment in more than one 

15 category of educational programs, the student 

16 (and such student’s subsequent repayment or 

17 default) is attributed to the last category of 

18 educational programs in which such student 

19 was enrolled.’. 

20 ‘‘(D) TRANSITION EXCEPTION.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A covered institu22 tion with an adjusted cohort default rate 

23 that is greater than 20 percent for the 

24 first fiscal year for which such rates are 

25 published by the Secretary may request 


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1 that any determination of such covered in2 stitution’s ineligibility under subparagraph 

3 (A) not be based on the adjusted cohort 

4 default rate of such covered institution for 

5 any or all of the first 3 fiscal years for 

6 which such rates are published by the Sec7 retary. 

8 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—To be granted 

9 a request under clause (i), a covered insti10 tution shall submit to the Secretary a de11 fault management plan as specified in 

12 paragraph (7). 

13 ‘‘(iii) DEFINITION OF COVERED INSTI14 TUTION.—In this subparagraph, the term 

15 ‘covered institution’ means— 

16 ‘‘(I) a public institution of higher 

17 education; 

18 ‘‘(II) a part B institution (as de19 fined in section 322); or 

20 ‘‘(III) a private, nonprofit insti21 tution of higher education at which 

22 not less than 45 percent of the total 

23 student enrollment consists of low-in24 come students (as such term is de25 fined in section 419N(b)(7)). 


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1 ‘‘(E) CATEGORY OF EDUCATIONAL PRO2 GRAMS DEFINED.—The term ‘category of edu3 cational programs’, when used with respect to 

4 an institution, means one of the following: 

5 ‘‘(i) The educational programs at the 

6 institution leading to an undergraduate, 

7 non-degree credential. 

8 ‘‘(ii) The educational programs at the 

9 institution leading to an associate’s degree. 

10 ‘‘(iii) The educational programs at the 

11 institution leading to a bachelor’s degree. 

12 ‘‘(iv) The educational programs at the 

13 institution leading to a graduate, non-de14 gree credential. 

15 ‘‘(v) The educational program at the 

16 institution leading to a graduate degree. 

17 ‘‘(10) APPLICATION OF ADJUSTED COHORT DE18 FAULT RATE.—Beginning on the date on which the 

19 final adjusted cohort default rates are published by 

20 the Secretary for not less than 3 fiscal years— 

21 ‘‘(A) paragraph (1) shall be applied by 

22 substituting ‘paragraph (9)’ for ‘paragraph (2)’; 

23 ‘‘(B) paragraph (3) shall be applied by 

24 substituting ‘adjusted cohort default rate, cal25 culated in accordance with subsection 


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1 (m)(1)(D), is greater than 20 percent for any 

2 3 consecutive fiscal years’ for ‘cohort default 

3 rate, calculated in accordance with subsection 

4 (m), is equal to or greater than the threshold 

5 percentage specified in paragraph (2)(B)(iv) for 

6 any two consecutive fiscal years’; 

7 ‘‘(C) paragraph (4) shall be applied— 

8 ‘‘(i) in subparagraph (C), by sub9 stituting ‘adjusted cohort default rate is 

10 greater than 15 percent’ for ‘cohort default 

11 rate equals or exceeds 20 percent’; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) in the matter following subpara13 graph (C), by substituting ‘adjusted cohort 

14 default rate to reflect the percentage of de15 faulted loans in the representative sample 

16 that are required to be excluded pursuant 

17 to subsection (m)(1)(B)’ for ‘cohort default 

18 rate to reflect the percentage of defaulted 

19 loans in the representative sample that are 

20 required to be excluded pursuant to sub21 section (m)(1)(B)’; 

22 ‘‘(D) paragraph (5)(A) shall be applied by 

23 substituting ‘paragraph (9)’ for ‘paragraph (2)’; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(E) paragraph (7) shall be applied— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 

2 ‘‘(I) in the matter preceding sub3 clause (I), by substituting ‘adjusted 

4 cohort default rate is greater than 20 

5 percent’ for ‘cohort default rate is 

6 equal to or greater than the threshold 

7 percentage specified in paragraph 

8 (2)(B)(iv)’; and 

9 ‘‘(II) in subclauses (I) and (II), 

10 by substituting ‘adjusted cohort de11 fault rate’ for ‘cohort default rate’; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by sub14 stituting ‘adjusted cohort default rate is 

15 greater than 20 percent’ for ‘cohort default 

16 rate is equal to or greater than the thresh17 old percentage specified in paragraph 

18 (2)(B)(iv)’.’’. 

19 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

20 435(a)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 1085(a)) is amended— 

22 (A) in the paragraph heading, by adding at 

23 the end the following: ‘‘BEFORE FISCAL YEAR

24 2023’’; and 


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1 (B) in subparagraph (B)(iv), by striking 

2 ‘‘and any succeeding fiscal year’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘through fiscal year 2022’’. 

4 (b) ADJUSTED COHORT DEFAULT RATE DEFINED.— 

5 Section 435(m)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

6 (20 U.S.C. 1085(m)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(D)(i) With respect to a cohort default rate 

9 calculated for an institution under this paragraph 

10 for fiscal year 2023 and for each succeeding fiscal 

11 year, such cohort default rate shall be adjusted as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘(I) In determining the number of current 

14 and former students at an institution who enter 

15 repayment for such fiscal year— 

16 ‘‘(aa) any such student who is in non17 mandatory forbearance for such fiscal year 

18 for a period of greater than 18 months but 

19 less than 36 months shall not be counted 

20 as entering repayment for such fiscal year; 

21 ‘‘(bb) such a student shall be counted 

22 as entering repayment for the first fiscal 

23 year for which the student ceases to be in 

24 a period of forbearance and otherwise 


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1 meets the requirements for being in repay2 ment; and 

3 ‘‘(cc) any such student who is in a pe4 riod of forbearance for three or more years 

5 shall be counted as in default and included 

6 in the institution’s total number of stu7 dents in default. 

8 ‘‘(II) Such rate shall be multiplied by the 

9 percentage of students enrolled at the institu10 tion for such fiscal year who are borrowing a 

11 loan under part D of this title. 

12 ‘‘(ii) The result obtained under this subpara13 graph for an institution shall be referred to in this 

14 Act as the ‘adjusted cohort default rate’.’’. 

15 (c) PUBLICATION OF ADJUSTED COHORT DEFAULT

16 RATE.—Section 435(m) of the Higher Education Act of 

17 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1085(m)) is further amended by adding 

18 at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(5) Beginning on the date on which the final 

20 adjusted cohort default rates for fiscal year 2023 are 

21 made available for publication by the Secretary, 

22 paragraph (4) shall be applied by substituting ‘ad23 justed cohort default’ for ‘cohort default’ each place 

24 it appears.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. ADJUSTED COHORT DEFAULT RATE. 

2 Section 487(a)(14) of the Higher Education Act of 

3 1965 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(D) Beginning on the date on which the 

5 final adjusted cohort default rates are published 

6 by the Secretary for fiscal year 2023 under sec7 tion 435(m), subparagraph (C) shall be applied 

8 by substituting ‘adjusted cohort default rate in 

9 excess of 5 percent’ for ‘cohort default rate in 

10 excess of 10 percent’ each place it appears.’’. 

11 SEC. 8. PROGRAM REVIEW AND DATA. 

12 Section 498A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

13 (20 U.S.C. 1099c–1) is amended in subsection (a)(2), by 

14 striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) institutions with an adjusted cohort 

16 default rate for loans under part D of this title 

17 in excess of 18 percent or which places such in18 stitutions in the highest 25 percent of such in19 stitutions;’’. 

20 SEC. 9. ASSISTANCE TO PROGRESS PERIOD INSTITUTIONS. 

21 Part H of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099a et seq.) is amended by adding at 

23 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 498C. ASSISTANCE TO PROGRESS PERIOD INSTITU2 TIONS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

4 grants and technical assistance to covered progress period 

5 institutions in accordance with this section. 

6 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Grants and assist7 ance provided under this section shall be used to improve 

8 student achievement (as described in section 

9 496(a)(5)(A)) at covered progress period institutions. 

10 ‘‘(c) DURATION.—Grants and assistance may be pro11 vided under this section for a period of not less than one 

12 year and not more than three years. 

13 ‘‘(d) CONDITIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) BENCHMARKS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To continue to receive 

16 support under this section after the first year in 

17 which such support is provided, an institution 

18 must show progress, as determined by the Sec19 retary, toward meeting the standards for stu20 dent achievement established by the relevant ac21 crediting agency or association pursuant to sec22 tion 496(a)(5)(A). 

23 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

24 the progress of an institution under subpara25 graph (A), the Secretary may take into consid26 eration extenuating circumstances that may 


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1 have contributed to the poor performance of the 

2 institution in the first year of the review period. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE.—An institu4 tion that does not achieve an adjusted cohort default 

5 rate of less than 10 percent after receiving support 

6 under this section for three consecutive years shall 

7 be ineligible to receive further support under this 

8 section. 

9 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION.—An institution shall be in10 eligible to receive further support under this section 

11 if, while the institution was receiving such support, 

12 the total enrollment of low-income students (as such 

13 term is defined in section 419N(b)(7)) at the institu14 tion decreased by 10 percent or more. 

15 ‘‘(e) COVERED PROGRESS PERIOD INSTITUTION.—In 

16 this section, the term ‘covered progress period institution’ 

17 means— 

18 ‘‘(1) a public institution of higher education 

19 that is determined to be in progress period status; 

20 ‘‘(2) a part B institution (as defined in section 

21 322) that is determined to be in progress period sta22 tus; or 

23 ‘‘(3) a private, nonprofit institution of higher 

24 education— 


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1 ‘‘(A) that is determined to be in progress 

2 period status; and 

3 ‘‘(B) at which not less than 45 percent of 

4 the total student enrollment consists of low-in5 come students (as such term is defined in sec6 tion 419N(b)(7)). 

7 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are appropriated 

9 such funds as the Secretary, using the formula de10 scribed in paragraph (2), determines necessary to 

11 meet the needs of all eligible institutions under this 

12 subsection. 

13 ‘‘(2) FORMULA.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec15 retary shall establish through negotiated rulemaking 

16 a formula to determine the— 

17 ‘‘(A) proportional amount of institutional 

18 need under this section; and 

19 ‘‘(B) total amount of institutional need 

20 under this section. 

21 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE.—Such formula must at 

22 minimum take into consideration the severity of the 

23 problem, size of the institution, institutional re24 sources, historical underfunding, and the number of 


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1 low-income students (as such term is defined in sec2 tion 419N(b)(7)) being served.’’. 

Æ 


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