II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3995 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to create evidencebased student success programs designed to increase participation, retention, and completion rates of high-need students. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 20, 2024 

Mr. HEINRICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants 

to create evidence-based student success programs designed to increase participation, retention, and completion rates of high-need students. 

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 ‘‘Postsecondary Student 

5 Success Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 It is the purpose of this Act to support evidence-based 

3 participation, retention, and completion activities designed 

4 to ensure the postsecondary success of high-need students. 

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) COMPLETION RATE.—The term ‘‘completion 

8 rate’’ means— 

9 (A) the percentage of students from an ini10 tial cohort enrolled at an entity that is a 2-year 

11 institution who have graduated from the insti12 tution or transferred to a 4-year institution of 

13 higher education; or 

14 (B) the percentage of students from an ini15 tial cohort enrolled at an entity in the State 

16 that is a 4-year institution who have graduated 

17 from the institution. 

18 (2) DUAL OR CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT PRO19 GRAM.—The term ‘‘dual or concurrent enrollment 

20 program’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

21 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

22 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

23 (3) EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL.—The term 

24 ‘‘early college high school’’ has the meaning given 

25 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec26 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 


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1 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means— 

3 (A) a public institution of higher edu4 cation; 

5 (B) a partnership between a nonprofit edu6 cational organization and an institution of high7 er education; or 

8 (C) a consortium of institutions of higher 

9 education. 

10 (5) ELIGIBLE INDIAN ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eli11 gible Indian entity’’ means the entity responsible for 

12 the governance, operation, or control of a Tribal Col13 lege or University. 

14 (6) EVIDENCE-BASED.—The term ‘‘evidence15 based’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

16 8101(21)(A) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(21)(A)). 

18 (7) EVIDENCE TIERS.— 

19 (A) EVIDENCE TIER 1 REFORM OR PRAC20 TICE.—The term ‘‘evidence tier 1 reform or 

21 practice’’ means a reform or practice that prior 

22 research suggests has promise for the purpose 

23 of successfully improving student achievement 

24 or attainment for high-need students. 


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1 (B) EVIDENCE TIER 2 REFORM OR PRAC2 TICE.—The term ‘‘evidence tier 2 reform or 

3 practice’’ means a reform or practice described 

4 in subparagraph (A), or other reform or prac5 tice meeting similar criteria, that measures im6 pact and cost effectiveness of student success 

7 activities, and, through rigorous evaluation (in8 cluding through the use of existing administra9 tive data, as applicable), has been found to be 

10 successfully implemented. 

11 (C) EVIDENCE TIER 3 REFORM OR PRAC12 TICE.—The term ‘‘evidence tier 3 reform or 

13 practice’’ means a reform or practice described 

14 in subparagraph (B), or other reform or prac15 tice meeting similar criteria, that has been 

16 found to produce sizable, important impacts on 

17 student success and— 

18 (i) determining whether such impacts 

19 can be successfully reproduced and sus20 tained over time; and 

21 (ii) identifying the conditions in which 

22 such reform or practice is most effective. 

23 (8) FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT.— 

24 The term ‘‘first generation college student’’ has the 

25 meaning given the term in section 402A(h) of the 


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1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a– 

2 11(h)). 

3 (9) HIGH-NEED STUDENT.—The term ‘‘high4 need student’’ means— 

5 (A) a student from low-income back6 ground; 

7 (B) a first generation college student; 

8 (C) a caregiver student; 

9 (D) a student with a disability; 

10 (E) a student who stopped out before com11 pleting; 

12 (F) a reentering justice-impacted student; 

13 or 

14 (G) a military-connected student. 

15 (10) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

16 The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

17 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

19 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

20 means the Secretary of Education. 

21 (12) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

22 term ‘‘Tribal College or University’’ has the meaning 

23 given the term in section 316(b)(3) of the Higher 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)(3)). 


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1 SEC. 4. RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR ELIGIBLE INDIAN EN2 TITIES. 

3 From the total amount appropriated to carry out this 

4 Act for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall reserve 2 percent 

5 for grants to eligible Indian entities to increase participa6 tion, retention, and completion rates of high-need stu7 dents. 

8 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF POSTSECONDARY STUDENT 

9 SUCCESS COMPETITIVE GRANTS. 

10 (a) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—For each of fiscal 

11 years 2025 through 2030, the Secretary shall award, on 

12 a competitive basis, grants to eligible entities to provide 

13 student services to increase participation, retention, and 

14 completion rates of high-need students. 

15 (b) NOTIFICATION AND APPLICATION.—An eligible 

16 entity or eligible Indian entity desiring a grant under this 

17 Act shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 

18 time, in such manner, and containing the information re19 quired under subsection (c). 

20 (c) CONTENT OF APPLICATION.—An application sub21 mitted under this section shall include the following: 

22 (1) A plan to increase, with respect to all stu23 dents enrolled at the eligible entity or Tribal College 

24 or University, attainment and completion rates or 

25 graduation rates, including— 


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1 (A) a description of the evidence-based re2 form or practice that would be used and wheth3 er the reform or practice would be an evidence 

4 tier 1 reform or practice, evidence tier 2 reform 

5 or practice, or evidence tier 3 reform or prac6 tice; and 

7 (B) a particular focus on serving high-need 

8 students through student services and collabo9 ration among 2-year programs, 4-year pro10 grams, and workforce systems. 

11 (2) Annual benchmarks for student outcomes 

12 with respect to the evidence-based reform or practice 

13 that would be used. 

14 (3) A plan to evaluate the evidence-based re15 form or practice that would be used. 

16 (4) Rates of enrolled students who received a 

17 Federal Pell Grant under subpart 1 of part A of 

18 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

19 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.). 

20 (5) Demographics of enrolled students, includ21 ing high-need students. 

22 (6) A description of how the eligible entity or 

23 eligible Indian entity will, directly or in collaboration 

24 with other institutions of higher education or non25 profit organizations, use the grant funds to impleVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:48 Apr 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3995.IS S3995

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1 ment one or more of the following evidence-based re2 forms and practices: 

3 (A) Providing comprehensive academic, ca4 reer, and student services, which may include 

5 mentoring, advising, or case management serv6 ices. 

7 (B) Providing accelerated learning oppor8 tunities, which may include dual or concurrent 

9 enrollment programs and early college high 

10 school programs. 

11 (C) Reforming course scheduling, or credit12 awarding policies. 

13 (D) Improving transfer pathways between 

14 the eligible entity, or Tribal College or Univer15 sity, and other institutions of higher education. 

16 (7) A description of how the evidence-based re17 form or practice will be sustained once the grant ex18 pires. 

19 (d) EVIDENCE-BASED STUDENT SUCCESS PRO20 GRAMS.—From the total amount appropriated to carry out 

21 this Act for a fiscal year and not reserved under section 

22 4, the Secretary shall reserve not less than 20 percent to 

23 award grants to eligible entities with applications that pro24 pose to include evidence-based reforms and practices— 


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1 (1) at least 1 of which is an evidence tier 3 re2 form or practice; and 

3 (2) the rest of which are evidence tier 1 reforms 

4 or practices or evidence tier 2 reforms or practices. 

5 (e) REQUIRED USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity 

6 or eligible Indian entity that receives a grant under this 

7 Act shall use the grant funds to carry out the plans sub8 mitted under subsection (c) and for evidence-based re9 forms and practices for improving participation, retention, 

10 and completion rates of students that may include the fol11 lowing: 

12 (1) Student services to support retention, com13 pletion, and success, which may include— 

14 (A) faculty and peer counseling; 

15 (B) use of real-time data on student 

16 progress; 

17 (C) improving transfer student success; 

18 and 

19 (D) incentives for students to re-enroll or 

20 stay on track. 

21 (2) Direct student support services, including a 

22 combination of— 

23 (A) tutoring, academic supports, and en24 richment services; and 

25 (B) emergency financial assistance. 


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1 (3) Efforts to prepare students for a career, 

2 which may include— 

3 (A) career coaching, career counseling and 

4 planning services, and efforts to lower student 

5 to advisor ratios; 

6 (B) networking and work-based learning 

7 opportunities to support the development of 

8 skills and professional relationships; 

9 (C) utilizing career pathways; and 

10 (D) boosting experiences necessary to ob11 tain and succeed in high-skill, high-wage, or in12 demand industry sectors or occupations, as de13 scribed in section 135(b)(3) of the Carl D. Per14 kins Career and Technical Education Act of 

15 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2355(b)(3)). 

16 (4) Efforts to recruit and retain faculty and 

17 other instructional staff. 

18 (f) PERMISSIVE USE OF FUNDS.—From the total 

19 amount appropriated to carry out this Act for a fiscal year 

20 and not reserved under section 4 or subsection (d), the 

21 Secretary may set aside— 

22 (1) not more than 5 percent for administration, 

23 capacity building, research, evaluation, and report24 ing; and 


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1 (2) not more than 2 percent for technical as2 sistance to eligible entities and eligible Indian enti3 ties. 

4 (g) EVALUATIONS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of improv6 ing the effectiveness of the evidence-based reforms 

7 and practices carried out by eligible entities and eli8 gible Indian entities pursuant to a grant under this 

9 Act, the Secretary shall make grants to or enter into 

10 contracts with 1 or more organizations to— 

11 (A) evaluate the effectiveness of such evi12 dence-based reforms and practices; and 

13 (B) disseminate information on the impact 

14 of such evidence-based reforms and practices in 

15 increasing completion and retention activities of 

16 students, as well as other appropriate measures. 

17 (2) ISSUES TO BE EVALUATED.—The evalua18 tions required under paragraph (1) shall measure 

19 the effectiveness of the evidence-based reforms and 

20 practices carried out by eligible entities and eligible 

21 Indian entities pursuant to a grant under this sub22 section in— 

23 (A) whether such entity implemented the 

24 plans, and carried out the activities, described 

25 in subsection (c); and 


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1 (B) comparing the completion and reten2 tion rates of students who participated in such 

3 reforms and practices with the rates of students 

4 of similar backgrounds who did not participate 

5 in such reforms and practices. 

6 (3) RESULTS.—Not later than 18 months after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 shall submit a final report to the Committee on 

9 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen10 ate and the Committee on Education and the Work11 force of the House of Representatives. 

12 (h) GRANT LIMIT.—An eligible entity that has 

13 branch campus may only receive a grant under this Act 

14 for 1 campus of the entity at a time. 

Æ 


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