IB 

Union Calendar No. 395 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3136 

[Report No. 113–529] 

To establish a demonstration program for competency-based education. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 

Mr. SALMON (for himself, Mr. POLIS, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, and Mr. ANDREWS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

JULY 17, 2014 

Additional sponsors: Mr. ROKITA, Mr. PETRI, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. ROTHFUS, 

Mr. DELANEY, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, and Mr. KLINE

JULY 17, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 19, 2013] 


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A BILL 

To establish a demonstration program for competency-based 

education. 


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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 ‘‘Advancing Competency5 Based Education Demonstration Project Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION DEMONSTRATION 

7 PROJECTS. 

8 (a) PROJECTS.—Part G of title IV of the Higher Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by 

10 inserting after section 486A the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 486B. COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION DEMONSTRA12 TION PROJECTS. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS AUTHORIZED.—The 

14 Secretary shall select, in accordance with subsection (c), eli15 gible entities to voluntarily carry out competency-based 

16 education demonstration projects and receive waivers de17 scribed in subsection (d) to carry out such projects. 

18 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desiring 

20 to carry out a demonstration project under this sec21 tion shall submit an application to the Secretary, at 

22 such time and in such manner as the Secretary may 

23 require. 

24 ‘‘(2) AMENDMENTS.—An eligible entity may sub25 mit to the Secretary amendments to the eligible entiVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:37 Jul 17, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3136.RH H3136

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1 ty’s application under paragraph (1), at such time 

2 and in such manner as the Secretary may require, 

3 which the Secretary shall approve or deny within 15 

4 days of receipt. 

5 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—Each application shall in6 clude— 

7 ‘‘(A) a description of the competency-based 

8 education to be offered by the eligible entity 

9 under the demonstration project; 

10 ‘‘(B) a description of the proposed academic 

11 delivery, business, and financial models for the 

12 demonstration project, including explanations of 

13 how competency-based education offered under 

14 the demonstration project would— 

15 ‘‘(i) result in the achievement of com16 petencies; 

17 ‘‘(ii) differ from standard credit hour 

18 approaches, in whole or in part; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) result in lower costs or shortened 

20 time to degree, certificate, or credential 

21 completion; 

22 ‘‘(C) a description of how the competency23 based education offered under the demonstration 

24 project will progress a student toward completion 

25 of a degree, certificate, or credential; 


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1 ‘‘(D) a description of how the eligible entity 

2 will articulate the transcript from the com3 petency-based education demonstration project to 

4 another program within an institution of higher 

5 education that is part of the eligible entity or to 

6 another institution of higher education; 

7 ‘‘(E) a description of the statutory and reg8 ulatory requirements described in subsection (d) 

9 for which the eligible entity is seeking a waiver, 

10 and why such waiver is necessary to carry out 

11 the demonstration project; 

12 ‘‘(F) a description of how the eligible entity 

13 will develop and evaluate the competencies and 

14 assessments of student knowledge (which may in15 clude prior-learning assessments) administered 

16 as part of the demonstration project, including 

17 how such competencies and assessments are 

18 aligned with workforce needs; 

19 ‘‘(G) a description of the proposal for deter20 mining a student’s Federal student aid eligi21 bility under this title for participating in the 

22 demonstration project, the award and distribu23 tion of such aid, and safeguards to ensure that 

24 students are making satisfactory progress that 

25 warrants disbursement of such aid; 


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1 ‘‘(H) a description of the students to whom 

2 competency-based education will be offered, in3 cluding an assurance that the demonstration 

4 project will enroll a minimum of 50 and a max5 imum of 3,000 students; 

6 ‘‘(I) an assurance that students partici7 pating in the demonstration project will not be 

8 eligible for more Federal assistance under this 

9 title than such students would have been eligible 

10 for under a traditional program; and 

11 ‘‘(J) an assurance the eligible entity will 

12 identify and disseminate best practices with re13 spect to the demonstration project to other eligi14 ble entities carrying out a demonstration project 

15 under this section. 

16 ‘‘(c) SELECTION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

18 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec19 retary shall select not more than 20 eligible entities 

20 to carry out a competency-based education dem21 onstration project under this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting eligible en23 tities under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) prioritize projects which show promise 

2 in reducing the time or cost required to complete 

3 a degree, certificate, or credential; 

4 ‘‘(B) consider the number and quality of 

5 applications received; 

6 ‘‘(C) consider an eligible entity’s— 

7 ‘‘(i) ability to successfully execute the 

8 demonstration project as described in the el9 igible entity’s application under subsection 

10 (b); 

11 ‘‘(ii) commitment and ability to effec12 tively finance the demonstration project; 

13 ‘‘(iii) ability to provide administrative 

14 capability and the expertise to evaluate stu15 dent progress based on measures other than 

16 credit hours or clock hours; and 

17 ‘‘(iv) commitment to work with the 

18 Secretary to evaluate the demonstration 

19 project and the impact of the demonstration 

20 project; 

21 ‘‘(D) ensure the selection of a diverse group 

22 of eligible entities with respect to size, mission, 

23 and geographic distribution of the eligible enti24 ties; 


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1 ‘‘(E) not limit the types of programs of 

2 study or courses of study approved for participa3 tion in a demonstration project; and 

4 ‘‘(F) not select an eligible entity that has 

5 had, for 1 of the preceding 2 fiscal years— 

6 ‘‘(i) a cohort default rate (defined in 

7 section 435(m)) that is 30 percent or great8 er; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) a borrowing rate of loans under 

10 this title of more than 50 percent of the stu11 dents enrolled at institutions of higher edu12 cation of the eligible entity. 

13 ‘‘(d) WAIVERS.—The Secretary may waive for any eli14 gible entity selected to carry out a demonstration project 

15 under this section any requirements of the following provi16 sions of law (including any regulations promulgated under 

17 such provisions) or regulations and for which the eligible 

18 entity has provided a reason for waiving under subsection 

19 (b)(3)(E): 

20 ‘‘(1) Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 

21 102(a)(3). 

22 ‘‘(2) Subsections (a) and (b) of section 481, as 

23 such subsections relate to requirements for a min24 imum number of weeks of instruction. 

25 ‘‘(3) Section 484(l)(1). 


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1 ‘‘(4) Section 668.32(a)(1)(iii) of title 34, Code of 

2 Federal Regulations. 

3 ‘‘(5) Any of the requirements under provisions in 

4 title I, part F of this title, or this part, that inhibit 

5 the operation of competency-based education, includ6 ing requirements with respect to— 

7 ‘‘(A) documenting attendance; 

8 ‘‘(B) weekly academic activity; 

9 ‘‘(C) minimum weeks of instructional time; 

10 ‘‘(D) requirements for credit hour or clock 

11 hour equivalencies; 

12 ‘‘(E) requirements for substantive inter13 action with faculty; and 

14 ‘‘(F) definitions of the terms ‘academic 

15 year’, ‘full-time student’, ‘term’ (including 

16 ‘standard term’, ‘non-term’, and ‘non-standard 

17 term’), ‘satisfactory academic progress’, ‘edu18 cational activity’, ‘project of study’, and ‘pay19 ment period’. 

20 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 6 months after the 

21 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall make 

22 available to the authorizing committees and the public a 

23 list of eligible entities selected to carry out a demonstration 

24 project under this section, which shall include for each such 

25 eligible entity— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the specific statutory and regulatory re2 quirements being waived under subsection (d); and 

3 ‘‘(2) a description of the competency-based edu4 cation programs of study or courses of study to be of5 fered under the project. 

6 ‘‘(f) INFORMATION AND EVALUATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity 

9 that carries out a demonstration project under 

10 this section shall provide to the Director of the 

11 Institution of Education Sciences with respect to 

12 the students participating in the competency13 based education project carried out by the eligi14 ble entity the following information: 

15 ‘‘(i) The average number of credit 

16 hours the students earned prior to enroll17 ment in the demonstration project, if appli18 cable. 

19 ‘‘(ii) The number and percentage of 

20 students participating in the demonstration 

21 project that are also enrolled in programs of 

22 study or courses of study offered in credit 

23 hours or clock hours, disaggregated by stu24 dent status as a first-year, second-year, 

25 third-year, fourth-year, or other student. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) The average period of time be2 tween the enrollment of a student in the 

3 demonstration project and the first assess4 ment of student knowledge of such student. 

5 ‘‘(iv) The average time to 25 percent, 

6 50 percent, 75 percent, and 100 percent of 

7 the completion of a degree, certificate, or 

8 credential by a student who participated in 

9 the demonstration project. 

10 ‘‘(v) The percentage of assessments of 

11 student knowledge that students passed on 

12 the first attempt, during the period of the 

13 participation in the demonstration project 

14 by the students. 

15 ‘‘(vi) The percentage of assessments of 

16 student knowledge that students passed on 

17 the second attempt and the average period 

18 of time between the first and second at19 tempts by students, during the period of the 

20 participation in the demonstration project 

21 by the students. 

22 ‘‘(vii) The average number of com23 petencies a student acquired while partici24 pating in the demonstration project and the 


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1 period of time during which the student ac2 quired such competencies. 

3 ‘‘(viii) Such other information as the 

4 Director may reasonably require. 

5 ‘‘(B) DISAGGREGATION.—Each eligible enti6 ty shall provide the information required under 

7 subparagraph (A) disaggregated by age, race, 

8 gender, disability status, and status as a recipi9 ent of a Federal Pell Grant, provided that the 

10 disaggregation of the information does not iden11 tify any individual student participating in the 

12 demonstration project. 

13 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION.—The Director of the Institute 

14 of Education Sciences, in consultation with the Sec15 retary, shall annually evaluate each demonstration 

16 project under this section. Each evaluation shall in17 clude— 

18 ‘‘(A) the extent to which the eligible entity 

19 has met the goals set forth in its application to 

20 the Secretary; 

21 ‘‘(B) the number and types of students par22 ticipating in the competency-based education of23 fered under the project, including the progress of 

24 participating students toward completion of a 

25 degree, certificate, or credential, and the extent to 


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1 which participation and retention in such 

2 project increased; 

3 ‘‘(C) whether the project led to reduced cost 

4 or time to completion of a degree, certificate, or 

5 credential, and the amount of cost or time re6 duced for such completion; 

7 ‘‘(D) obstacles related to student financial 

8 assistance for competency-based education; 

9 ‘‘(E) the extent to which statutory or regu10 latory requirements not waived under subsection 

11 (d) present difficulties for students or institu12 tions of higher education; 

13 ‘‘(F) degree, certificate, or credential com14 pletion rates; 

15 ‘‘(G) retention rates; 

16 ‘‘(H) total cost and net cost to the student 

17 of the competency-based education offered under 

18 the project; 

19 ‘‘(I) a description of the assessments of stu20 dent knowledge and the corresponding com21 petencies; and 

22 ‘‘(J) outcomes of the assessments of student 

23 knowledge. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Director of the In2 stitute of Education Sciences shall annually provide 

3 to the authorizing committees a report on— 

4 ‘‘(A) the evaluations of the demonstration 

5 projects required under paragraph (2); 

6 ‘‘(B) the number and types of students re7 ceiving assistance under this title for com8 petency-based education under such projects; 

9 ‘‘(C) the retention and completion rates of 

10 students participating in such projects; 

11 ‘‘(D) any proposed statutory or regulatory 

12 changes designed to support and enhance the ex13 pansion of competency-based education, which 

14 may be independent of or combined with tradi15 tional credit hour or clock hour projects; 

16 ‘‘(E) the most effective means of delivering 

17 competency-based education through demonstra18 tion projects; and 

19 ‘‘(F) the appropriate level and distribution 

20 methodology of Federal assistance under this title 

21 for students enrolled in competency-based edu22 cation. 

23 ‘‘(g) OVERSIGHT.—In carrying out this section, the 

24 Secretary shall, on a continuing basis— 


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1 ‘‘(1) assure compliance of eligible entities with 

2 the requirements of this title (other than the provi3 sions of law and regulations that are waived under 

4 subsection (d)); 

5 ‘‘(2) provide technical assistance; 

6 ‘‘(3) monitor fluctuations in the student popu7 lation enrolled in the eligible entities carrying out the 

8 demonstration projects under this section; and 

9 ‘‘(4) consult with appropriate accrediting agen10 cies or associations and appropriate State regulatory 

11 authorities for additional ways of improving the de12 livery of competency-based education. 

13 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION.—The 

15 term ‘competency-based education’ means an edu16 cational process or program that measures knowledge, 

17 skills, and experience through assessments of such 

18 knowledge, skills, or experience in place of or in addi19 tion to the use of credit hours or clock hours. 

20 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible enti21 ty’ means— 

22 ‘‘(A) an institution of higher education; 

23 ‘‘(B) a system of institutions of higher edu24 cation; or 


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1 ‘‘(C) a consortium of institutions of higher 

2 education. 

3 ‘‘(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘institution of higher education’ has the meaning 

5 given the term in section 102, except that such term 

6 does not include institutions described in section 

7 102(a)(1)(C).’’. 

8 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act or 

9 the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to alter 

10 the authority of the Secretary of Education to establish ex11 perimental sites under any other provision of law. 

12 (c) FUNDING.— 

13 (1) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—Of the amount 

14 authorized to be appropriated for salaries and ex15 penses of the Department of Education, $1,000,000 

16 shall be available to carry out this Act and the 

17 amendments made by this Act. 

18 (2) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No 

19 funds are authorized to be appropriated by this Act 

20 to carry out this Act or the amendments made by this 

21 Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 395 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3136 

[Report No. 113–529] 

A BILL 

To establish a demonstration program for 

competency-based education. 

JULY 17, 2014 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS