II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2755 

To authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to States to empower 

public institutions of higher education in the States to provide student 

support services to students from low-income backgrounds, historically 

underrepresented students, first-generation college enrollees, parenting 

students, students with disabilities, and student veterans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 

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 States to empower public institutions of higher education in the States to provide student support services 

to students from low-income backgrounds, historically 

underrepresented students, first-generation college enrollees, parenting students, students with disabilities, and 

student veterans. 

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 ‘‘College Completion 

5 Fund Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HIGHER EDUCATION COLLEGE COMPLETION FUND 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to sup4 port completion and retention activities designed to ensure 

5 the postsecondary success of students from low-income 

6 backgrounds, historically underrepresented students, first7 generation college enrollees, parenting students, students 

8 with disabilities, and student veterans in public institu9 tions of higher education serving a significant number of 

10 such students. 

11 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

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

13 rate’’ means— 

14 (A) the percentage of students from an ini15 tial cohort enrolled at a public institution of 

16 higher education in the State that is a 2-year 

17 institution who have graduated from the insti18 tution or transferred to a 4-year institution of 

19 higher education; or 

20 (B) the percentage of students from an ini21 tial cohort enrolled at a public institution of 

22 higher education in the State that is a 4-year 

23 institution who have graduated from the insti24 tution. 

25 (2) ELIGIBLE INDIAN ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eli26 gible Indian entity’’ means the entity responsible for 


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1 the governance, operation, or control of a Tribal Col2 lege or University. 

3 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

5 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

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

7 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of Education. 

9 (5) STATE SERVICE PROVIDER.—The term 

10 ‘‘State service provider’’ means a nonprofit organiza11 tion that receives Federal funding or State funding 

12 to provide services commensurate with guidelines for 

13 those services and is in good standing with regard 

14 to such funding. 

15 (6) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

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

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

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

19 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF COMPLETION FUND.— 

20 (1) RESERVATION OF FUNDS FOR ELIGIBLE IN21 DIAN ENTITIES.—From the total amount appro22 priated to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the 

23 Secretary shall reserve 2 percent for grants to eligi24 ble Indian entities to increase participation and com25 pletion rates of students from low-income backVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Sep 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2755.IS S2755

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1 grounds, historically underrepresented students, 

2 first-generation college enrollees, parenting students, 

3 students with disabilities, and student veterans. 

4 (2) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary 

5 shall make grants, from allotments under paragraph 

6 (3), to States to enable the States to distribute 

7 funds to participating public institutions of higher 

8 education in the State to provide student support 

9 services to increase participation, retention, and 

10 completion rates of students from low-income back11 grounds, historically underrepresented students, 

12 first-generation college enrollees, parenting students, 

13 students with disabilities, and student veterans. 

14 (3) DETERMINATION OF ALLOTMENT.— 

15 (A) AMOUNT OF ALLOTMENT.—From the 

16 total amount appropriated to carry out this sec17 tion for a fiscal year and not reserved under 

18 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall allot to each 

19 State having an application approved under this 

20 section an amount, subject to subparagraph 

21 (B), that shall be equal to the sum of— 

22 (i) the amount that bears the same 

23 relation to 50 percent of the amount ap24 propriated and not reserved for such fiscal 

25 year as the number of residents in the 


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1 State aged 5 through 17 who are living 

2 below the poverty line applicable to the 

3 resident’s family size (as determined under 

4 section 673(2) of the Community Services 

5 Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) 

6 bears to the total number of such residents 

7 in all States; and 

8 (ii) the amount that bears the same 

9 relation to 50 percent of the amount ap10 propriated and not reserved for such fiscal 

11 year as the number of residents in the 

12 State aged 15 through 44 who are living 

13 below the poverty line applicable to the in14 dividual’s family size (as determined under 

15 section 673(2) of the Community Services 

16 Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) 

17 bears to the total number of such residents 

18 in all States. 

19 (B) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—The allotment 

20 for each State under this section for a fiscal 

21 year shall not be an amount that is less than 

22 1.0 percent of the total amount appropriated to 

23 carry out this section for the fiscal year and not 

24 reserved under paragraph (1). 

25 (4) SET ASIDES.— 


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1 (A) EVIDENCE-BASED STUDENT SUCCESS

2 PROGRAMS.—Each State that receives a grant 

3 under this section shall set aside not less than 

4 20 percent of grant funds for evidence-based 

5 student success programs, which are programs 

6 designed to improve persistence, credit accumu7 lation, completion, or career success, carried out 

8 by an institution and that— 

9 (i) meet— 

10 (I) the requirements for evalua11 tion as described in subsection 

12 (a)(2)(B) of section 4611 of the Ele13 mentary and Secondary Education 

14 Act, as amended (20 U.S.C. 

15 7261(a)(2)(B)); or 

16 (II) the requirements for evalua17 tion as described in subsection 

18 (a)(2)(C) of section 4611 of the Ele19 mentary and Secondary Education 

20 Act, as amended (20 U.S.C. 

21 7261(a)(2)(C)); and 

22 (ii) provide students with a program 

23 advisor to each eligible student partici24 pating in such program who provides com25 prehensive academic and personal advising 


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1 to the eligible student, including moni2 toring of academic progress of the eligible 

3 student, and may provide each eligible stu4 dent with financial incentives, such as tui5 tion assistance, transportation assistance 

6 or a gas card, free tutoring and career 

7 services (which can include benefit coun8 seling) to eligible students in order to cre9 ate a community with eligible student par10 ticipating in such program. 

11 (B) PERMISSIVE.—Each State that re12 ceives a grant under this section may set 

13 aside— 

14 (i) not more than 5 percent of grant 

15 funds for administration, capacity building, 

16 research, evaluation, and reporting; and 

17 (ii) not more than 2 percent of grant 

18 funds for technical assistance to State 

19 service providers. 

20 (d) STATE STRATEGIC PLANS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that desires to re22 ceive a grant under this section shall submit an ap23 plication to the Secretary at such time, in such man24 ner, and containing such information as the Sec25 retary may require, including a State strategic plan. 


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1 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF STATE STRATEGIC

2 PLAN.—Each State strategic plan shall be developed 

3 with input from each of the following: 

4 (A) 2-year public institutions of higher 

5 education in the State. 

6 (B) 4-year public institutions of higher 

7 education in the State. 

8 (C) The State workforce development 

9 board established under section 101 of the 

10 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

11 U.S.C. 3111). 

12 (D) A Tribal College or University with a 

13 campus located in the State. 

14 (E) State service providers. 

15 (F) The State department with jurisdiction 

16 over children, youth, and family services. 

17 (3) CONTENT OF STATE STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

18 Each State strategic plan shall include the following: 

19 (A) Information on the state of the public 

20 institutions of higher education in the State, in21 cluding the following: 

22 (i) A description of the distribution of 

23 funds to be provided from the grant to 

24 participating public institutions of higher 

25 education in the State. 


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1 (ii) A strategy for adopting a diverse 

2 portfolio of promising and evidence-based 

3 practices. 

4 (iii) Annual benchmarks for student 

5 outcomes. 

6 (iv) Information about the evaluation 

7 of interventions proposed to be funded by 

8 the grant. 

9 (v) A description of the State’s plan 

10 for an equity audit of higher education fi11 nancing. 

12 (vi) Rates of enrolled students who re13 ceived a Federal Pell Grant under subpart 

14 1 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et 

16 seq.). 

17 (vii) Demographics of enrolled stu18 dents, including students from low-income 

19 backgrounds, historically underrepresented 

20 students, first-generation college enrollees, 

21 parenting students, students with disabil22 ities, and student veterans. 

23 (B) A plan to increase student attainment 

24 and completion rates or graduation rates of all 

25 students enrolled at public institutions of higher 


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1 education in the State, with a particular focus 

2 on students from students from low-income 

3 backgrounds, historically underrepresented stu4 dents, first-generation college enrollees, par5 enting students, students with disabilities, and 

6 student veterans through student support serv7 ices, cross-agency engagement, and collabora8 tion among 2-year programs, 4-year programs, 

9 and workforce systems. 

10 (e) INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATION.— 

11 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—A public institution of high12 er education that desires to receive assistance under 

13 a grant made under this section shall submit to the 

14 State in which the institution is located a notifica15 tion that the institution desires to opt into participa16 tion under this section. 

17 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIC PLAN.—A 

18 State that desires to receive a grant under this sec19 tion shall solicit input from public institutions of 

20 higher education in the State in the development of 

21 the State strategic plan. 

22 (3) INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT.—A State that re23 ceives a grant under this section shall not limit stu24 dent support services to students enrolled at public 

25 institutions of higher education in the State that 


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1 participated in the development of the State stra2 tegic plan, but shall provide student support services 

3 to students enrolled in participating public institu4 tions of higher education in the State. 

5 (f) USE OF FUNDS.—A State that receives a grant 

6 under this section shall distribute funds to participating 

7 institutions of higher education in the State for evidence8 based and promising practices in improving retention and 

9 completion rates, including the following: 

10 (1) Student support services to support reten11 tion, completion, and success, including— 

12 (A) faculty and peer counseling; 

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

14 progress; and 

15 (C) incentives for students to stay on 

16 track. 

17 (2) Direct student support services, including— 

18 (A) transportation accessibility; 

19 (B) room and board or assistance to ad20 dress housing instability; 

21 (C) addressing food instability; 

22 (D) remedial education; 

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

25 (F) emergency financial assistance. 


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1 (3) Access to health care and mental health 

2 services on or near campus. 

3 (4) Support helping students enroll in public 

4 benefits. 

5 (5) Issues with respect to dependents of stu6 dents, including— 

7 (A) high-quality daycare and prekinder8 garten access during traditional school hours; 

9 (B) childcare access during non-traditional 

10 hours; and 

11 (C) prenatal and early childhood education 

12 classes. 

13 (6) Development of soft skills. 

14 (7) Career coaching, career counseling and 

15 planning services, and efforts to lower student to ad16 visor ratios, including— 

17 (A) networking and work-based learning 

18 opportunities to support the development of 

19 skills and relationships; and 

20 (B) boosting experiences necessary to ob21 tain and succeed in high-quality jobs. 

22 (8) Reforms to developmental education, includ23 ing— 

24 (A) utilizing career pathways; and 

25 (B) improving transfer student success. 


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1 (9) Efforts to recruit, retain, and develop di2 verse faculty and other instructional staff. 

3 (g) EVALUATION AND REPORTING.— 

4 (1) DESIGNATION OF INDEPENDENT AGENCY.— 

5 The State department with jurisdiction over higher 

6 education in each State that receives a grant under 

7 this section shall designate an independent agency to 

8 compile and evaluate data linked to institutional pro9 grams and student outcomes funded with grant 

10 funds. 

11 (2) COMPILATION OF INFORMATION.—Each 

12 independent agency designated under paragraph (1) 

13 shall compile longitudinal data tracking student par14 ticipant outcomes, including the following: 

15 (A) Graduation rates, disaggregated by age 

16 (25-years of age and younger, and older than 

17 25-years of age), gender, income, race and eth18 nicity, and first-generation college status— 

19 (i) at 100 percent of the normal time 

20 for graduation; 

21 (ii) at 150 percent of the normal time 

22 for graduation; and 

23 (iii) at 200 percent of the normal time 

24 for graduation. 


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1 (B) Transfer out rates, disaggregated by 

2 age (25-years of age and younger, and older 

3 than 25-years of age), gender, income, race and 

4 ethnicity, and first-generation college status. 

5 (C) Withdrawal rates, including rates of 

6 students who withdraw to seek employment in 

7 a related field of study. 

8 (D) The percentage of students who con9 tinue enrollment at the institution after the 

10 first year of enrollment. 

11 (E) The median time to degree completion. 

12 (F) Career outcomes and employment 

13 data, which may include earnings, within 1 year 

14 of completion, within 3 years of completion, and 

15 within 5 years of completion. 

16 (G) Career outcomes and employment data 

17 for student participants who did not complete 

18 the program in which the student was enrolled 

19 within 1 year of leaving the program, within 3 

20 years of leaving the program, and within 5 

21 years of leaving the program. 

22 (3) TECHNIQUES.—Each independent agency 

23 designated under paragraph (1) shall evaluate the 

24 academic outcomes using quasi-experimental tech25 niques. 


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1 (4) REPORT.—Each independent agency des2 ignated under paragraph (1) shall submit to the 

3 State department with jurisdiction over higher edu4 cation a report that includes findings of the data 

5 compiled under paragraph (2). 

6 (5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Each State de7 partment with jurisdiction over higher education 

8 that receives a report under paragraph (4) shall sub9 mit the report to the Department of Education and 

10 the authorizing committees, as defined in section 

11 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 1003), at such time and in such matter as 

13 the Secretary of Education determines appropriate. 

14 (6) EXCLUSIONS.—Each independent agency 

15 designated under paragraph (1) shall not track data 

16 with respect to individuals who transfer, move, or 

17 seek employment outside of the State. 

18 (h) MAINTAINING NET STATE OPERATING SUPPORT

19 FOR HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives a 

21 grant under this section shall maintain net State op22 erating support for higher education for each fiscal 

23 year for which the State receives a grant under this 

24 section at a level that is not less than the level that 

25 is equal to the average of such net State operating 


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1 support for higher education for the 3 fiscal years 

2 preceding such fiscal year. 

3 (2) WAIVERS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

5 grant a waiver to a State from the requirement 

6 under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year if the 

7 State demonstrates that— 

8 (i) the net State operating support for 

9 higher education for such fiscal year as a 

10 percentage of total revenue available to the 

11 State that will fund higher education for 

12 such fiscal year is not less than such per13 centage for the previous fiscal year; and 

14 (ii) unexpected or uncontrollable cir15 cumstances prevent the State from main16 taining such State support. 

17 (B) NO REDUCTION FOR SUBSEQUENT FIS18 CAL YEAR.—If the Secretary grants a State a 

19 waiver under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal 

20 year, a determination of the required level of 

21 net State operating support for higher edu22 cation for subsequent fiscal years shall exclude 

23 the fiscal year for which the waiver was grant24 ed. 


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1 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $62,000,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2022 

4 through 2031. 

Æ 


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