I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3422 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify competency-based 

education. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 21, 2019 

Mr. GROTHMAN (for himself, Mr. STEIL, and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify 

competency-based education. 

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 ‘‘Competency-Based 

5 Education Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘CBE Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REGULATORY RELIEF. 

7 (a) REPEAL.— 

8 (1) DEFINITION OF CREDIT HOUR.—The defini9 tion of the term ‘‘credit hour’’ in section 600.2 of 

10 title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, as added by 


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1 the final regulations published by the Department of 

2 Education in the Federal Register on October 29, 

3 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 66946). 

4 (2) EFFECT OF REPEAL.—To the extent that 

5 regulations repealed by paragraph (1) amended reg6 ulations that were in effect on June 30, 2011, the 

7 provisions of the regulations that were in effect on 

8 June 30, 2011, and were so amended are restored 

9 and revived as if the regulations repealed by such 

10 subparagraph had not taken effect. 

11 (b) CREDIT HOUR.—The Secretary of Education 

12 shall not, on or after the date of enactment of this Act, 

13 promulgate or enforce any regulation or rule with respect 

14 to the definition of the term ‘‘credit hour’’ for any purpose 

15 under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 

16 et seq.). 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

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

19 U.S.C. 1003) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(25) COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION; COM22 PETENCY-BASED EDUCATION PROGRAM.— 

23 ‘‘(A) COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION.— 

24 Except as otherwise provided, the term ‘comVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3422.IH H3422

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1 petency-based education’ means education 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(i) measures academic progress and 

4 attainment— 

5 ‘‘(I) by direct assessment of a 

6 student’s level of mastery of com7 petencies; 

8 ‘‘(II) by expressing a student’s 

9 level of mastery of competencies in 

10 terms of equivalent credit or clock 

11 hours; or 

12 ‘‘(III) by a combination of the 

13 methods described in subclauses (I) or 

14 (II) and credit or clock hours; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) provides the educational content, 

16 activities, and resources, including sub17 stantive instructional interaction, including 

18 by faculty, and regular support by the in19 stitution, necessary to enable students to 

20 learn or develop what is required to dem21 onstrate and attain mastery of such com22 petencies, as assessed by the accrediting 

23 agency or association of the institution of 

24 higher education. 


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1 ‘‘(B) COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION

2 PROGRAM.—Except as otherwise provided, the 

3 term ‘competency-based education program’ 

4 means a postsecondary program offered by an 

5 institution of higher education that— 

6 ‘‘(i) provides competency-based edu7 cation, which upon a student’s demonstra8 tion or mastery of a set of competencies 

9 identified and required by the institution, 

10 leads to or results in the award of a certifi11 cate, degree, or other recognized edu12 cational credential; 

13 ‘‘(ii) ensures title IV funds may be 

14 used only for learning that results from in15 struction provided, or overseen, by the in16 stitution, not for the portion of the pro17 gram of which the student has dem18 onstrated mastery prior to enrollment in 

19 the program or tests of learning that are 

20 not associated with educational activities 

21 overseen by the institution; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) is organized in such a manner 

23 that an institution can determine, based on 

24 the method of measurement selected by the 

25 institution under subparagraph (A)(i), 


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1 what constitutes a full-time, three-quarter 

2 time, half-time, and less than half-time 

3 workload for the purposes of awarding and 

4 administering assistance under title IV of 

5 this Act, or assistance provided under an6 other provision of Federal law to attend an 

7 institution of higher education. 

8 ‘‘(C) COMPETENCY DEFINED.—In this 

9 paragraph, the term ‘competency’ means the 

10 knowledge, skill, or ability demonstrated by a 

11 student in a subject area.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO STUDENT AS13 SISTANCE. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS OF ACADEMIC YEAR AND ELIGIBLE

15 PROGRAM.—Section 481 of the Higher Education Act of 

16 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088) is amended— 

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

18 following: 

19 ‘‘(3)(A) For the purpose of a competency-based edu20 cation program the term ‘academic year’ shall be the pub21 lished measured period established by the institution of 

22 higher education that is necessary for a student with a 

23 normal full-time workload for the course of study the stu24 dent is pursuing (as measured using the value of com25 petencies or sets of competencies required by such instituVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3422.IH H3422

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1 tion and approved by such institution’s accrediting agency 

2 or association) to earn— 

3 ‘‘(i) one-quarter of a bachelor’s degree; 

4 ‘‘(ii) one-half of an associate’s degree; or 

5 ‘‘(iii) with respect to a non-degree or graduate 

6 program, the equivalent of a period described in 

7 clause (i) or (ii). 

8 ‘‘(B)(i) A competency-based education program that 

9 is not a term-based program may be treated as a term10 based program for purposes of establishing payment peri11 ods for disbursement of loans and grants under this title 

12 if— 

13 ‘‘(I) the institution of higher education that of14 fers such program charges a flat subscription fee for 

15 access to instruction during a period determined by 

16 the institution; and 

17 ‘‘(II) the institution is able to determine the 

18 competencies a student is expected to demonstrate 

19 for such subscription period. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Clause (i) shall apply even in a case in which 

21 instruction or other work with respect to a competency 

22 that is expected to be attributable to a subscription period 

23 begins prior to such subscription period. 

24 ‘‘(iii) In a case in which a competency-based edu25 cation program offered by an institution of higher eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Jun 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3422.IH H3422

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1 cation is treated as a term-based program under clause 

2 (i), the institution shall review the academic progress of 

3 each student enrolled in such program in accordance with 

4 section 484(c), except that such review shall occur at the 

5 end of each payment period.’’; and 

6 (2) in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (4) 

7 and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this title, the term ‘eligible pro9 gram’ includes a competency-based program that— 

10 ‘‘(A) has been evaluated and approved by an ac11 crediting agency or association that— 

12 ‘‘(i) is recognized by the Secretary under 

13 subpart 2 of part H; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) has evaluation of competency-based 

15 education programs within the scope of its rec16 ognition in accordance with section 

17 496(a)(4)(C); or 

18 ‘‘(B) as of the day before the date of enactment 

19 of the CBE Act of 2019, met the requirements of 

20 a direct assessment program under section 

21 481(b)(4) (as such section was in effect on the day 

22 before such date of enactment).’’. 

23 (b) STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.—Section 484 of the 

24 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(6) For purposes of competency-based education, in 

4 order to be eligible to receive any loan under this title for 

5 an award year, a student may be enrolled in coursework 

6 attributable only to 2 academic years within the award 

7 year.’’; and 

8 (2) in subsection (c)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (B)— 

11 (I) by striking ‘‘the student has a 

12 cumulative’’ and inserting the fol13 lowing: ‘‘the student has—’’ 

14 ‘‘(i) a cumulative;’’; 

15 (II) by striking ‘‘the second’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘each’’; 

17 (III) by striking the period at the 

18 end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

19 (IV) by adding at the end the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(ii) for the purposes of competency-based 

22 programs, a non-grade equivalent demonstra23 tion of academic standing consistent with the 

24 requirements for graduation, as determined by 


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1 the institution, at the end of each such aca2 demic year; and’’; and 

3 (ii) by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(C) the student maintains a pace in his or her 

6 educational program that— 

7 ‘‘(i) ensures that the student completes the 

8 program within the maximum timeframe; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) is measured by a method determined 

10 by the institution which may be based on credit 

11 hours, clock hours, or competencies com12 pleted.’’; 

13 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘grading 

14 period’’ and inserting ‘‘evaluation period’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘max17 imum timeframe’ means— 

18 ‘‘(A) with respect to an undergraduate program 

19 measured in credit hours, a period that is no longer 

20 than 150 percent of the published length of the edu21 cational program, as measured in credit hours; 

22 ‘‘(B) with respect to an undergraduate program 

23 measured in competencies, a period that is no longer 

24 than 150 percent of the published length of the edu25 cational program, as measured in competencies; 


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1 ‘‘(C) with respect to an undergraduate program 

2 measured in clock hours, a period that is no longer 

3 than 150 percent of the published length of the edu4 cational program, as measured by the cumulative 

5 number of clock hours the student is required to 

6 complete and expressed in calendar time; and 

7 ‘‘(D) with respect to a graduate program, a pe8 riod defined by the institution that is based on the 

9 length of the educational program.’’. 

10 (c) RECOGNITION OF ACCREDITING AGENCY OR AS11 SOCIATION.—Section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b) is amended— 

13 (1) in subsection (a)(4)— 

14 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

15 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

16 (B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in17 serting the following: 

18 ‘‘(B) such agency or association demonstrates 

19 the ability to review, evaluate, and assess the quality 

20 of any instruction delivery model or method such 

21 agency or association has or seeks to include within 

22 its scope of recognition, without giving preference to 

23 or differentially treating a particular instruction de24 livery model or method offered by an institution of 

25 higher education or program except that, in a case 


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1 in which the instruction delivery model allows for the 

2 separation of the student from the instructor— 

3 ‘‘(i) the agency or association requires the 

4 institution to have processes through which the 

5 institution establishes that the student who reg6 isters in a course or program is the same stu7 dent who participates in, including, to the ex8 tent practicable, testing or other assessment, 

9 and completes the program and receives the 

10 academic credit; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the agency or association requires 

12 that any process used by an institution to com13 ply with the requirement under clause (i) does 

14 not infringe upon student privacy and is imple15 mented in a manner that is minimally burden16 some to the student; and 

17 ‘‘(C) if such an agency or association evaluates 

18 or assesses the quality of competency-based edu19 cation programs, the agency’s or association’s eval20 uation or assessment— 

21 ‘‘(i) shall address effectively the quality of 

22 an institution’s competency-based education 

23 programs as set forth in paragraph (5), except 

24 that the agency or association is not required to 

25 have separate standards, procedures, or policies 


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1 for the evaluation of competency-based edu2 cation; 

3 ‘‘(ii) shall establish whether an institution 

4 has demonstrated that its program satisfies the 

5 definitions in section 103(25); and 

6 ‘‘(iii) shall establish whether an institution 

7 has demonstrated that it has defined an aca8 demic year for a competency-based program in 

9 accordance with section 481(a)(3).’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘or com11 petency-based education’’ after ‘‘distance education’’; 

12 (3) in subsection (n)(3), by inserting ‘‘, or com13 petency-based education programs,’’ after each oc14 currence of ‘‘distance education courses or pro15 grams’’; and 

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

17 ‘‘(r) WAIVER.—The Secretary shall establish a proc18 ess through which an agency or association may seek to 

19 have a requirement of this subpart waived, if such agency 

20 or association— 

21 ‘‘(1) demonstrates that such waiver is necessary 

22 to enable an institution of higher education or pro23 gram accredited by the agency or association to im24 plement innovative practices intended to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) reduce administrative burdens to the 

2 institution or program without creating costs 

3 for the taxpayer; or 

4 ‘‘(B) improve the delivery of services to 

5 students, improve instruction or learning out6 comes, or otherwise benefit students; and 

7 ‘‘(2) describes the terms and conditions that 

8 will be placed upon the program or institution to en9 sure academic integrity and quality.’’. 

Æ 


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