I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4857 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a program to 

make grants to promote innovations at historically Black colleges and 

universities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 23, 2016 

Ms. ADAMS (for herself, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BROWN

of Florida, Ms. LEE, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. PLASKETT, 

Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, and Mr. FATTAH) 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 establish 

a program to make grants to promote innovations at 

historically Black colleges and universities, 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 ‘‘HBCU Innovation 

5 Fund Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS TO PROMOTE INNOVATIONS AT HISTORI2 CALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. 

3 Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended by inserting after part 

5 B the following new part: 

6 ‘‘PART C—FUNDING INNOVATIONS AT HISTORI7 CALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 

8 ‘‘SEC. 751. PURPOSE. 

9 ‘‘It is the purpose of this part to assist historically 

10 Black colleges and universities in planning, developing, im11 plementing, validating, and replicating innovations that 

12 provide solutions to persistent challenges in enabling eco13 nomically and educationally disadvantaged students to en14 roll in, persist through, and graduate from college, includ15 ing innovations designed to— 

16 ‘‘(1) improve student achievement at histori17 cally Black colleges and universities; 

18 ‘‘(2) increase the successful recruitment at his19 torically Black colleges and universities of— 

20 ‘‘(A) students from low-income families of 

21 all races; 

22 ‘‘(B) adults; and 

23 ‘‘(C) military-affiliated students; 

24 ‘‘(3) increase the rate at which students en25 rolled in historically Black colleges and universities 

26 make adequate or accelerated progress toward gradVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Mar 24, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4857.IH H4857

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1 uation, and successfully graduate from such colleges 

2 and universities; 

3 ‘‘(4) increase the number of students pursuing 

4 and completing degrees in science, technology, engi5 neering, and mathematics at historically Black col6 leges and universities and pursuing graduate work in 

7 such fields, including through the establishment of 

8 innovation ecosystems on the campuses of such col9 leges and universities; 

10 ‘‘(5) redesign course offerings and other in11 structional strategies at historically Black colleges 

12 and universities to improve student outcomes and re13 duce education costs; 

14 ‘‘(6) enhance the quality and number of tradi15 tional and alternative route teacher preparation pro16 grams offered by historically Black colleges and uni17 versities; 

18 ‘‘(7) expand the effective use of technology at 

19 historically Black colleges and universities; and 

20 ‘‘(8) strengthen postgraduate employment out21 comes for students enrolled in historically Black col22 leges and universities. 

23 ‘‘SEC. 752. DEFINITIONS. 

24 ‘‘In this part, the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(1) a part B institution, as defined in section 

2 322(2); 

3 ‘‘(2) a part B institution, as so defined, apply4 ing in a consortium with one or more other institu5 tions of higher education; 

6 ‘‘(3) a part B institution, as so defined, apply7 ing in a consortium with one or more private non8 profit organizations; 

9 ‘‘(4) a part B institution, as so defined, apply10 ing in a consortium with one or more local edu11 cational agencies; or 

12 ‘‘(5) a part B institution, as so defined, apply13 ing in a consortium that includes entities described 

14 in more than one of subparagraphs (B), (C), and 

15 (D). 

16 ‘‘SEC. 753. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With funds made available for 

18 this part under section 757, the Secretary shall make com19 petitive planning and implementation grants, as described 

20 in subsections (b) and (c), to eligible entities to enable 

21 such entities to plan for the implementation of, in the case 

22 of a planning grant, and implement, in the case of an im23 plementation grant, innovations described in section 751 

24 and to support the planning, development, implementaVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:14 Mar 24, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4857.IH H4857

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1 tion, validation, scaling up, and replication of such innova2 tions. 

3 ‘‘(b) PLANNING GRANTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds made avail5 able under section 757 for a fiscal year, the Sec6 retary shall use not more than 5 percent or 

7 $12,500,000 (whichever is greater) to award plan8 ning grants to enable eligible entities to plan, design, 

9 and develop innovations described in section 751. 

10 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A planning grant authorized 

11 under this subsection shall be for the duration of 1 

12 year. 

13 ‘‘(3) GRANT AMOUNTS.—Each planning grant 

14 authorized under this subsection shall be in an 

15 amount that is not more than $150,000. 

16 ‘‘(c) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With funds made available 

18 for this part under section 757, the Secretary shall 

19 award implementation grants to enable eligible enti20 ties to further develop, pilot, field-test, implement, 

21 document, validate, and, as applicable, scale up and 

22 replicate, innovations described in section 751. 

23 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—An implementation grant au24 thorized under this subsection shall be for a dura25 tion of 5 years, except that the Secretary may not 


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1 continue providing funds under the grant for more 

2 than 3 years unless the eligible entity demonstrates 

3 that it has achieved satisfactory progress toward 

4 carrying out the educational innovations, activities, 

5 and projects described in section 754(d), as deter6 mined by the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(3) GRANT AMOUNT.—Each implementation 

8 grant authorized under this subsection shall be in an 

9 amount sufficient to enable the eligible entity to 

10 achieve the purposes of its proposed activities and 

11 projects, but shall not exceed $10,000,000. 

12 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES FOR CONSORTIUMS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) FISCAL AGENT.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligi15 ble entity applying for a grant under this part 

16 as a consortium described under paragraph (2), 

17 (3), (4), or (5) of section 752, each member of 

18 the consortium shall agree on 1 such member of 

19 such eligibility entity to serve as a fiscal agent 

20 of such entity. 

21 ‘‘(B) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The fiscal agent 

22 of an eligible entity, as described in subpara23 graph (A), shall act on behalf of such entity in 

24 performing the financial duties of such entity 

25 under this part. 


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1 ‘‘(C) WRITTEN AGREEMENT.—The agree2 ment described in subparagraph (A) shall be in 

3 writing and signed by each member of the con4 sortium. 

5 ‘‘(2) SUBGRANTS.—In the case of an eligible 

6 entity applying for a grant under this part as a con7 sortium described in paragraph (2), (3), (4), or (5) 

8 of section 752, the fiscal agent for such entity (as 

9 described in paragraph (1)) may use the funds pro10 vided by the grant to make subgrants to members 

11 of the consortium. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 754. APPLICATIONS. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring to re14 ceive a grant under this part shall submit an application 

15 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con16 taining such information as the Secretary may reasonably 

17 require. 

18 ‘‘(b) CONSORTIUM ENTITIES.—An application under 

19 this section which is submitted by an eligible entity apply20 ing as a consortium described in subparagraph (2), (3), 

21 (4), or (5) of section 752 shall include the written agree22 ment described in section 753(d)(1)(C). 

23 ‘‘(c) PLANNING GRANTS.—The Secretary shall en24 sure that the application requirements under this section 

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1 clude, in addition to the requirement in subsection (b) (if 

2 applicable), only those minimal requirements that are nec3 essary to review the proposed process of an eligible entity 

4 for the planning, design, and development of one or more 

5 of the innovations described in section 751. 

6 ‘‘(d) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—An application 

7 under this section for an innovation grant authorized 

8 under section 753(c) shall include, in addition to the re9 quirement under subsection (b) (if applicable), descrip10 tions of— 

11 ‘‘(1) each innovation described in section 751 

12 that the eligible entity would implement using the 

13 funds made available by such grant, including, as 

14 applicable, a description of the evidence base sup15 porting such innovation; 

16 ‘‘(2) how each such innovation will address the 

17 purpose of this part, as described in section 751, 

18 and how each such innovation will further the insti19 tutional or organizational mission of the part B in20 stitution that is part of the eligible entity; 

21 ‘‘(3) the specific activities that the eligible enti22 ty will carry out with funds made available by such 

23 grant, including, in the case of an eligible entity ap24 plying as a consortium described in paragraph (2), 

25 (3), (4), or (5) of section 752, a description of the 


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1 activities that each member of the consortium will 

2 carry out and a description of the capacity of each 

3 such member to carry out those activities; 

4 ‘‘(4) the performance measures that the eligible 

5 entity will use to track its progress in implementing 

6 each such innovation, including a description of how 

7 the entity will implement those performance meas8 ures and use information on performance to make 

9 adjustments and improvements to its implementa10 tion activities, as needed, over the course of the 

11 grant period; 

12 ‘‘(5) how the eligible entity will provide for an 

13 independent evaluation of the implementation and 

14 impact of the projects funded by such grant, includ15 ing— 

16 ‘‘(A) an interim report (evaluating the 

17 progress made in the first 3 years of the grant); 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) a final report (completed at the end 

20 of the grant period); and 

21 ‘‘(6) the plan of the eligible entity for con22 tinuing each proposed innovation after the grant has 

23 ended. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 755. PRIORITY. 

2 ‘‘In awarding grants under this part, the Secretary 

3 shall give priority to applications that address issues of 

4 major national need, including— 

5 ‘‘(1) educational innovations designed to in6 crease the number of African-American males who 

7 attain a postsecondary degree; 

8 ‘‘(2) innovative partnerships between part B in9 stitutions and local educational agencies that are de10 signed to increase the enrollment and successful 

11 completion of historically underrepresented popu12 lations in higher education; 

13 ‘‘(3) educational innovations that support devel14 oping programs and initiatives in part B institutions 

15 to enhance undergraduate and graduate programs in 

16 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; 

17 ‘‘(4) innovative partnerships between part B in18 stitutions and other organizations to establish inno19 vation ecosystems in support of economic develop20 ment, entrepreneurship, and the commercialization 

21 of technology supported by funded research; 

22 ‘‘(5) educational innovations that enhance the 

23 quality and number of traditional and alternative 

24 route teacher preparation programs at part B insti25 tutions to enable teachers to be highly effective in 

26 the classroom and to enable such programs to meet 


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1 the demands for diversity and accountability in 

2 teacher education; and 

3 ‘‘(6) educational innovations that strengthen 

4 postgraduate employment outcomes of part B insti5 tutions through the implementation of comprehen6 sive and strategic career pathways for students. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 756. USES OF FUNDS. 

8 ‘‘(a) PLANNING GRANTS.—An eligible entity receiv9 ing a planning grant under section 753(b) shall use funds 

10 made available by such grant to conduct a comprehensive 

11 institutional planning process that includes— 

12 ‘‘(1) an assessment of the needs of the part B 

13 institution; 

14 ‘‘(2) research on educational innovations de15 scribed in section 751 that will meet the needs de16 scribed in paragraph (1); 

17 ‘‘(3) the selection of one or more such edu18 cational innovations for implementation; 

19 ‘‘(4) an assessment of the capacity of the part 

20 B institution to implement such educational innova21 tion; and 

22 ‘‘(5) activities to further develop such capacity. 

23 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—An eligible entity 

24 receiving an implementation grant under section 753(c) 

25 shall use the funds made available by such grant to further 


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1 develop, pilot, field-test, implement, document, validate, 

2 and, as applicable, scale up, and replicate innovations de3 scribed in section 751, such as innovations designed to— 

4 ‘‘(1) improve student achievement, such as 

5 through activities designed to increase the number 

6 or percentage of students who successfully complete 

7 developmental or remedial coursework (which may 

8 be accomplished through the evidence-based redesign 

9 of such coursework) and pursue and succeed in post10 secondary studies; 

11 ‘‘(2) improve and expand institutional recruit12 ment, postsecondary school awareness, and postsec13 ondary school preparation efforts targeting students, 

14 including high-achieving students from low-income 

15 families, such as through activities undertaken in 

16 partnership with local educational agencies and non17 profit organizations (including the introduction of 

18 dual-enrollment programs and the implementation of 

19 activities designed to enable more students to enter 

20 college without the need for remediation); 

21 ‘‘(3) increase the number of minority males who 

22 attain a postsecondary degree, such as through evi23 dence-based interventions that integrate academic 

24 advising with social and cultural supports and assist25 ance with job placement; 


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1 ‘‘(4) increase the number or percentage of stu2 dents who make satisfactory or accelerated progress 

3 toward graduation from postsecondary school and 

4 the number or percentage who graduate from post5 secondary school on time, such as through the provi6 sion of comprehensive academic and nonacademic 

7 student support services; 

8 ‘‘(5) increase the number or percentage of stu9 dents, particularly students who are members of his10 torically underrepresented populations, who enroll in 

11 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

12 courses, graduate with degrees in such fields, and 

13 pursue advanced studies in such fields; 

14 ‘‘(6) develop partnerships between part B insti15 tutions and other organizations to establish innova16 tion ecosystems in support of economic development, 

17 entrepreneurship, and the commercialization of tech18 nology supported by funded research; 

19 ‘‘(7) implement evidence-based improvements to 

20 courses, particularly high-enrollment courses, to im21 prove student outcomes and reduce education costs 

22 for students, including costs of remedial courses; 

23 ‘‘(8) enhance the quality and number of tradi24 tional and alternative route teacher preparation pro25 grams at part B institutions to enable graduates to 


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1 be highly effective in the classroom and to enable 

2 such programs to meet the demands for diversity 

3 and accountability in teacher education; 

4 ‘‘(9) expand the effective use of technology in 

5 higher education, such as through collaboration be6 tween institutions on implementing technology-en7 abled delivery models (including hybrid models) or 

8 through the use of open educational resources and 

9 digital content; 

10 ‘‘(10) strengthen postgraduate employment out11 comes through the implementation of comprehensive 

12 and strategic career pathways for students, which 

13 may include aligning curricula with workforce needs, 

14 experiential learning, integration of career services, 

15 and developing partnerships with employers and 

16 business organizations; and 

17 ‘‘(11) provide a continuum of solutions by in18 corporating activities that address multiple objec19 tives described in paragraphs (1) through (10). 

20 ‘‘SEC. 757. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

22 activities under this part— 

23 ‘‘(1) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for each 

2 of the 6 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

Æ 


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