I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3950 

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

for the improvement of remedial education programs at institutions of 

higher education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2019 

Mr. NORCROSS (for himself, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. KIM, Mr. COX of California, 

and Ms. CRAIG) 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 establish 

a grant program for the improvement of remedial education programs at institutions of higher education, 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 ‘‘Remedial Education 

5 Improvement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to— 


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1 (1) improve remedial education and support 

2 students as they move throughout credit and non3 credit bearing course work and complete postsec4 ondary education; 

5 (2) provide funding to improve remedial edu6 cation based on five models found to have success on 

7 a small scale; 

8 (3) through collection of data, reports, and eval9 uations, compare within and between models of re10 medial education and the impact of such models on 

11 postsecondary education completion; and 

12 (4) develop strategies to replicate successful 

13 models and improve the sustainability of remedial 

14 education programs. 

15 SEC. 3. REMEDIAL EDUCATION GRANTS. 

16 Part G of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

17 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

18 after section 486A the following: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 486B. REMEDIAL EDUCATION GRANTS. 

20 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the funds appro22 priated under subsection (k) (and not reserved under 

23 subsection (c)(4)), the Secretary, in consultation 

24 with the Director of the Institute of Education 

25 Sciences, shall award grants, on a competitive basis, 


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1 to eligible entities to improve remedial education in 

2 higher education. 

3 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A grant under this section 

4 shall be awarded for a period of 5 years. 

5 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM AWARDS.—The total amount of 

6 funds provided under each grant awarded under this 

7 section shall not be less than $500,000. 

8 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that desires to 

9 receive a grant under this section shall submit an applica10 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

11 accompanied by such information as the Secretary may 

12 require, which shall include the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) A description of how the eligible entity will 

14 use the grant funds to develop or improve a remedial 

15 education program that includes evidence-based, ef16 fective strategies for providing instruction to ensure 

17 that students are prepared for courses at the post18 secondary level. 

19 ‘‘(2) An assurance that the eligible entity will 

20 use more than two measures (such as a student’s 

21 college entrance examination score, grade point aver22 age, high school course list, or a placement examina23 tion) to identify students in need of remedial edu24 cation who may be eligible to participate in the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:13 Aug 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3950.IH H3950

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1 medial education program developed or improved 

2 under the grant. 

3 ‘‘(3) A description of how the eligible entity, in 

4 developing or improving such a program, will consult 

5 with stakeholders, including individuals with exper6 tise in remedial education, students enrolled in reme7 dial education, and faculty instructors for remedial 

8 education. 

9 ‘‘(4) The eligible entity’s plan for sustaining the 

10 program after the grant period has ended. 

11 ‘‘(5) The eligible entity’s plan for monitoring 

12 and evaluating the program, including how the eligi13 ble entity will use the data collected under sub14 section (h) to continually update and improve the 

15 program. 

16 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION AND INDEPENDENT EVALUA17 TION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before selecting eligible en19 tities to receive grants under this section for a fiscal 

20 year, the Secretary shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) ensure that the consultation required 

22 under paragraph (3) is carried out; and 

23 ‘‘(B) consider the results of the consulta24 tion in selecting eligible entities to receive such 

25 grants. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary, 

2 acting through the Director, shall seek to enter into 

3 a contract with an independent evaluator under 

4 which the evaluator will provide the consultation and 

5 evaluation required under paragraph (3). 

6 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION AND INDEPENDENT EVAL7 UATION REQUIRED.—The independent evaluator 

8 shall carry out the following activities: 

9 ‘‘(A) CONSULTATION.—For each fiscal 

10 year of the grant program under this section, 

11 the independent evaluator shall consult with, 

12 and provide advice to, the Secretary regarding 

13 which eligible entities should receive grants 

14 under this section for such fiscal year. 

15 ‘‘(B) EVALUATION.—Throughout the dura16 tion of the grant program under this section, 

17 the independent evaluator shall independently 

18 evaluate the impact of the remedial education 

19 programs funded with the grants, which shall 

20 include evaluation of— 

21 ‘‘(i) the effectiveness of the remedial 

22 education programs in increasing course 

23 and degree completion at the postsec24 ondary level; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the outcomes of the remedial 

2 education programs within and among 

3 models of remedial education described in 

4 subsection (d). 

5 ‘‘(4) RESERVATION.—The Secretary may re6 serve not more than 15 percent of the funds appro7 priated under subsection (k) for a fiscal year to 

8 carry out this subsection for such fiscal year. 

9 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives 

10 a grant under this section shall use the grant to develop 

11 or improve a remedial education program through one or 

12 more of the following models: 

13 ‘‘(1) ALIGNING COURSE WORK.—Working with 

14 a local educational agency or State educational agen15 cy that is part of the eligible entity to develop or im16 prove programs that provide alignment between high 

17 school coursework and postsecondary education, and 

18 that may include— 

19 ‘‘(A) assessments in high school to meas20 ure student readiness for courses at the post21 secondary level; or 

22 ‘‘(B) interventions in high school that im23 prove student competencies for courses at the 

24 postsecondary level. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ACCELERATED COURSE WORK.—Rede2 signing or improving remedial education that— 

3 ‘‘(A) allows students to enroll in more than 

4 one sequential remedial education course or 

5 training in a semester, or the equivalent; 

6 ‘‘(B) condenses the time of the remedial 

7 education; or 

8 ‘‘(C) provides shortened, intensive courses 

9 or training to improve competencies of students 

10 for courses at the postsecondary level. 

11 ‘‘(3) MODULAR INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS.— 

12 Developing or improving remedial education that— 

13 ‘‘(A) specifically targets the skills that stu14 dents need to move forward in courses at the 

15 postsecondary level; and 

16 ‘‘(B) may be used to develop new assess17 ments, redesign courses to provide targeted skill 

18 instruction, or provide faculty professional de19 velopment. 

20 ‘‘(4) CO-REQUISITE MODEL.—Developing or im21 proving remedial education programs that allow a 

22 student to enroll in remedial education (which may 

23 be provided through a modular instructional meth24 od) while also enrolled in a course at the postsec25 ondary level. 


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1 ‘‘(5) SYSTEMIC REFORM TO IMPLEMENT COM2 PREHENSIVE, INTEGRATED SUPPORT PROGRAMS.— 

3 Implementing and improving comprehensive, inte4 grated, evidence-based support programs that— 

5 ‘‘(A) enable students enrolled in remedial 

6 education to complete a course of study leading 

7 to a recognized educational credential within 

8 150 percent of the normal time for completion; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) may include financial supports, aca11 demic tutoring or support, and advising that 

12 enable students to find success in remedial edu13 cation and courses at the postsecondary level. 

14 ‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding grants under 

15 this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the Direc16 tor, shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) ensure— 

18 ‘‘(A) a minimum of 30 eligible entities are 

19 awarded grants for each 5-year grant period; 

20 ‘‘(B) an equitable geographic distribution 

21 of such grants, including an equitable distribu22 tion between urban and rural areas; and 

23 ‘‘(C) that grants are used to develop or im24 prove remedial education programs— 


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1 ‘‘(i) under each model described in 

2 subsection (d) to enable, to the extent 

3 practicable, statistical comparisons of the 

4 relative effectiveness of the models and the 

5 programs within each model; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) for a range of types and sizes of 

7 institutions of higher education; and 

8 ‘‘(2) give preference to eligible entities that pri9 marily serve low-income students. 

10 ‘‘(f) FISCAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—A grant 

12 awarded under this section shall be used to supple13 ment, not supplant, funds that would otherwise be 

14 used to carry out the activities described in this sec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(2) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara18 graph (B), an eligible entity that receives a 

19 grant under this section shall provide, from 

20 non-Federal sources, an amount equal to 10 

21 percent of the amount of the grant for the cost 

22 of activities assisted under the grant. 

23 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirements of 

24 subparagraph (A) shall not apply to— 

25 ‘‘(i) Tribal Colleges or Universities; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) institutions of higher education 

2 located in the Commonwealth of Puerto 

3 Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United 

4 States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth 

5 of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Re6 public of the Marshall Islands, the Fed7 erated States of Micronesia, or the Repub8 lic of Palau. 

9 ‘‘(g) EXPERIMENTAL AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding 

10 any other provision of this title, a student may be eligible 

11 to receive loans or grants under this title for up to 2 aca12 demic years for enrollment in a remedial education pro13 gram under this section. 

14 ‘‘(h) DATA COLLECTION, REPORTS, EVALUATIONS, 

15 AND DISSEMINATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) STUDENT-LEVEL DATA.—Each eligi18 ble entity that receives a grant under this sec19 tion shall provide to the Director and the Sec20 retary, on an annual basis for each year of the 

21 grant period and for 5 years after such grant 

22 period, the student-level data with respect to 

23 the students who are or were enrolled in a re24 medial education program funded with the 

25 grant. The Director and the Secretary shall 


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1 share such data with the independent evaluator 

2 to enable the evaluator, for each such year, to 

3 determine the information described in subpara4 graph (B) with respect to each such remedial 

5 education program. 

6 ‘‘(B) AGGREGATE STUDENT DATA.—The 

7 independent evaluator shall determine, with re8 spect to each remedial education program for 

9 which an eligible entity provides student-level 

10 data under subparagraph (A), the following in11 formation: 

12 ‘‘(i) The number of students who are 

13 or were enrolled in such remedial education 

14 program. 

15 ‘‘(ii) The cost of such remedial edu16 cation program. 

17 ‘‘(iii) The amount of grant or loan 

18 funds under this title awarded to students 

19 for enrollment in such remedial education 

20 program. 

21 ‘‘(iv) The type of remedial education 

22 offered under the program. 

23 ‘‘(v) The length of time students 

24 spend in such remedial education program, 


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1 as measured by semester, trimester, or 

2 clock hours. 

3 ‘‘(vi) The number of students who 

4 complete such remedial education program. 

5 ‘‘(vii) Of the students who complete 

6 such remedial education program— 

7 ‘‘(I) the number and percentage 

8 of such students who later enroll in 

9 postsecondary-level courses at an in10 stitution of higher education; 

11 ‘‘(II) the number and percentage 

12 of such students who receive a recog13 nized educational credential from an 

14 institution of higher education; 

15 ‘‘(III) the average length of time 

16 required for a student described in 

17 subclause (II) to complete the course 

18 of study leading to such credential; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(IV) the number and percentage 

21 of students described in subclause (II) 

22 who complete the course of study 

23 leading to such credential within 150 

24 percent of the normal time for com25 pletion. 


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1 ‘‘(C) DISAGGREGATION.—The information 

2 determined under subparagraph (B) shall be 

3 disaggregated by race, gender, socioeconomic 

4 status, Federal Pell Grant eligibility status, sta5 tus as a first generation college student, vet6 eran or active duty status, and disability status. 

7 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION RESULTS.—Not later than 

8 six years after the first grant is awarded under this 

9 section, the Director, in consultation with the Sec10 retary and using the information determined under 

11 paragraph (1), shall submit to the authorizing com12 mittees and make available on a publicly accessible 

13 website, a report on the results of the multiyear, rig14 orous, and independent evaluation of the impact of 

15 the remedial education programs carried out by the 

16 independent evaluator. The report shall include the 

17 results of such evaluation with respect to— 

18 ‘‘(A) the effectiveness of the remedial edu19 cation programs in increasing course and de20 gree completion at the postsecondary level; and 

21 ‘‘(B) the outcomes of the remedial edu22 cation programs within and among models of 

23 remedial education described in subsection (d). 

24 ‘‘(3) REPORTS AND DISSEMINATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than one 

2 year after the first grant is awarded under this 

3 section, the Secretary, in consultation with the 

4 independent evaluator, shall prepare and submit 

5 to the authorizing committees a report on each 

6 remedial education program funded under this 

7 section. 

8 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT REPORT.—Not later 

9 than five years after the last grant is awarded 

10 under this section, the Secretary, in consulta11 tion with the independent evaluator, shall pre12 pare and submit to the authorizing committees 

13 a report that includes— 

14 ‘‘(i) a review of the activities and pro15 gram performance of each remedial edu16 cation program funded under this section; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) guidance and recommendations 

19 on how successful remedial education pro20 grams (as determined, at a minimum, by 

21 the number and percentage of remedial 

22 education students who later complete a 

23 course of study at an institution of higher 

24 education within 150 percent of the normal 

25 time for completion) can be replicated. 


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1 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The reports 

2 submitted under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

3 shall be made available on a publicly accessible 

4 website of the Department of Education. 

5 ‘‘(i) DATA PRIVACY.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

7 person who obtains or has access to personally iden8 tifiable information in connection with this section to 

9 willfully disclose to any person (except as authorized 

10 in this Act or any Federal law) such personally iden11 tifiable information. 

12 ‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person who violates para13 graph (1) shall be fined not more than $5,000, im14 prisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, to15 gether with the costs of prosecution. 

16 ‘‘(3) EMPLOYEE OR OFFICER OF THE UNITED

17 STATES.—If a violation of paragraph (1) is com18 mitted by any officer or employee of the United 

19 States, the officer or employee shall be dismissed 

20 from office or discharged from employment upon 

21 conviction for the violation. 

22 ‘‘(4) SALE OF DATA PROHIBITED.—Data col23 lected under this section shall not be sold to any 

24 third party by the Director, any postsecondary insti25 tution, or any other entity. 


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1 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON USE BY OTHER FEDERAL

2 AGENCIES.—The Director shall not allow any other 

3 Federal agency to use data collected under this sec4 tion for any purpose except as explicitly authorized 

5 by this Act. 

6 ‘‘(6) LAW ENFORCEMENT.—Personally identifi7 able information collected under this section shall 

8 not be used for any law enforcement activity or any 

9 other activity that would result in adverse action 

10 against any student, including debt collection activ11 ity or enforcement of the immigration laws. 

12 ‘‘(j) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

14 the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences. 

15 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en16 tity’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) an institution of higher education; or 

18 ‘‘(B) a partnership between an institution 

19 of higher education and at least 1 of the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(i) A local educational agency. 

22 ‘‘(ii) A State educational agency. 

23 ‘‘(3) FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT.— 

24 The term ‘first generation college student’ has the 

25 meaning given that term in section 402A(h). 


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1 ‘‘(4) INDEPENDENT EVALUATOR.—The term 

2 ‘independent evaluator’ means the independent eval3 uator with which the Secretary enters into a con4 tract under subsection (c)(2). 

5 ‘‘(5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

6 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

7 meaning given that term in section 101. 

8 ‘‘(6) REMEDIAL EDUCATION.—The term ‘reme9 dial education’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means education (such as courses or 

11 training) offered at an institution of higher 

12 education that— 

13 ‘‘(i) is below the postsecondary level; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) is determined by the institution 

16 to be necessary to help students be pre17 pared for the pursuit of a first under18 graduate baccalaureate degree, associate’s 

19 degree, or certificate or, in the case of 

20 courses in English language instruction, to 

21 be necessary to enable the student to uti22 lize already existing knowledge, training, or 

23 skills; and 

24 ‘‘(B) includes developmental education that 

25 meets the requirements of subparagraph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(7) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 

2 term ‘Tribal College or University’ has the meaning 

3 given that term in section 316(b). 

4 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

6 $162,500,000 for fiscal year 2020 and each of the 5 suc7 ceeding fiscal years.’’. 

8 SEC. 4. EXCEPTION TO STUDENT UNIT RECORD BAN. 

9 Section 134(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

10 (20 U.S.C. 1015c(b)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘(1) is necessary’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘(1)(A) is necessary’’; 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘(2) was in’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) 

14 was in’’; 

15 (3) by striking the period at the end and insert16 ing ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

18 ‘‘(2) is necessary for the operation of section 

19 486B.’’. 

Æ 


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