I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4662 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require that institutions 

of higher education maintain certain adjusted cohort default rates to 

participate in programs under title IV of such Act, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 11, 2019 

Ms. PORTER (for herself and Mr. TAKANO) 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 require 

that institutions of higher education maintain certain 

adjusted cohort default rates to participate in programs 

under title IV of such Act, 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 ‘‘Accountability in Stu5 dent Loan Data Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROGRESS PERIOD STATUS. 

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

3 U.S.C. 1003) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(25) PROGRESS PERIOD STATUS.—The term 

6 ‘progress period status’ means the status of an insti7 tution of higher education that is determined by the 

8 Secretary to be in danger of failing to meet title IV 

9 eligibility criteria relating to student debt because 

10 the institution has an adjusted cohort default rate of 

11 not less than 10 percent and not more than 15 per12 cent.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. CONSUMER INFORMATION. 

14 Section 132 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

15 U.S.C. 1015a) is amended in subsection (i)(1)(T), by 

16 striking ‘‘rate,’’ and inserting ‘‘rate and adjusted cohort 

17 default rate,’’. 

18 SEC. 4. FEDERAL PELL GRANTS. 

19 Section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

20 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended in subsection (j)— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1) by inserting before the pe22 riod the following: ‘‘, or if such institution of higher 

23 education is subject to an ineligibility determination 

24 under section 435(a)(9)’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (2) by inserting ‘‘, final ad2 justed cohort default rate, or on-time repayment 

3 rate’’ before ‘‘determination’’. 

4 SEC. 5. DISBURSEMENT OF STUDENT LOANS. 

5 Section 428G of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

6 (20 U.S.C. 1078–7(a)) is amended— 

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

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(5) ADJUSTED COHORT DEFAULT RATE.—Be10 ginning on the date on which the final adjusted co11 hort default rates are published by the Secretary for 

12 not less than 3 fiscal years under section 435(m), an 

13 institution whose adjusted cohort default rate (as de14 termined under section 435(m)) for each of the 3 

15 most recent fiscal years for which data are available 

16 is less than 5 percent may disburse any loan made, 

17 insured, or guaranteed under this part in a single in18 stallment for any period of enrollment that is not 

19 more than 1 semester, 1 trimester, 1 quarter, or 4 

20 months.’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (e), by inserting before the pe22 riod the following: ‘‘, or beginning on the date on 

23 which the final adjusted cohort default rates are 

24 published by the Secretary for fiscal year 2018 

25 under section 435(m), an adjusted cohort default 


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1 rate (as determined under section 435(m)) of less 

2 than 2 percent’’. 

3 SEC. 6. COHORT DEFAULT RATES. 

4 (a) INELIGIBILITY BASED ON HIGH DEFAULT

5 RATES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 435(a) of the High7 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1085(a)) is 

8 amended— 

9 (A) in paragraph (7)(A), by adding at the 

10 end the following: 

11 ‘‘(iii) DEFAULT MANAGEMENT

12 PLAN.—The default management plan re13 quired under clause (i) may not include 

14 placing students in forbearance as a means 

15 of reducing the cohort default rate or the 

16 adjusted cohort default rate of the institu17 tion.’’; and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(9) INELIGIBILITY BASED ON HIGH ADJUSTED

20 COHORT DEFAULT RATES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

22 subparagraphs (B) and (D), beginning on the 

23 date that is one year after the date on which 

24 the final adjusted cohort default rates are pub25 lished by the Secretary for not less than 3 fiscal 


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1 years, in a case in which one of the following 

2 determinations is made with respect to an insti3 tution, such institution shall be ineligible to 

4 participate in a program under this title for the 

5 fiscal year for which the determination is made 

6 and for the two succeeding fiscal years: 

7 ‘‘(i) The institution’s adjusted cohort 

8 default rate is greater than 20 percent for 

9 each of the three most recent fiscal years 

10 for which the final adjusted cohort default 

11 rates are published. 

12 ‘‘(ii) With respect to the six most re13 cent fiscal years for which the final ad14 justed cohort default rates are published— 

15 ‘‘(I) the institution’s adjusted co16 hort default rate is greater than 15 

17 percent for each such fiscal year; and 

18 ‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 

19 that, during such 6-year period, the 

20 institution has not made adequate 

21 progress in meeting standards for stu22 dent achievement established by the 

23 relevant accrediting agency or associa24 tion pursuant to section 496(a)(5)(A). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) With respect to the eight most 

2 recent fiscal years for which the final ad3 justed cohort default rates are published— 

4 ‘‘(I) the institution’s adjusted co5 hort default rate is greater than 10 

6 percent for each such fiscal year; and 

7 ‘‘(II) the Secretary determines 

8 that, during such 8-year period, the 

9 institution has not made adequate 

10 progress in meeting standards for stu11 dent achievement established by the 

12 relevant accrediting agency or associa13 tion pursuant to section 496(a)(5)(A). 

14 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN CAT15 EGORIES OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.—With 

16 respect to an institution that loses eligibility to 

17 participate in a program under this title in ac18 cordance with subparagraph (A)(ii), such insti19 tution may request and be granted an exception 

20 to such loss of eligibility for a category of edu21 cational programs at such institution by dem22 onstrating to the Secretary that the adjusted 

23 cohort default rate for the category of edu24 cational programs is 15 percent or less for each 


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1 fiscal year of the 6-year period on which such 

2 loss of eligibility for the institution is based. 

3 ‘‘(C) DETERMINATION OF THE ADJUSTED

4 COHORT RATE FOR A CATEGORY OF EDU5 CATIONAL PROGRAMS.—In determining the ad6 justed cohort default rate for a category of edu7 cational programs for purposes of this para8 graph— 

9 ‘‘(i) subsection (m) shall be applied— 

10 ‘‘(I) in paragraph (1)— 

11 ‘‘(aa) in subparagraph (A), 

12 by substituting ‘received for en13 rollment in the category of edu14 cational programs for which such 

15 rate is being determined’ for ‘re16 ceived for attendance at the insti17 tution’; and 

18 ‘‘(bb) in subparagraph 

19 (E)(i)(II), by substituting, ‘per20 centage of students enrolled in 

21 the category of educational pro22 grams for which such rate is 

23 being determined’ for ‘percentage 

24 of students enrolled at the insti25 tution’; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) as if the following were 

2 added at the end of paragraph (2): 

3 ‘‘ ‘(E) In the case of a student who has re4 ceived a loan for enrollment in more than one 

5 category of educational programs, the student 

6 (and such student’s subsequent repayment or 

7 default) is attributed to the last category of 

8 educational programs in which such student 

9 was enrolled.’. 

10 ‘‘(D) TRANSITION EXCEPTION.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A covered institu12 tion with an adjusted cohort default rate 

13 that is greater than 20 percent for the 

14 first fiscal year for which such rates are 

15 published by the Secretary may request 

16 that any determination of such covered in17 stitution’s ineligibility under subparagraph 

18 (A) not be based on the adjusted cohort 

19 default rate of such covered institution for 

20 any or all of the first 3 fiscal years for 

21 which such rates are published by the Sec22 retary. 

23 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—To be granted 

24 a request under clause (i), a covered insti25 tution shall submit to the Secretary a deVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4662.IH H4662

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1 fault management plan as specified in 

2 paragraph (7). 

3 ‘‘(iii) DEFINITION OF COVERED INSTI4 TUTION.—In this subparagraph, the term 

5 ‘covered institution’ means— 

6 ‘‘(I) a public institution of higher 

7 education; 

8 ‘‘(II) a part B institution (as de9 fined in section 322); or 

10 ‘‘(III) a private, nonprofit insti11 tution of higher education at which 

12 not less than 45 percent of the total 

13 student enrollment consists of low-in14 come students (as such term is de15 fined in section 419N(b)(7)). 

16 ‘‘(E) CATEGORY OF EDUCATIONAL PRO17 GRAMS DEFINED.—The term ‘category of edu18 cational programs’, when used with respect to 

19 an institution, means one of the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) The educational programs at the 

21 institution leading to an undergraduate, 

22 non-degree credential. 

23 ‘‘(ii) The educational programs at the 

24 institution leading to an associate’s degree. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) The educational programs at the 

2 institution leading to a bachelor’s degree. 

3 ‘‘(iv) The educational programs at the 

4 institution leading to a graduate, non-de5 gree credential. 

6 ‘‘(v) The educational program at the 

7 institution leading to a graduate degree. 

8 ‘‘(10) APPLICATION OF ADJUSTED COHORT DE9 FAULT RATE.—Beginning on the date on which the 

10 final adjusted cohort default rates are published by 

11 the Secretary for not less than 3 fiscal years— 

12 ‘‘(A) paragraph (1) shall be applied by 

13 substituting ‘paragraph (9)’ for ‘paragraph (2)’; 

14 ‘‘(B) paragraph (3) shall be applied by 

15 substituting ‘adjusted cohort default rate, cal16 culated in accordance with subsection 

17 (m)(1)(D), is greater than 20 percent for any 

18 3 consecutive fiscal years’ for ‘cohort default 

19 rate, calculated in accordance with subsection 

20 (m), is equal to or greater than the threshold 

21 percentage specified in paragraph (2)(B)(iv) for 

22 any two consecutive fiscal years’; 

23 ‘‘(C) paragraph (4) shall be applied— 

24 ‘‘(i) in subparagraph (C), by sub25 stituting ‘adjusted cohort default rate is 


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1 greater than 15 percent’ for ‘cohort default 

2 rate equals or exceeds 20 percent’; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) in the matter following subpara4 graph (C), by substituting ‘adjusted cohort 

5 default rate to reflect the percentage of de6 faulted loans in the representative sample 

7 that are required to be excluded pursuant 

8 to subsection (m)(1)(B)’ for ‘cohort default 

9 rate to reflect the percentage of defaulted 

10 loans in the representative sample that are 

11 required to be excluded pursuant to sub12 section (m)(1)(B)’; 

13 ‘‘(D) paragraph (5)(A) shall be applied by 

14 substituting ‘paragraph (9)’ for ‘paragraph (2)’; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(E) paragraph (7) shall be applied— 

17 ‘‘(i) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 

18 ‘‘(I) in the matter preceding sub19 clause (I), by substituting ‘adjusted 

20 cohort default rate is greater than 20 

21 percent’ for ‘cohort default rate is 

22 equal to or greater than the threshold 

23 percentage specified in paragraph 

24 (2)(B)(iv)’; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) in subclauses (I) and (II), 

2 by substituting ‘adjusted cohort de3 fault rate’ for ‘cohort default rate’; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by sub6 stituting ‘adjusted cohort default rate is 

7 greater than 20 percent’ for ‘cohort default 

8 rate is equal to or greater than the thresh9 old percentage specified in paragraph 

10 (2)(B)(iv)’.’’. 

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

12 435(a)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

13 U.S.C. 1085(a)) is amended— 

14 (A) in the paragraph heading, by adding at 

15 the end the following: ‘‘BEFORE FISCAL YEAR

16 2018’’; and 

17 (B) in subparagraph (B)(iv), by striking 

18 ‘‘and any succeeding fiscal year’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘through fiscal year 2017’’. 

20 (b) ADJUSTED COHORT DEFAULT RATE DEFINED.— 

21 Section 435(m)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

22 (20 U.S.C. 1085(m)(1)) is amended by adding at the end 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(D)(i) With respect to a cohort default 

25 rate calculated for an institution under this 


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1 paragraph for fiscal year 2018 and for each 

2 succeeding fiscal year, such cohort default rate 

3 shall be adjusted as follows: 

4 ‘‘(I) In determining the number of 

5 current and former students at an institu6 tion who enter repayment for such fiscal 

7 year— 

8 ‘‘(aa) any such student who is in 

9 nonmandatory forbearance for such 

10 fiscal year for a period of greater than 

11 18 months but less than 36 months 

12 shall not be counted as entering re13 payment for such fiscal year; 

14 ‘‘(bb) such a student shall be 

15 counted as entering repayment for the 

16 first fiscal year for which the student 

17 ceases to be in a period of forbearance 

18 and otherwise meets the requirements 

19 for being in repayment; and 

20 ‘‘(cc) any such student who is in 

21 a period of forbearance for three or 

22 more years shall be counted as in de23 fault and included in the institution’s 

24 total number of students in default. 


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1 ‘‘(II) Such rate shall be multiplied by 

2 the percentage of students enrolled at the 

3 institution for such fiscal year who are 

4 borrowing a loan under part D of this title. 

5 ‘‘(ii) The result obtained under this sub6 paragraph for an institution shall be referred to 

7 in this Act as the ‘adjusted cohort default 

8 rate’.’’. 

9 (c) PUBLICATION OF ADJUSTED COHORT DEFAULT

10 RATE.—Section 435(m) of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1085(m)) is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following: 

13 ‘‘(5) Beginning on the date on which the final 

14 adjusted cohort default rates for fiscal year 2018 are 

15 made available for publication by the Secretary, 

16 paragraph (4) shall be applied by substituting ‘ad17 justed cohort default’ for ‘cohort default’ each place 

18 it appears.’’. 

19 SEC. 7. ADJUSTED COHORT DEFAULT RATE. 

20 Section 487(a)(14) of the Higher Education Act of 

21 1965 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(D) Beginning on the date on which the 

23 final adjusted cohort default rates are published 

24 by the Secretary for fiscal year 2018 under sec25 tion 435(m), subparagraph (C) shall be applied 


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1 by substituting ‘adjusted cohort default rate in 

2 excess of 5 percent’ for ‘cohort default rate in 

3 excess of 10 percent’ each place it appears.’’. 

4 SEC. 8. PROGRAM REVIEW AND DATA. 

5 Section 498A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

6 (20 U.S.C. 1099c–1) is amended in subsection (a)(2), by 

7 striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) institutions with an adjusted cohort 

9 default rate for loans under part D in excess of 

10 18 percent or which places such institutions in 

11 the highest 25 percent of such institutions;’’. 

12 SEC. 9. ASSISTANCE TO PROGRESS PERIOD INSTITUTIONS. 

13 Part H of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099a et seq.) is amended by adding at 

15 the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 498C. ASSISTANCE TO PROGRESS PERIOD INSTITU17 TIONS. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

19 grants and technical assistance to covered progress period 

20 institutions in accordance with this section. 

21 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Grants and assist22 ance provided under this section shall be used to improve 

23 student achievement (as described in section 

24 496(a)(5)(A)) at covered progress period institutions. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DURATION.—Grants and assistance may be pro2 vided under this section for a period of not less than one 

3 year and not more than three years. 

4 ‘‘(d) CONDITIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) BENCHMARKS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To continue to receive 

7 support under this section after the first year in 

8 which such support is provided, an institution 

9 must show progress, as determined by the Sec10 retary, toward meeting the standards for stu11 dent achievement established by the relevant ac12 crediting agency or association pursuant to sec13 tion 496(a)(5)(A). 

14 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 

15 the progress of an institution under subpara16 graph (A), the Secretary may take into consid17 eration extenuating circumstances that may 

18 have contributed to the poor performance of the 

19 institution in the first year of the review period. 

20 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR COMPLIANCE.—An institu21 tion that does not achieve an adjusted cohort default 

22 rate of less than 10 percent after receiving support 

23 under this section for three consecutive years shall 

24 be ineligible to receive further support under this 

25 section. 


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1 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION.—An institution shall be in2 eligible to receive further support under this section 

3 if, while the institution was receiving such support, 

4 the total enrollment of low-income students (as such 

5 term is defined in section 419N(b)(7)) at the institu6 tion decreased by 10 percent or more. 

7 ‘‘(e) COVERED PROGRESS PERIOD INSTITUTION.—In 

8 this section, the term ‘covered progress period institution’ 

9 means— 

10 ‘‘(1) a public institution of higher education 

11 that is determined to be in progress period status; 

12 ‘‘(2) a part B institution (as defined in section 

13 322) that is determined to be in progress period sta14 tus; or 

15 ‘‘(3) a private, nonprofit institution of higher 

16 education— 

17 ‘‘(A) that is determined to be in progress 

18 period status; and 

19 ‘‘(B) at which not less than 45 percent of 

20 the total student enrollment consists of low-in21 come students (as such term is defined in sec22 tion 419N(b)(7)). 

23 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are appropriated 

25 such funds as the Secretary, using the formula deVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:44 Oct 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4662.IH H4662

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1 scribed in paragraph (2), determines necessary to 

2 meet the needs of all eligible institutions under this 

3 subsection. 

4 ‘‘(2) FORMULA.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec6 retary shall establish through negotiated rulemaking 

7 a formula to determine the— 

8 ‘‘(A) proportional amount of institutional 

9 need under this section; and 

10 ‘‘(B) total amount of institutional need 

11 under this section. 

12 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE.—Such formula must at 

13 minimum take into consideration the severity of the 

14 problem, size of the institution, institutional re15 sources, historical underfunding, and the number of 

16 low-income students (as such term is defined in sec17 tion 419N(b)(7)) being served.’’. 

Æ 


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