II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2123 

To amend the Federal Pell Grant Program to support career training 

opportunities for young Americans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2019 

Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Pell Grant Program to support career 

training opportunities for young Americans. 

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 ‘‘Break the Higher Edu5 cation Monopoly Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SUPPORTING CAREER TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES 

7 FOR ALL YOUNG AMERICANS. 

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

9 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 2123 IS

1 ‘‘(k) ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall devise 

3 an alternative certification program to enable stu4 dents to use Federal Pell Grants to enroll in edu5 cational programs (either at eligible institutions or 

6 institutions that are not eligible institutions) for 

7 which students are not otherwise eligible to use Fed8 eral Pell Grants under this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

10 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM COMPLETION RATE.—The 

11 term ‘program completion rate’ means the per12 centage of enrollees in a program who success13 fully complete the program requirements within 

14 the standard program duration. 

15 ‘‘(B) JOB PLACEMENT RATE.—The term 

16 ‘job placement rate’ means the percentage of 

17 graduates who have obtained full-time employ18 ment in the graduate’s field of study. 

19 ‘‘(3) NO REQUIREMENT FOR ACCREDITATION

20 OR STATE AUTHORIZATION.—The alternative certifi21 cation program shall not require accreditation, State 

22 authorization, minimum instructional hours, or min23 imum classroom time of educational programs for 

24 which students may use Federal Pell Grants to en25 roll pursuant to this subsection. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 2123 IS

1 ‘‘(4) CONTINUOUS OPERATION; DETERMINA2 TION OF ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) only certify an educational program 

4 under the alternative certification program 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(i) has been in existence for not less 

7 than 5 years; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) has an annual cost of enrollment 

9 for a year that is equal to or less than the 

10 maximum Federal Pell Grant award appli11 cable to that year; 

12 ‘‘(B) make an initial determination of edu13 cational program eligibility under the alter14 native certification program not later than 180 

15 days after the date of application of the edu16 cational program; and 

17 ‘‘(C) re-evaluate educational program eligi18 bility under the alternative certification pro19 gram not less often than once every 5 years. 

20 ‘‘(5) INFORMATION TO ASSESS PROGRAM ELIGI21 BILITY.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each educational pro23 gram applying for certification or re-certifi24 cation under the alternative certification pro25 gram, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 2123 IS

1 Secretary of Labor shall submit to the Sec2 retary all data necessary for the Secretary to 

3 assess educational program eligibility under the 

4 alternative certification program. 

5 ‘‘(B) PRIVACY.—The Secretary shall keep 

6 all student data submitted under subparagraph 

7 (A) private and confidential. 

8 ‘‘(6) DETERMINATIONS OF PROGRAM ELIGI9 BILITY.—The Secretary shall make a determination 

10 of educational program eligibility under the alter11 native certification program on the basis of student 

12 outcomes in the educational program, including 

13 based on each of the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) Program completion rate. 

15 ‘‘(B) Job placement rate within 90 days of 

16 program completion. 

17 ‘‘(C) Job placement rate within 12 months 

18 of program completion. 

19 ‘‘(D) Graduate median starting salary. 

20 ‘‘(E) Graduate median salary 5 years after 

21 program completion. 

22 ‘‘(F) Graduate average starting salary. 

23 ‘‘(G) Graduate average salary 5 years after 

24 program completion. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 2123 IS

1 ‘‘(7) DECERTIFICATION.—The Secretary may 

2 decertify an educational program under the alter3 native certification program if the program meets 

4 any of the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) The program completion rate is less 

6 than 70 percent. 

7 ‘‘(B) The job placement rate within 90 

8 days of program completion is less than 50 per9 cent. 

10 ‘‘(C) The job placement rate within 12 

11 months of program completion is less than 70 

12 percent. 

13 ‘‘(D) The graduate median starting salary 

14 is less than 200 percent of the Federal poverty 

15 level for a one-person household. 

16 ‘‘(E) The graduate median salary 5 years 

17 after program completion is less than 300 per18 cent of the Federal poverty level for a one-per19 son household. 

20 ‘‘(8) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

21 this subsection shall be construed to extend eligi22 bility with respect to an educational program that is 

23 certified under the alternative certification program 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•S 2123 IS

1 under this subsection to other programs under this 

2 title.’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS