II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2471 

To give middle-class families access to the maximum Federal Pell Grant, 

to increase college transparency, and State maintenance of efforts, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 

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

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To give middle-class families access to the maximum Federal 

Pell Grant, to increase college transparency, and State 

maintenance of efforts, 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 ‘‘Degrees Not Debt Act 

5 of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INCREASE IN THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF A FED7 ERAL PELL GRANT. 

8 Section 401(b)(7)(C) of the Higher Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(7)(C)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in clause (i)(I), by striking ‘‘clause (iv)(II)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘clause (v)(II)’’; 

3 (2) in clause (ii)(I), by striking ‘‘clause (iv)(II)’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘clause (v)(II)’’; 

5 (3) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (iv) as 

6 clauses (iv) and (v), respectively; 

7 (4) by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 

8 ‘‘(iii) AWARD YEAR 2019–2020.—For 

9 award year 2019–2020, the amount deter10 mined under this subparagraph for pur11 poses of subparagraph (B)(iii) shall be 

12 equal to— 

13 ‘‘(I) $10,000; reduced by 

14 ‘‘(II) the maximum Federal Pell 

15 Grant for which a student would be 

16 eligible using the criteria provided 

17 under section 479; and 

18 ‘‘(III) rounded to the nearest 

19 $5.’’; and 

20 (5) by striking clause (iv), as redesignated by 

21 paragraph (3), and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘(iv) SUBSEQUENT AWARD YEARS.— 

23 For award year 2020–2021 and each sub24 sequent award year, the amount deter25 mined under this subparagraph for purVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:13 Sep 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2471.IS S2471

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1 poses of subparagraph (B)(iii) shall be 

2 equal to— 

3 ‘‘(I) the amount determined 

4 under this subparagraph for the pre5 ceding award year; increased by 

6 ‘‘(II) a percentage equal to the 

7 annual adjustment percentage for the 

8 award year for which the amount 

9 under this subparagraph is being de10 termined; and 

11 ‘‘(III) rounded to the nearest 

12 $5.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. INCREASE FAMILY INCOME THRESHOLD FOR DE14 TERMINATION OF EXPECTED FAMILY CON15 TRIBUTION EQUAL TO ZERO. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 479 of the Higher Edu17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ss) is amended to read 

18 as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 479. SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION. 

20 ‘‘(a) SIMPLIFIED APPLICATION SECTION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

22 and use an easily identifiable simplified application 

23 section as part of the common financial reporting 

24 form prescribed under section 483(a) for families de25 scribed in subsection (b). 


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1 ‘‘(2) REDUCED DATA REQUIREMENTS.—The 

2 simplified application form shall in the case of a 

3 family meeting the requirements of subsection (b), 

4 permit such family to be treated as having an ex5 pected family contribution equal to zero for purposes 

6 of establishing such eligibility and to submit only the 

7 data elements required to make a determination 

8 under subsection (b). 

9 ‘‘(b) ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION.— 

10 The Secretary shall consider an applicant to have an ex11 pected family contribution equal to zero if— 

12 ‘‘(1) in the case of a dependent student, the 

13 sum of the adjusted gross income of the student’s 

14 parents is less than or equal to 250 percent of the 

15 poverty line (as defined by the Office of Manage16 ment and Budget, and revised annually in accord17 ance with section 673(2) of the Community Services 

18 Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) applicable to 

19 a family of the size involved; 

20 ‘‘(2) in the case of an independent student with 

21 dependents other than a spouse, the sum of the ad22 justed gross income of the student and the student’s 

23 spouse (if appropriate) is less than or equal to 250 

24 percent of the poverty line (as defined by the Office 

25 of Management and Budget, and revised annually in 


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1 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community 

2 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) ap3 plicable to a family of the size involved; or 

4 ‘‘(3) in the case of an independent student 

5 without dependents other than a spouse, the sum of 

6 the adjusted gross income of the student and the 

7 student’s spouse (if appropriate) is less than or 

8 equal to 250 percent of the poverty line (as defined 

9 by the Office of Management and Budget, and re10 vised annually in accordance with section 673(2) of 

11 the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 9902(2))) applicable to a family of the size involved. 

13 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENTS.—An individual is not required 

14 to qualify or file for the earned income credit in order to 

15 be eligible under this subsection. The Secretary shall an16 nually adjust the income level necessary to qualify an ap17 plicant for the zero expected family contribution. The in18 come level shall be adjusted according to increases in the 

19 Consumer Price Index, as defined in section 478(f).’’. 

20 (b) ADJUSTMENTS IN INCOME PROTECTION ALLOW21 ANCES.—For each academic year, the Secretary of Edu22 cation shall continue to publish in the Federal Register 

23 a revised table of income protection allowances pursuant 

24 to section 478(b)(1)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 

25 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087rr(b)(1)(A)). 


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1 SEC. 4. STATE RESPONSIBILITY. 

2 (a) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

4 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(k) INSTITUTIONAL INELIGIBILITY BASED ON FAIL7 URE OF STATE TO MAINTAIN HIGHER EDUCATION AP8 PROPRIATIONS LEVEL.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State that receives 

10 funds under this Act shall maintain expenditures 

11 and State financial aid for institutions of higher 

12 education in the State, with respect to a fiscal year, 

13 at an amount that is equal to or more than the aver14 age amount of State expenditures and State finan15 cial aid for institutions of higher education in the 

16 State for the 10 fiscal years preceding such fiscal 

17 year. 

18 ‘‘(2) CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE TO MAINTAIN

19 EFFORT.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

20 law and beginning 5 years after the date of enact21 ment of the Degrees Not Debt Act of 2019, the Sec22 retary shall not make a payment under this subpart 

23 to an institution of higher education for a fiscal year 

24 for the purpose of making a Federal Pell Grant to 

25 eligible students in attendance at such institution 

26 and any such student shall not be eligible to receive 


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1 a Federal Pell Grant for attendance at such institu2 tion for the fiscal year, if the institution— 

3 ‘‘(A) is an institution of higher education, 

4 as defined in section 102; and 

5 ‘‘(B) is located in a State that has not 

6 maintained expenditures and State financial aid 

7 for institutions of higher education in the State, 

8 with respect to the fiscal year, at an amount 

9 that is equal to or more than the average 

10 amount of State expenditures and State finan11 cial aid for institutions of higher education in 

12 the State for the 5 fiscal years preceding such 

13 fiscal year. 

14 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 

15 requirement of paragraph (1) for a State, for one 

16 fiscal year at a time, and the provisions of para17 graph (2) shall have no effect for such fiscal year if 

18 the Secretary determines that granting a waiver 

19 would be equitable due to exceptional or uncontrol20 lable circumstances such as a natural disaster or a 

21 precipitous and unforeseen decline in the financial 

22 resources of the State.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY RESPONSIBILITY. 

2 (a) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.—Sec3 tion 487 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 1094) is amended— 

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

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(30) The institution will put a prominent link 

8 on the homepage of the institution’s primary website 

9 that goes directly to a report of a standard set of 

10 key performance indicators with respect to the insti11 tution, as described in subsection (k).’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(k) PERFORMANCE INDICATORS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The key performance indi15 cators under this subsection are the following: 

16 ‘‘(A)(i) Graduation rates— 

17 ‘‘(I) at 100 percent of the normal 

18 time for graduation; 

19 ‘‘(II) at 150 percent of the normal 

20 time for graduation; 

21 ‘‘(III) at 200 percent of the normal 

22 time for graduation; and 

23 ‘‘(IV) each of which is disaggregated 

24 by age (25 years old and younger, and 

25 older than 25 years old), income, race and 


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1 ethnicity, and first-generation college sta2 tus. 

3 ‘‘(ii) Transfer out rates. Each such rate 

4 shall be disaggregated by age (25 years old and 

5 younger, and older than 25 years old), income, 

6 race and ethnicity, and first-generation college 

7 status. 

8 ‘‘(iii) Withdrawal rates, including rates of 

9 students who withdraw from a certificate pro10 gram to seek employment in a related field of 

11 study. 

12 ‘‘(B) Employment outcomes, including the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(i) The average salary of a graduate 

15 3 years after graduation. 

16 ‘‘(ii) The percentage of graduates 

17 who, 180 days after graduation— 

18 ‘‘(I) are employed full time; 

19 ‘‘(II) are employed part-time; 

20 ‘‘(III) are employed in the grad21 uate’s field of study or certificate; and 

22 ‘‘(IV) make more than $25,000 a 

23 year. 

24 ‘‘(iii) The cohort repayment rate. 


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1 ‘‘(C) Student satisfaction rate as indicated 

2 by a survey of all students and recent alumni 

3 with the following 2 questions using a 5-point 

4 Likert scale: 

5 ‘‘(i) How satisfied are you with your 

6 educational experience at [name of institu7 tion]? 

8 ‘‘(ii) If you were making the decision 

9 today, how likely would you be to choose to 

10 attend [name of institution] again? 

11 ‘‘(D) The percentage of students who con12 tinue enrollment at the institution after the 

13 first year of enrollment. 

14 ‘‘(E) The average net price for the institu15 tion’s most recent cohort of graduates, 

16 disaggregated by income quartile. 

17 ‘‘(F) The average annual net price for full18 time attendance, broken out by tuition, fees, liv19 ing costs, and other (indirect) costs. 

20 ‘‘(G) The median time to degree comple21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(H) The percentage of enrolled students 

23 with student loan debt. 


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1 ‘‘(I) The average student loan debt at time 

2 of graduation for the most recent cohort of 

3 graduates who borrowed money. 

4 ‘‘(J) The average student loan debt at time 

5 of withdrawal for the most recent cohort of 

6 non-graduates who borrowed money. 

7 ‘‘(2) COHORT REPAYMENT RATE.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In this subsection, the 

9 term ‘cohort repayment rate’ means, for any 

10 fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2023— 

11 ‘‘(i) in the case in which 30 or more 

12 borrowers at the institution enter repay13 ment on Federal Direct Stafford Loans, 

14 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

15 Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, or 

16 Federal Direct Consolidation Loans, re17 ceived for attendance at the institution, the 

18 percentage of those borrowers who are not 

19 in default and who make at least a one 

20 dollar reduction on their initial student 

21 loan principal balance before the end of the 

22 second fiscal year following the fiscal year 

23 in which the borrowers entered repayment, 

24 except as provided in subparagraph (B); 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) in the case in which less than 30 

2 borrowers at the institution enter repay3 ment on Federal Direct Stafford Loans, 

4 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

5 Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, or 

6 Federal Direct Consolidation Loans, re7 ceived for attendance at the institution, the 

8 percentage of those borrowers plus all of 

9 the borrowers at the institution who en10 tered repayment on such loans (or on the 

11 portion of a loan made under section 428C 

12 that is used to repay any such loans) in 

13 the 3 fiscal years preceding the fiscal year 

14 for which the determination is made, who 

15 are not in default and who make at least 

16 a one dollar reduction on their initial stu17 dent loan principal balance before the end 

18 of the second fiscal year following the year 

19 in which the borrowers entered repayment, 

20 except as provided in subparagraph (B). 

21 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The ‘cohort repayment 

22 rate’ calculation under subparagraph (A) shall 

23 not include in the calculation a borrower who 

24 is— 


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1 ‘‘(i) in deferment on repayment of a 

2 loan described in subparagraph (A) due to 

3 study in an approved graduate fellowship 

4 program or in an approved rehabilitation 

5 training program for the disabled; 

6 ‘‘(ii) in deferment on repayment of a 

7 loan described in subparagraph (A) during 

8 a period of at least half-time enrollment in 

9 college or a career school; 

10 ‘‘(iii) in deferment on repayment of a 

11 loan described in subparagraph (A) during 

12 a period of service qualifying for loan dis13 charge or cancellation under part E; 

14 ‘‘(iv) in deferment on repayment of a 

15 loan described in subparagraph (A) due to 

16 active duty military service of the borrower 

17 during a war, military operation, or na18 tional emergency; 

19 ‘‘(v) in deferment on repayment of a 

20 loan described in subparagraph (A) during 

21 the 13 months following the conclusion of 

22 qualifying active duty military service by 

23 the borrower, or until the borrower returns 

24 to enrollment on at least a half-time basis, 

25 whichever is earlier, if the borrower is a 


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1 member of the National Guard or other re2 serve component of the Armed Forces and 

3 was called or ordered to active duty while 

4 enrolled at least half-time at an eligible 

5 school or within 6 months of having been 

6 enrolled at least half-time; 

7 ‘‘(vi) in mandatory forbearance on re8 payment of a loan described in subpara9 graph (A) for the full fiscal year; or 

10 ‘‘(vii) serving as a volunteer under the 

11 Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.) 

12 or the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 

13 1973 (42 U.S.C. 4950 et seq.). 

14 ‘‘(3) NEW DATA POINTS.—The Secretary shall 

15 work with the National Center for Education Statis16 tics to identify new data points that need to be col17 lected to assist colleges and universities with the col18 lection, organization, and distribution of key per19 formance indicators and cohort repayment rates. 

20 ‘‘(4) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue 

21 guidance, with input from stakeholders, to facilitate 

22 the data collection and display of key performance 

23 indicators.’’. 

24 (b) ENHANCED DATA COLLECTION FOR INSTITU25 TIONS WITH ENROLLMENT RATES OF LESS THAN 5,000 


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1 STUDENTS.—Section 489(a) of the Higher Education Act 

2 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1096(a)) is amended— 

3 (1) in the first sentence, by inserting ‘‘(or, in 

4 the case of an institution with an enrollment of less 

5 than 5,000 students, $6)’’ after ‘‘$5’’; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In ad7 dition, the Secretary shall provide funds to assist 

8 small institutions of higher education, with enroll9 ment rates of less than 5,000 students, with data 

10 collection, organization, and distribution of perform11 ance indicators and cohort repayment rates.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. REPEAL OF INCREASED ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM 

13 TAX EXEMPTION AMOUNT FOR INDIVIDUALS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 55(d) of the Internal Rev15 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking paragraph (4). 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

17 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

18 December 31, 2018. 

19 SEC. 7. REPEAL OF INCREASED ESTATE AND GIFT TAX EX20 EMPTION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2010(c)(3) of the Internal 

22 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘January 

23 1, 2026’’ and inserting ‘‘the date of the enactment of the 

24 Degrees Not Debt Act of 2019’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 this section shall apply to estates of decedents dying and 

3 gifts made after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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