II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2513 

To establish a demonstration project for competency-based education. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2014 

Mr. BENNET (for himself, Mr. ISAKSON, Mrs. HAGAN, Mr. ENZI, Mr. HATCH, 

and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

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

A BILL 

To establish a demonstration project for competency-based 

education. 

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 ‘‘Advancing Com5 petency-Based Education Demonstration Project Act of 

6 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION DEMONSTRATION 

2 PROJECT. 

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

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

5 after section 486A the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 486B. COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION DEMONSTRA7 TION PROJECT. 

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

9 ‘‘(1) to allow a demonstration project that is 

10 monitored by the Secretary to explore ways of deliv11 ering education and disbursing student financial aid 

12 that are based on learning rather than time; 

13 ‘‘(2) to potentially lower cost and reduce the 

14 time to attainment of high-quality postsecondary de15 grees and credentials through competency-based 

16 education programs; and 

17 ‘‘(3) to help determine— 

18 ‘‘(A) the specific statutory and regulatory 

19 requirements that should be altered to provide 

20 greater access to competency-based education 

21 programs, which may be independent of, or 

22 combined with, traditional credit hour or clock 

23 hour programs; 

24 ‘‘(B) the most effective means of delivering 

25 competency-based education through degree and 

26 credential programs; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the appropriate level and distribution 

2 methodology of Federal assistance for students 

3 enrolled in competency-based education. 

4 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 ‘‘(1) COMPETENCY-BASED EDUCATION.—The 

6 term ‘competency-based education’ means an edu7 cational process that— 

8 ‘‘(A) is characterized by the measurement 

9 of learning as opposed to the measurement of 

10 instructional and learning time; and 

11 ‘‘(B) includes direct measures of learning, 

12 which may include projects, papers, examina13 tions, presentations, performances, and port14 folios, and direct measures by others of student 

15 learning, in place of, or in addition to, using 

16 credit hours or clock hours to measure learning. 

17 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en18 tity’ means any of the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) An institution of higher education 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(i) is eligible to participate in pro22 grams under this title; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) is not an institution described in 

24 subparagraph (A) or (C) of section 

25 102(a)(1). 


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1 ‘‘(B) A system of institutions described in 

2 subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(C) A consortium of institutions described 

4 in subparagraph (A). 

5 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AUTHORIZED.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

7 out a competency-based education demonstration 

8 project under which the Secretary selects, in accord9 ance with subsection (e), eligible entities to partici10 pate and receive waivers described in paragraph (2), 

11 in order to enable the eligible entities to offer com12 petency-based education. 

13 ‘‘(2) WAIVERS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

15 waive, for an eligible entity participating in the 

16 demonstration project under this section, any 

17 requirements, including any regulations promul18 gated under such provisions, of— 

19 ‘‘(i) subsections (a) and (b) of section 

20 481, as such subsections relate to require21 ments under this Act for a minimum num22 ber of weeks of instruction; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) section 668.32(a)(1)(iii) of title 

24 34, Code of Federal Regulations, as such 


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1 section relates to courses leading to teach2 er certification. 

3 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS ELIGI4 BLE FOR WAIVER.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any 

6 waiver authorized under subparagraph (A), 

7 the Secretary may waive any requirements 

8 described in clause (ii) for an eligible enti9 ty participating in the demonstration 

10 project under this section that requests 

11 such a waiver in the application submitted 

12 under subsection (d), if the Secretary de13 termines that the eligible entity has pro14 posed a rational and defensible plan for 

15 competency-based education that requires 

16 such waiver. 

17 ‘‘(ii) DESCRIPTION OF ADDITIONAL

18 REQUIREMENTS.—A requirement described 

19 in this clause is any requirement under 

20 this part, part F, or title I (including any 

21 regulations promulgated under title I) that 

22 inhibits the operation of competency-based 

23 education, including any requirement that 

24 relates to— 

25 ‘‘(I) documenting attendance; 


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1 ‘‘(II) weekly academic activity; 

2 ‘‘(III) minimum weeks of instruc3 tional time; 

4 ‘‘(IV) credit hour or clock hour 

5 equivalencies; 

6 ‘‘(V) substantive interaction with 

7 faculty; and 

8 ‘‘(VI) the definitions of the terms 

9 ‘academic year’, ‘full-time student’, 

10 ‘standard term’, ‘non-term’, ‘non11 standard term’, ‘term’, ‘satisfactory 

12 academic progress’, ‘educational activ13 ity’, ‘program of study’, and ‘payment 

14 period’. 

15 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desir17 ing to participate in the demonstration project under 

18 this section shall submit to the Secretary an applica19 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 

20 such information as the Secretary shall require. 

21 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 

22 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

23 ‘‘(A) a description of the competency-based 

24 education to be offered by the eligible entity 

25 through the demonstration project, including 


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1 the portion of the degree or credential to be 

2 provided by competency-based education and 

3 the amount of time needed for a student par4 ticipating in the competency-based education 

5 program to attain the degree or credential; 

6 ‘‘(B) a brief description of the proposed 

7 academic delivery, business, and financial mod8 els to be used by the eligible entity in the 

9 project, including brief explanations of how the 

10 entity’s approach would result in the achieve11 ment and assessment of competencies and how 

12 the approach would differ from standard credit 

13 hour approaches; 

14 ‘‘(C) a description of the statutory and 

15 regulatory requirements described in subsection 

16 (c)(2) for which a waiver is sought, and the rea17 sons for which each such waiver is sought; 

18 ‘‘(D) a description of the entity’s proposal 

19 for determining a student’s Federal student aid 

20 eligibility under this title and awarding and dis21 tributing such aid, including safeguards to en22 sure that students are making satisfactory 

23 progress that warrants disbursement of such 

24 aid, and an explanation of how the proposal en25 sures that the competency-based education proVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:29 Jun 27, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2513.IS S2513

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1 gram does not require the expenditure of addi2 tional Federal funding beyond what the stu3 dents are otherwise eligible for under this title; 

4 ‘‘(E) a description of the students to whom 

5 competency-based education will be offered, in6 cluding an assurance that the eligible entity will 

7 include, by the end of the first calendar year, 

8 a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 2,000 el9 igible students as part of the project; 

10 ‘‘(F) a description of the goals the entity 

11 hopes to achieve through the use of com12 petency-based education; 

13 ‘‘(G) a description of how the entity plans 

14 to maintain program integrity, and prevent 

15 fraud, waste, and abuse, in the student assist16 ance programs under this title; 

17 ‘‘(H) an assurance that the entity will fully 

18 cooperate with the ongoing evaluations of the 

19 demonstration project under subsection (f)(3); 

20 ‘‘(I) an assurance that the entity will not 

21 require the expenditure of additional Federal 

22 funding to implement the project; and 

23 ‘‘(J) such other information as the Sec24 retary may require. 

25 ‘‘(e) SELECTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

2 after the date of enactment of the Advancing Com3 petency-Based Education Demonstration Project Act 

4 of 2014, the Secretary shall select not more than 15 

5 eligible entities to participate in the demonstration 

6 project under this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting eligible 

8 entities to participate in the demonstration project 

9 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) consider the number and quality of 

11 applications received; 

12 ‘‘(B) consider the eligible entity’s— 

13 ‘‘(i) demonstrated quality, as meas14 ured through outcome-based metrics of 

15 student success; 

16 ‘‘(ii) ability to successfully execute the 

17 project as described; 

18 ‘‘(iii) commitment and ability to effec19 tively finance a demonstration site as pro20 posed; 

21 ‘‘(iv) demonstrated administrative ca22 pability and expertise to evaluate learning 

23 based on measures other than credit hours 

24 or clock hours; 


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1 ‘‘(v) commitment to allow random as2 signment and collection of school records 

3 of eligible project applicants, if necessary 

4 in order to allow for the evaluation of the 

5 impact of the competency-based education 

6 programs supported under the project, as 

7 described in subsection (f)(2)(B); and 

8 ‘‘(vi) commitment to share the defined 

9 competencies and metrics for assessment 

10 developed for the competency-based edu11 cation program with the Secretary; and 

12 ‘‘(C) ensure the participation of a diverse 

13 group of institutions of higher education (in14 cluding institutions within eligible entities de15 scribed in subparagraph (B) or (C) of sub16 section (b)(2)) with respect to size, mission, and 

17 geographic distribution of the institutions. 

18 ‘‘(3) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 180 days 

19 after the date of enactment of the Advancing Com20 petency-Based Education Demonstration Project Act 

21 of 2014, the Secretary shall make available to the 

22 authorizing committees and the public a list of the 

23 eligible entities selected to participate in the dem24 onstration project under this section. Such list shall 

25 include, for each such eligible entity, the specific 


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1 statutory and regulatory requirements that the Sec2 retary is waiving for the project and a description of 

3 the competency-based education courses to be of4 fered. 

5 ‘‘(f) EVALUATIONS AND REPORTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY REPORT.—Each eligible 

7 entity that participates in the demonstration project 

8 under this section shall prepare and submit to the 

9 Secretary an annual report that includes— 

10 ‘‘(A) for each student participating in the 

11 competency-based education program offered by 

12 the eligible entity— 

13 ‘‘(i) the number of postsecondary 

14 credit hours the student had earned prior 

15 to enrollment in the program; 

16 ‘‘(ii) an identification of whether the 

17 student is participating in the program 

18 and only receiving competency-based edu19 cation or participating in the program 

20 while also taking courses offered in credit 

21 or clock hours, and identification of stu22 dent status as a first-year, second-year, 

23 third-year, or fourth-year student; 

24 ‘‘(iii) the period of time between the 

25 admission of the student in the program 


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1 and the first assessment of student learn2 ing; 

3 ‘‘(iv) the percentage of assessments of 

4 student learning that the student passed 

5 on the first attempt, during the period of 

6 the student’s participation in the program; 

7 ‘‘(v) the percentage of assessments of 

8 student learning that the student passed 

9 on the second attempt, and overall and the 

10 average period of time between the stu11 dent’s first and second attempts, during 

12 the period of the student’s participation in 

13 the program; and 

14 ‘‘(vi) the number of credits that the 

15 student acquired through the program and 

16 the period of time during which the stu17 dent acquired such credits; 

18 ‘‘(B) the information reported under sub19 paragraph (A) aggregated for the program; 

20 ‘‘(C) the rates of retention in the program 

21 for participating students, for each 6-month pe22 riod of the program; and 

23 ‘‘(D) such other information as the Sec24 retary may reasonably require. 

25 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) acting through the Director of the In2 stitute of Education Sciences— 

3 ‘‘(i) develop performance measures, 

4 including the measures described in para5 graph (1)(A), to be used by eligible entities 

6 participating in the demonstration project 

7 under this section to ascertain outcome 

8 and progress; 

9 ‘‘(ii) evaluate the implementation and 

10 impact of the activities supported under 

11 this section; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) identify promising practices re13 garding competency-based education and 

14 disseminate research on such practices; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) annually evaluate the competency17 based education program offered by each eligi18 ble entity participating in the demonstration 

19 project under this section to review— 

20 ‘‘(i) the extent to which the eligible 

21 entity has met the goals set forth in its ap22 plication under subsection (d), including 

23 the measures of program quality assur24 ance; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the number and types of stu2 dents participating in the competency3 based education programs offered, includ4 ing the progress of participating students 

5 toward recognized degrees and credentials 

6 and the extent to which participation, post7 secondary education retention, postsec8 ondary education completion, employment 

9 after graduation, and debt repayment in10 creased or decreased for participating stu11 dents as compared to the general postsec12 ondary education student population; 

13 ‘‘(iii) obstacles related to student fi14 nancial assistance for competency-based 

15 education; and 

16 ‘‘(iv) the extent to which statutory or 

17 regulatory requirements not waived under 

18 the demonstration project present difficul19 ties for students or institutions of higher 

20 education. 

21 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall 

22 annually prepare and submit to the authorizing com23 mittees a report that includes— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the evaluations of the competency2 based education programs required under para3 graph (2); 

4 ‘‘(B) the number and types of students re5 ceiving assistance under this title who partici6 pate in competency-based education programs 

7 supported under this section; 

8 ‘‘(C) the postsecondary education retention 

9 and completion rates of students participating 

10 in such programs; 

11 ‘‘(D) any statutory changes the Secretary 

12 would recommend that are designed to support 

13 and enhance the expansion of competency-based 

14 education; and 

15 ‘‘(E) other such measures as determined 

16 by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(g) OVERSIGHT.—In conducting the demonstration 

18 project under this section, the Secretary shall, on a con19 tinuing basis— 

20 ‘‘(1) ensure that eligible entities participating in 

21 the project comply with the requirements of this title 

22 (other than the requirements that are waived under 

23 subsection (c)(2)); 

24 ‘‘(2) provide technical assistance; 


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1 ‘‘(3) monitor fluctuations in the student popu2 lation enrolled in the participating eligible entities; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(4) consult with appropriate accrediting agen5 cies or associations and appropriate State regulatory 

6 authorities regarding the project.’’. 

Æ 


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