II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2986 

To award grants to States to support efforts at institutions of higher 

education to increase degree attainment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2018 

Mr. CASEY (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To award grants to States to support efforts at institutions 

of higher education to increase degree attainment, 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 ‘‘Correctly Recognizing 

5 Educational Achievements To Empower Graduates Act’’ 

6 or the ‘‘CREATE Graduates Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CREATE GRADUATES. 

2 Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended by inserting after part 

4 B the following: 

5 ‘‘PART C—CREATE GRADUATES 

6 ‘‘SEC. 751. PURPOSE. 

7 ‘‘The purpose of this part is to award grants to 

8 States to support efforts at institutions of higher edu9 cation or within systems of higher education to increase 

10 postsecondary degree attainment by— 

11 ‘‘(1) locating, and conferring degrees to, stu12 dents who have accumulated sufficient applicable 

13 postsecondary credits and maintained a sufficient 

14 grade point average to earn an associate’s degree 

15 but did not receive one; 

16 ‘‘(2) providing outreach to those students who 

17 are within 12 credits of earning an associate’s de18 gree; and 

19 ‘‘(3) establishing partnerships between 2-year 

20 and 4-year institutions of higher education in States, 

21 in order to strengthen the transition pathways into 

22 4-year institutions of higher education for transfer 

23 students. 

24 ‘‘SEC. 752. GRANTS TO INCREASE DEGREE ATTAINMENT. 

25 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU26 CATION.—In this section, the term ‘institution of higher 


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1 education’ has the meaning given the term in section 

2 101(a). 

3 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appro5 priated under subsection (j), the Secretary shall 

6 award grants, on a competitive basis, to States to 

7 enable the States to carry out the activities de8 scribed in subsections (e) and (f) in order to support 

9 efforts at institutions of higher education to increase 

10 degree attainment. 

11 ‘‘(2) PARTNERSHIPS ALLOWED.—A State may 

12 apply for a grant under this section in partnership 

13 with a nonprofit organization. In any such partner14 ship, the State higher education agency or other 

15 State agency described in subsection (c)(1) shall 

16 serve as the fiscal agent for purposes of the grant. 

17 ‘‘(c) SUBMISSION AND CONTENTS OF APPLICA18 TION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The State, acting through 

20 the State higher education agency or other State 

21 agency determined appropriate by the Governor or 

22 chief executive officer of the State, shall submit an 

23 application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

24 manner, and containing such information as the Sec25 retary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 

2 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) A description of the State’s capacity 

4 to administer the grant under this section and 

5 report annually to the Secretary on the 

6 progress of the activities and services described 

7 in subsection (e). 

8 ‘‘(B) A description of how the State will 

9 meet the purposes of the grant program under 

10 this part through outreach and memoranda of 

11 understanding with institutions of higher edu12 cation, including the State’s plan for using 

13 grant funds to meet the requirements of sub14 sections (e) and (g) and, if the State elects to 

15 use grant funds under such subsection to create 

16 strong articulation agreements, subsection 

17 (f)(2). 

18 ‘‘(C) A description of how the State will 

19 coordinate with appropriate stakeholders, in20 cluding institutions of higher education, data21 sharing agencies within the State, and other 

22 States. 

23 ‘‘(D) A description of— 

24 ‘‘(i) the structure that the State has 

25 in place to administer the activities and 


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1 services described in subsection (e), includ2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(I) the capacity of the State’s 

4 longitudinal data system to— 

5 ‘‘(aa) be clean of record du6 plication and ensure alignment of 

7 State and institutional credit 

8 completion records; 

9 ‘‘(bb) include transfer flags 

10 and course and credit data to 

11 allow the State to run initial de12 gree audits for institutions; 

13 ‘‘(cc) include all postsec14 ondary educational institutions in 

15 the State, including public, pri16 vate nonprofit, and private for17 profit institutions; and 

18 ‘‘(dd) have in place mecha19 nisms to share data across insti20 tutions, systems, and States; 

21 ‘‘(II) the capacity of the agency 

22 governing the State’s longitudinal sys23 tem to respond to data requests accu24 rately and in a timely manner; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) the State’s plan to protect 

2 student privacy with respect to data 

3 in the State longitudinal data system 

4 and comply with section 444 of the 

5 General Education Provisions Act 

6 (commonly referred to as the ‘Family 

7 Educational Rights and Privacy Act 

8 of 1974’); or 

9 ‘‘(ii) the State’s plan to develop such 

10 administrative capacity as part of the ac11 tivities carried out under the grant. 

12 ‘‘(d) AWARD BASIS AND PRIORITY.—The Secretary 

13 shall award grants under this section to States based on 

14 the quality of the applications submitted under subsection 

15 (c). In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary 

16 shall give priority to applications from States— 

17 ‘‘(1) that do not have, as of the time of the ap18 plication, statewide policies or statewide initiatives in 

19 place to retroactively award associate’s degrees to 

20 students; or 

21 ‘‘(2) that have a commitment to initiatives re22 garding the retroactive awarding of associate’s de23 grees that will continue after the period of the grant. 

24 ‘‘(e) MANDATORY USE OF FUNDS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) SUBGRANTS.—A State that receives a 

2 grant under this section shall use not less than 80 

3 percent of the grant funds provided to award sub4 grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of 

5 higher education or systems of higher education. 

6 Each institution of higher education or system of 

7 higher education receiving a subgrant shall carry out 

8 all of the following activities and services, pursuant 

9 to the conditions under subsection (g): 

10 ‘‘(A) Identify the group of students en11 rolled at the institution of higher education on 

12 the date of the identification and former stu13 dents enrolled at the institution of higher edu14 cation, or at the institutions of higher education 

15 within the system of higher education, as the 

16 case may be, that, based on the data held by 

17 the institution or system, meet both of the fol18 lowing requirements: 

19 ‘‘(i) Each individual was enrolled in 

20 not less than 45 postsecondary credit 

21 hours (or the minimum required by the 

22 State to earn an associate’s degree)— 

23 ‘‘(I) in the case of former stu24 dents enrolled at the institution of 

25 higher education or at the institutions 


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1 of higher education within the system 

2 of higher education, as the case may 

3 be, at the institution or institutions; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(II) in the case of students en6 rolled at the institution of higher edu7 cation or at the institutions of higher 

8 education within the system of higher 

9 education, as the case may be, on the 

10 date of the identification, at another 

11 institution of higher education. 

12 ‘‘(ii) Each individual has not had any 

13 postsecondary degree or certificate, of any 

14 kind, issued to the student by an institu15 tion of higher education. 

16 ‘‘(B) Perform a degree audit on each stu17 dent described in subparagraph (A), and iden18 tify each such student as one of the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) Eligible to obtain an associate’s 

20 degree. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Eligible to obtain an associate’s 

22 degree upon the completion of 12 or fewer 

23 postsecondary credit hours (or the equiva24 lent). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Not eligible under either clause 

2 (i) or (ii). 

3 ‘‘(C) Provide outreach to each student 

4 identified in subparagraph (B)(i), and award 

5 the earned associate’s degree to such student, 

6 unless such student declines through a written 

7 or oral declaration. 

8 ‘‘(D) Provide outreach to each student 

9 identified in subparagraph (B)(ii) that includes 

10 information regarding next steps toward degree 

11 attainment, including financial aid options. 

12 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION PROCESS.—An institution of 

13 higher education or system of higher education de14 siring a subgrant under this subsection shall submit 

15 an application to the State at such time, in such 

16 manner, and containing such information as the 

17 State may require. Such application shall include a 

18 written commitment from the institution or system 

19 that, if the institution or system receives a grant, 

20 the institution or system will carry out all of the ac21 tivities described in paragraph (1). 

22 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—Each State awarding sub23 grants under this part shall give priority to applica24 tions from institutions of higher education or sys25 tems of higher education that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) have up-to-date degree audit software 

2 or systems to increase automation of degree au3 dits and transcript exchange, or a plan to invest 

4 and develop such software or systems; 

5 ‘‘(B) if such policy is permissible under ap6 plicable accreditation or State standards, use a 

7 policy that awards associate’s degrees to any 

8 candidate identified in paragraph (1)(B)(i) and 

9 provides candidates with a process to opt out of 

10 such award program; 

11 ‘‘(C) waive nonacademic barriers to grad12 uation, such as an application, swimming test, 

13 library fine, transcript exchange fee, graduation 

14 fee, parking ticket, or any other nominal fee; 

15 ‘‘(D) waive or amend residency and 

16 recency requirements to prevent earned credits 

17 from expiring, if such action is permissible 

18 under accreditation or State standards; 

19 ‘‘(E) provide students with tuition waivers, 

20 reduced tuition, or prior learning assessments 

21 for those who need to earn remaining credits; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(F) agree that, after the conclusion of the 

24 activities described in paragraph (1) and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:08 Jun 05, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2986.IS S2986

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1 tinuing after the end of the grant period, the 

2 institution or system will— 

3 ‘‘(i) conduct degree audits for all en4 rolled students once the students enroll in 

5 45 postsecondary credit hours; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) provide information about grad7 uation deadlines to remind students of rel8 evant requirements at least 4 months be9 fore the students graduate and again 1 

10 month before graduation. 

11 ‘‘(f) PERMISSIVE USE OF FUNDS.—A State receiving 

12 a grant under this section may use— 

13 ‘‘(1) not more than 15 percent of the total 

14 amount received under this section for administra15 tive purposes relating to the grant under this sec16 tion, including technology needed to carry out the 

17 purposes of this part; and 

18 ‘‘(2) not more than 5 percent of the total 

19 amount received under this section to create articu20 lation agreements between 2-year and 4-year institu21 tions of higher education, in order to enhance col22 laboration and strengthen the transition pathways 

23 between such institutions for transfer students. 

24 ‘‘(g) SPECIAL CONDITIONS AND PROHIBITIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY TO STUDENTS.—A State, 

2 institution of higher education, or system of higher 

3 education receiving a grant or subgrant, as the case 

4 may be, under this section shall not charge any stu5 dent an additional fee or charge to participate in the 

6 activities or services supported under this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITED USES.—A State, institution 

8 of higher education, or system of higher education 

9 receiving a grant or subgrant, as the case may be, 

10 under this section shall not use any grant or 

11 subgrant funds for tuition, fees, room and board, or 

12 any other purpose outside the goals of the grant. 

13 ‘‘(3) FERPA REQUIREMENTS.—Each State, in14 stitution of higher education, or system of higher 

15 education receiving a grant or subgrant, respectively, 

16 under this section that enters into a contract or 

17 other agreement with any outside entity to assist in 

18 carrying out the activities or services under such 

19 grant or subgrant, shall ensure that the outside enti20 ty complies with all requirements of section 444 of 

21 the General Education Provisions Act (commonly re22 ferred to as the ‘Family Educational Rights and Pri23 vacy Act of 1974’) that would apply to the State, in24 stitution, or system. 


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1 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION.—A State receiving a 

2 grant under this section shall ensure the coordina3 tion of the activities and services carried out under 

4 this section with any other activities carried out in 

5 the State that are similar to the goals of this pro6 gram, and with any other entities that support the 

7 existing activities in the State, with the goal of mini8 mizing duplication. 

9 ‘‘(h) REPORT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant 

11 under this section shall prepare and submit an an12 nual report to the Secretary on the activities and 

13 services carried out under this section, and on the 

14 implementation of such activities and services. The 

15 report shall include, for each institution of higher 

16 education or system of higher education receiving a 

17 subgrant, the following information: 

18 ‘‘(A) The number of students who were 

19 first identified in the group described in sub20 section (e)(1)(A)(i). 

21 ‘‘(B) The number of students who were re22 moved from such group because the students 

23 had received a degree elsewhere, in accordance 

24 with subsection (e)(1)(A)(ii). 


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1 ‘‘(C) The number of degree audits per2 formed under subsection (e)(1)(B). 

3 ‘‘(D) The number of students identified 

4 under subsection (e)(1)(B)(i) as eligible to ob5 tain an associate’s degree. 

6 ‘‘(E) The number of students identified 

7 under subsection (e)(1)(B)(ii) as eligible to ob8 tain an associate’s degree upon the completion 

9 of 12 or fewer credits. 

10 ‘‘(F) The number of students identified 

11 under subsection (e)(1)(B)(iii) as ineligible to 

12 obtain an associate’s degree and ineligible to 

13 obtain such a degree upon the completion of 12 

14 or fewer credits. 

15 ‘‘(G) The number of students awarded an 

16 associate’s degree under subsection (e)(1)(C). 

17 ‘‘(H) The number of students identified in 

18 subsection (e)(1)(B)(ii) who are returning to an 

19 institution of higher education after receiving 

20 outreach described in subsection (e)(1)(D). 

21 ‘‘(I) The average amount of credit hours 

22 previously earned by students described in sub23 section (e)(1)(B)(i) when the associate’s degrees 

24 are awarded. 


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1 ‘‘(J) The number of students who received 

2 outreach described in subsection (e)(1)(C) and 

3 who decline to receive the associate’s degree. 

4 ‘‘(K) The number of students who could 

5 not be located or reached as part of the process. 

6 ‘‘(L) The reasons why students identified 

7 in subsection (e)(1)(B)(ii) did not return to an 

8 institution of higher education to receive a de9 gree. 

10 ‘‘(M) Details of any policy changes imple11 mented as a result of implementing this pro12 gram and conducting the required degree au13 dits. 

14 ‘‘(2) DISAGGREGATION.—The report shall in15 clude the information described in subparagraphs 

16 (A) through (L) of paragraph (1) in the aggregate 

17 and disaggregated by age, gender, race or ethnicity, 

18 status as an individual with a disability, and socio19 economic status (including status as a Federal Pell 

20 Grant recipient). 

21 ‘‘(i) ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) RECOVERY OR WITHHOLDING.—The Sec23 retary may, after notice and an opportunity for a 

24 hearing in accordance with chapter 5 of title 5, 

25 United States Code— 


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1 ‘‘(A) withhold funds provided under a 

2 grant or subgrant under this section if a State 

3 or institution of higher education is failing to 

4 comply substantially with the requirements of 

5 this section; or 

6 ‘‘(B) take actions to recover funds pro7 vided under a grant or subgrant under this sec8 tion, if the State or institution made an unal9 lowable expense, or otherwise failed to discharge 

10 its responsibility to properly account for funds. 

11 ‘‘(2) USE OF RECOVERED OR UNUSED

12 FUNDS.—Any funds recovered or withheld under 

13 paragraph (1) shall— 

14 ‘‘(A) be credited to the appropriations ac15 count from which amounts are available to 

16 make grants or enter cooperative agreements 

17 under this section; and 

18 ‘‘(B) remain available until expended for 

19 any purpose of that account authorized by law 

20 that relates to the program under this section. 

21 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2019 and 

24 each of the 2 subsequent fiscal years.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. RELEASE OF EDUCATION RECORDS TO FACILITATE 

2 THE AWARD OF A RECOGNIZED POSTSEC3 ONDARY CREDENTIAL. 

4 Section 444(b) of the General Education Provisions 

5 Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g(b)) is amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

7 (A) in subparagraph (K)(ii), by striking ‘‘; 

8 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 

9 (B) in subparagraph (L), by striking the 

10 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’ ; and 

11 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (L) the fol12 lowing: 

13 ‘‘(M) an institution of postsecondary education 

14 in which the student was previously enrolled, to 

15 which records of postsecondary coursework and cred16 its are sent for the purpose of applying such 

17 coursework and credits toward completion of a rec18 ognized postsecondary credential (as that term is de19 fined in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 

20 Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102)), upon condition 

21 that the student provides written consent prior to re22 ceiving such credential.’’. 

Æ 


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