imum tuition and fees shall not be subject to the 
actions required by subparagraph (B) or (C) of 
paragraph (1), or any action under paragraph 
(4), unless such institution, for a subsequent 3- 
year interval, charges more than such maximum 
tuition and fees. 
‘‘(B) DOLLAR
INCREASE
EXEMPTION.—An 
institution that has a college affordability index 
computed under paragraph (1) that exceeds 2.0 
for any 3-year interval, but that exceeds such 2.0 
by a dollar amount that is less than $500, shall 
not be subject to the actions required by subpara-
graph (B) or (C) of paragraph (1), or any action 
under paragraph (4), unless such institution has 
a college affordability index for a subsequent 3- 
year interval that exceeds 2.0 by more than such 
dollar amount. 
‘‘(7) CLASSES OF INSTITUTIONS.—For purposes 
of this subsection, the classes of institutions shall be 
those sectors used by the Integrated Postsecondary 
Education Data System, based on whether the insti-
tution is public, nonprofit private, or for-profit pri-
vate, and whether the institution has a 4-year, 2-year, 
or less than 2-year program of instruction.
‘‘(g) FINES.—In addition to actions authorized in sec-
tion 487(c), the Secretary may impose a fine in an amount 
not to exceed $25,000 on an institution of higher education 
for failing to provide the information described in this sec-
tion in a timely and accurate manner, or for failing to 
otherwise cooperate with the National Center for Education 
Statistics regarding efforts to obtain data on the cost and 
price of higher education under this section and pursuant 
to the program participation agreement entered into under 
section 487. 
‘‘(h) GAO STUDY AND REPORT.— 
‘‘(1) GAO STUDY.—The Comptroller General 
shall conduct a study of the policies and procedures 
implemented by institutions in increasing the afford-
ability of postsecondary education. Such study shall 
include information with respect to— 
‘‘(A) a list of those institutions that— 
‘‘(i) have reduced their college afford-
ability indexes; or 
‘‘(ii) are, as determined under sub-
section (f)(6)(A), within the least costly 
quartile of institutions within each class de-
scribed in subsection (f)(7); 
‘‘(B) policies implemented to stem the in-
crease in tuition and fees and institutional costs;
‘‘(C) the extent to which room and board 
costs and prices changed; 
‘‘(D) the extent to which other services were 
altered to affect tuition and fees; 
‘‘(E) the extent to which the institution’s 
policies affected student body demographics and 
time to completion; 
‘‘(F) what, if any, operational factors 
played a role in reducing tuition and fees; 
‘‘(G) the extent to which academic quality 
was affected, and how; 
‘‘(H) the extent to which policies and prac-
tices reducing costs and prices may be replicated 
from one institution to another; and 
‘‘(I) other information as necessary to deter-
mine best practices in increasing the afford-
ability of postsecondary education. 
‘‘(2) INTERIM AND FINAL REPORTS.—The Comp-
troller General shall submit an interim and a final 
report regarding the findings of the study required by 
paragraph (1) to the appropriate authorizing com-
mittees of Congress. The interim report shall be sub-
mitted not later than July 31, 2011, and the final re-
port shall be submitted not later than July 31, 2013. 
‘‘(i) STUDENT AID RECIPIENT SURVEY.—
‘‘(1) SURVEY
REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall 
conduct a survey of student aid recipients under title 
IV on a regular cycle and State-by-State basis, but 
not less than once every 4 years— 
‘‘(A) to identify the population of students 
receiving Federal student aid; 
‘‘(B) to describe the income distribution and 
other socioeconomic characteristics of federally 
aided students; 
‘‘(C) to describe the combinations of aid 
from State, Federal, and private sources received 
by students from all income groups; 
‘‘(D) to describe the debt burden of edu-
cational loan recipients and their capacity to 
repay their education debts, and the impact of 
such debt burden on career choices; 
‘‘(E) to describe the role played by the price 
of postsecondary education in the determination 
by students of what institution to attend; and 
‘‘(F) to describe how the increased costs of 
textbooks and other instructional materials af-
fects the costs of postsecondary education to stu-
dents. 
‘‘(2) SURVEY DESIGN.—The survey shall be rep-
resentative of full-time and part-time, undergraduate,
graduate, and professional and current and former 
students in all types of institutions, and designed and 
administered in consultation with the Congress and 
the postsecondary education community. 
‘‘(3) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary shall dis-
seminate the information resulting from the survey in 
both printed and electronic form. 
‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 
issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the 
provisions of this section.’’. 
SEC. 109. DATABASES OF STUDENT INFORMATION. 
Part C of title I is further amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 132. DATABASES OF STUDENT INFORMATION PROHIB-
ITED. 
‘‘(a) PROHIBITION.—Except as described in (b), noth-
ing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the design, 
development, creation, implementation, or maintenance of 
a nationwide database of personally identifiable informa-
tion on individuals receiving assistance, attending institu-
tions receiving assistance, or otherwise involved in any 
studies or other collections of data under this Act, including 
a student unit record system, an education bar code system, 
or any other system that tracks individual students over 
time.
‘‘(b) EXCEPTION.—The provisions of subsection (a) 
shall not affect the loan obligation enforcement activities 
described in section 485B of this Act.’’. 
SEC. 110. PERFORMANCE-BASED ORGANIZATION. 
Section 141 (20 U.S.C. 1018) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(2)(B)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘unit’’ after ‘‘to reduce 
the’’; and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘and, to the extent prac-
ticable, the total costs of administering those pro-
grams’’ after ‘‘those programs’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘Each 
year’’ and inserting ‘‘Each fiscal year’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1)(B), by inserting ‘‘sec-
ondary markets, guaranty agencies,’’ after ‘‘lend-
ers,’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘Chief 
Financial Officer Act of 1990 and’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990,’’ and 
by inserting before the period at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, and other relevant statutes’’; and 
(3) in subsection (f)(3)(A), by striking ‘‘para-
graph (1)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)’’.
TITLE II—TEACHER 
PREPARATION 
SEC. 201. TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT GRANTS. 
Part A of title II (20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘PART A—TEACHER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT 
GRANTS FOR STATES AND PARTNERSHIPS 
‘‘SEC. 201. PURPOSES; DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this part are to— 
‘‘(1) improve student academic achievement; 
‘‘(2) improve the quality of the current and fu-
ture teaching force by improving the preparation of 
prospective teachers and enhancing professional devel-
opment activities; 
‘‘(3) hold institutions of higher education ac-
countable for preparing highly qualified teachers; and 
‘‘(4) recruit qualified individuals, including mi-
norities and individuals from other occupations, into 
the teaching force. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this part: 
‘‘(1) ARTS AND SCIENCES.—The term ‘arts and 
sciences’ means— 
‘‘(A) when referring to an organizational 
unit of an institution of higher education, any 
academic unit that offers one or more academic
majors in disciplines or content areas cor-
responding to the academic subject matter areas 
in which teachers provide instruction; and 
‘‘(B) when referring to a specific academic 
subject matter area, the disciplines or content 
areas in which academic majors are offered by 
the arts and science organizational unit. 
‘‘(2) EXEMPLARY
TEACHER.—The term ‘exem-
plary teacher’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
‘‘(3) HIGHLY
QUALIFIED.—The term ‘highly 
qualified’ when used with respect to an individual 
means that the individual is highly qualified as deter-
mined under section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) or 
section 602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Edu-
cation Act (20 U.S.C. 1401). 
‘‘(4) HIGH-NEED
LOCAL
EDUCATIONAL
AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘high-need local educational agency’ 
means a local educational agency— 
‘‘(A)(i)(I) that serves not fewer than 10,000 
children from families with incomes below the 
poverty line; or
‘‘(II) for which not less than 25 percent of 
the children served by the agency are from fami-
lies with incomes below the poverty line; 
‘‘(ii) that is among those serving the highest 
number or percentage of children from families 
with incomes below the poverty line in the State, 
but this clause applies only in a State that has 
no local educational agency meeting the require-
ments of clause (i); or 
‘‘(iii) with a total of less than 600 students 
in average daily attendance at the schools that 
are served by the agency and all of whose schools 
are designated with a school locale code of 7, as 
determined by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(B)(i) for which there is a high percentage 
of teachers not teaching in the academic subjects 
or grade levels that the teachers were trained to 
teach; or 
‘‘(ii) for which there is a high percentage of 
teachers with emergency, provisional, or tem-
porary certification or licensing. 
‘‘(5) POVERTY
LINE.—The term ‘poverty line’ 
means the poverty line (as defined by the Office of 
Management and Budget, and revised annually in ac-
cordance with section 673(2) of the Community Serv-
ices Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) applicable 
to a family of the size involved. 
‘‘(6) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.—The term 
‘professional development’ has the meaning given such 
term in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
‘‘(7) 
SCIENTIFICALLY
BASED
READING
RE-
SEARCH.—The term ‘scientifically based reading re-
search’ has the meaning given such term in section 
1208 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6368). 
‘‘(8) SCIENTIFICALLY
BASED
RESEARCH.—The 
term ‘scientifically based research’ has the meaning 
given such term in section 9101 of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
7801). 
‘‘(9) TEACHING
SKILLS.—The term ‘teaching 
skills’ means skills that— 
‘‘(A) are based on scientifically based re-
search; 
‘‘(B) enable teachers to effectively convey 
and explain subject matter content; 
‘‘(C) lead to increased student academic 
achievement; and 
‘‘(D) use strategies that—
‘‘(i) are specific to subject matter; 
‘‘(ii) include ongoing assessment of stu-
dent learning; 
‘‘(iii) focus on identification and tai-
loring of academic instruction to students’s 
specific learning needs; and 
‘‘(iv) focus on classroom management. 
‘‘SEC. 202. STATE GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available 
under section 210(1) for a fiscal year, the Secretary is au-
thorized to award grants under this section, on a competi-
tive basis, to eligible States to enable the eligible States to 
carry out the activities described in subsection (d). 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE STATE.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this part, the term ‘eligi-
ble State’ means— 
‘‘(A) the Governor of a State; or 
‘‘(B) in the case of a State for which the 
constitution or law of such State designates an-
other individual, entity, or agency in the State 
to be responsible for teacher certification and 
preparation activity, such individual, entity, or 
agency. 
‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Governor or the indi-
vidual, entity, or agency designated under paragraph
(1)(B) shall consult with the Governor, State board of 
education, State educational agency, State agency for 
higher education, or State agency responsible for 
early childhood education and programs, as appro-
priate, with respect to the activities assisted under 
this section. 
‘‘(3) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this subsection 
shall be construed to negate or supersede the legal au-
thority under State law of any State agency, State 
entity, or State public official over programs that are 
under the jurisdiction of the agency, entity, or offi-
cial. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, an eligible State shall submit an appli-
cation to the Secretary that— 
‘‘(1) meets the requirement of this section; 
‘‘(2) demonstrates that the State is in full com-
pliance with sections 207 and 208; 
‘‘(3) includes a description of how the eligible 
State intends to use funds provided under this sec-
tion; 
‘‘(4) includes measurable objectives for the use of 
the funds provided under the grant; 
‘‘(5) demonstrates the State has submitted and is 
actively implementing a plan that meets the require-
ments of sections 1111(h)(1)(C)(viii) and 1119 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)(viii) and 6319); and 
‘‘(6) contains such other information and assur-
ances as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(d) USES OF FUNDS.—An eligible State that receives 
a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to re-
form teacher preparation requirements, to coordinate with 
State activities under section 2113(c) of the Elementary 
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6613(c)), 
and to ensure that current and future teachers are highly 
qualified, by carrying out one or more of the following ac-
tivities: 
‘‘(1) REFORMS.—Ensuring that all teacher prep-
aration programs in the State are preparing teachers 
who are highly qualified, are able to understand sci-
entifically based research and its applicability, and 
are able to use advanced technology effectively in the 
classroom, including use for instructional techniques 
to improve student academic achievement, by assist-
ing such programs— 
‘‘(A) to retrain faculty; and 
‘‘(B) to design (or redesign) teacher prepa-
ration programs so they—
‘‘(i) are based on rigorous academic 
content, scientifically based research (in-
cluding scientifically based reading re-
search), and challenging State student aca-
demic content standards; and 
‘‘(ii) promote strong teaching skills. 
‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION
OR
LICENSURE
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—Reforming teacher certification (including 
recertification) or licensing requirements to ensure 
that— 
‘‘(A) teachers have the subject matter knowl-
edge and teaching skills in the academic subjects 
that the teachers teach that are necessary to help 
students meet challenging State student academic 
achievement standards; and 
‘‘(B) such requirements are aligned with 
challenging State academic content standards. 
‘‘(3) ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL TEACHER 
PREPARATION AND STATE CERTIFICATION.—Providing 
prospective teachers with alternative routes to State 
certification and traditional preparation to become 
highly qualified teachers through— 
‘‘(A) innovative approaches that reduce un-
necessary barriers to State certification while 
producing highly qualified teachers, which may
include articulation agreements between institu-
tions of higher education; 
‘‘(B) programs that provide support to 
teachers during their initial years in the profes-
sion; and 
‘‘(C) alternative routes to State certification 
of teachers for qualified individuals, including 
mid-career professionals from other occupations, 
former military personnel, and recent college 
graduates with records of academic distinction. 
‘‘(4) INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS.—Planning and im-
plementing innovative programs to enhance the abil-
ity of institutions of higher education to prepare 
highly qualified teachers, such as charter colleges of 
education or university and local educational agency 
partnership schools, that— 
‘‘(A) permit flexibility in meeting State re-
quirements as long as graduates, during their 
initial years in the profession, increase student 
academic achievement; 
‘‘(B) provide long-term data gathered from 
teachers’ performance over multiple years in the 
classroom on the ability to increase student aca-
demic achievement;
‘‘(C) ensure high-quality preparation of 
teachers from underrepresented groups; and 
‘‘(D) create performance measures that can 
be used to document the effectiveness of innova-
tive methods for preparing highly qualified 
teachers. 
‘‘(5) MERIT PAY.—Developing, or assisting local 
educational agencies in developing— 
‘‘(A) merit-based performance systems that 
reward teachers who increase student academic 
achievement; and 
‘‘(B) strategies that provide differential and 
bonus pay in high-need local educational agen-
cies to retain— 
‘‘(i) principals; 
‘‘(ii) highly qualified teachers who 
teach in high-need academic subjects, such 
as reading, mathematics, and science; 
‘‘(iii) highly qualified teachers who 
teach in schools identified for school im-
provement under section 1116(b) of the Ele-
mentary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6316(b)); 
‘‘(iv) special education teachers;
‘‘(v) teachers specializing in teaching 
limited English proficient children; and 
‘‘(vi) highly qualified teachers in 
urban and rural schools or districts. 
‘‘(6) TEACHER
ADVANCEMENT.—Developing, or 
assisting local educational agencies in developing, 
teacher advancement and retention initiatives that 
promote professional growth and emphasize multiple 
career paths (such as paths to becoming a highly 
qualified mentor teacher or exemplary teacher) and 
pay differentiation. 
‘‘(7) TEACHER REMOVAL.—Developing and im-
plementing effective mechanisms to ensure that local 
educational agencies and schools are able to remove 
expeditiously incompetent or unqualified teachers con-
sistent with procedures to ensure due process for the 
teachers. 
‘‘(8) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Providing tech-
nical assistance to low-performing teacher prepara-
tion programs within institutions of higher education 
identified under section 208(a). 
‘‘(9) TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS.—Developing— 
‘‘(A) systems to measure the effectiveness of 
teacher preparation programs and professional 
development programs; and
‘‘(B) strategies to document gains in stu-
dent academic achievement or increases in teach-
er mastery of the academic subjects the teachers 
teach as a result of such programs. 
‘‘(10) TEACHER
RECRUITMENT
AND
RETEN-
TION.—Undertaking activities that— 
‘‘(A) develop and implement effective mech-
anisms to ensure that local educational agencies 
and schools are able effectively to recruit and re-
tain highly qualified teachers; or 
‘‘(B) are described in section 204(d). 
‘‘(11) EARLY
CHILDHOOD
EDUCATOR.—Devel-
oping strategies— 
‘‘(A) to improve the qualifications of pre-
school teachers, which may include State certifi-
cation for such teachers; 
‘‘(B) to improve and expand preschool 
teacher preparation programs; and 
‘‘(C) to reduce unnecessary burdens to the 
attainment of a bachelor’s degree in early child-
hood education and increase the number of bilin-
gual early childhood educators, which may in-
clude developing articulation agreements between 
institutions of higher education.
‘‘(12) GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS.—In-
corporating the learning needs of gifted and talented 
students into the activities described in paragraph 
(1), (2), or (3) in order to ensure that new teachers 
possess the basic knowledge and skills necessary to 
meet the educational needs of gifted and talented stu-
dents. 
‘‘(13) NEW-TEACHER MENTORING ON THE NEEDS 
OF GIFTED AND TALENTED STUDENTS.— Establishing 
or expanding new-teacher mentoring and assessment 
programs (including induction and evaluation pro-
grams) that are a part of a licensure process which 
is designed to demonstrate that new teachers possess 
basic knowledge of the classroom indicators of 
giftedness, are able to identify student learning dif-
ferences among gifted students, and are able to pro-
vide instruction to accommodate such differences. 
‘‘(14) SPECIAL EDUCATION, MATH, AND SCIENCE 
FACULTY.—Supporting the development of new spe-
cial education, math, and science faculty positions in 
institutions of higher education dedicated to the prep-
aration of highly qualified special education, math, 
and science teachers (as defined by section 9101 of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act or section 
602 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education