I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5381 
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study 
on the front-loading of grant aid by institutions of higher education, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 
Mr. KIM of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor 
A BILL 
To direct the Comptroller General of the United States to 
conduct a study on the front-loading of grant aid by 
institutions of higher education, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Front-Loaded Aid 
Transparency Act’’ or the ‘‘FLAT Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT ON FRONT-LOADING OF GRANT 
AID BY INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDU-
CATION. 
(a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall conduct a study on the front-loading of insti-
tutional grant aid by covered institutions of higher edu-
cation during the period beginning with fiscal year 2007 
and ending with fiscal year 2020. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The study conducted under sub-
section (a) shall include an assessment of the following: 
(1) Any information known about the preva-
lence of front-loading by covered institutions and 
trends in how average grant aid for first-year under-
graduate students compared to amounts for subse-
quent years of undergraduate study, including 
whether the covered institution is public, private 
non-profit, or for-profit. 
(2) Potential reasons why an institution would 
reduce the amount of grant aid provided to indi-
vidual students after their first year, and why, if at 
all, the magnitude of these reductions would be high-
er at some covered institutions. 
(3) Any information known about how de-
creases in students’ grant aid after their first year 
of undergraduate study affects subsequent enroll-
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ment intensity and student loan borrowing, reten-
tion, transfer, and graduation rates. 
(4) The extent to which covered institutions in-
form prospective students about how their aid pack-
ages are likely to change after their first year of 
study. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
submit to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor of the House of Representatives a report 
that includes— 
(1) the results of the study conducted under 
subsection (a); and 
(2) recommendations for legislative action to 
address the front-loading of institutional grant aid 
by covered institutions. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COVERED
INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘cov-
ered institution’’ means an institution of higher edu-
cation that— 
(A) provides a four-year educational pro-
gram; and 
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(B) participates in programs authorized 
under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 
(2) FRONT-LOADING.—The term ‘‘front load-
ing’’, when used with respect to institutional grant 
aid, means the practice by which a covered institu-
tion provides first-year students with a higher 
amount or percentage of institutional grant aid than 
the institution provides to second-year, third-year, or 
fourth-year students. 
(3) INSTITUTIONAL GRANT AID.—The term ‘‘in-
stitutional grant aid’’ means grant aid— 
(A) provided to a student by a covered in-
stitution; and 
(B) that is directly funded by such institu-
tion using funds from non-Federal sources. 
Æ 
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