I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1710 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make education affordable 
and accessible. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 23, 2017 
Mr. POLIS (for himself and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make 
education affordable and accessible. 
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 ‘‘Making Education Af-
fordable and Accessible Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. CREDIT-BASED ACADEMIC TRANSITION PROGRAMS. 
Part B of title VII of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1138 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 745 as section 746; 
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(2) in section 746, as redesignated by para-
graph (1), by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2009’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘fiscal year 2018’’; and 
(3) by inserting after section 744 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 745. CREDIT-BASED ACADEMIC TRANSITION PRO-
GRAMS. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to ex-
pand access for high school students to the opportunities 
offered in credit-based academic transition programs es-
tablished through partnerships between high schools and 
institutions of higher education utilizing dual or concur-
rent enrollment programs or early college high school pro-
grams that enable such students to earn college credits 
while in high school. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—In this section, the 
term ‘eligible institution’ means an institution of higher 
education that carries out a dual or concurrent enrollment 
program or an early college high school program that en-
ables high school students to earn college credits while in 
high school. 
‘‘(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 
award grants to eligible institutions to carry out credit- 
based academic transition programs described in sub-
section (a). 
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‘‘(d) APPLICATION.—An eligible institution that de-
sires to receive a grant under this section shall submit to 
the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 
and containing such information as the Secretary may re-
quire. 
‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sec-
tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible institu-
tions that serve students from low-income families, stu-
dents from rural communities, or students who are the 
first in their family to receive postsecondary education. 
‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible institution that re-
ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant 
funds— 
‘‘(1) to carry out a dual or concurrent enroll-
ment program or an early college high school pro-
gram for high school students, through which such 
students while enrolled in high school are enrolled in 
postsecondary courses at the eligible institution, 
through which such students can earn college credits 
that can be transferred to 2-year and 4-year institu-
tions of higher education in the State; 
‘‘(2) to provide teachers, principals, and other 
school leaders with professional development activi-
ties that enhance or enable the provision of postsec-
ondary coursework through a dual or concurrent en-
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rollment program or an early college high school 
program; and 
‘‘(3) to support activities such as— 
‘‘(A) designing the curriculum and se-
quence of courses in collaboration with teachers 
from the local educational agency and faculty 
from the eligible institution; 
‘‘(B) establishing a course articulation 
process for defining and approving courses for 
high school and postsecondary credit or creden-
tials for both 2-year and 4-year institutions of 
higher education in the State; 
‘‘(C) outreach programs to provide elemen-
tary school and secondary school students, espe-
cially those in middle grades, and their parents, 
teachers, school counselors, and principals in-
formation about and academic preparation for 
the credit-based academic transition programs 
described in subsection (a); 
‘‘(D) helping students meet eligibility cri-
teria for postsecondary courses and ensuring 
that students understand how credits earned 
will transfer to institutions of higher education 
in the State; and 
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‘‘(E) coordinating secondary and postsec-
ondary support services and academic cal-
endars. 
‘‘(g) FLEXIBILITY OF FUNDS.—An eligible institu-
tion that receives a grant under this section may use grant 
funds for any of the costs associated with carrying out 
credit-based academic transition programs described in 
subsection (a), including the costs of— 
‘‘(1) tuition and fees, books, and required in-
structional materials for such program so that stu-
dents will not be required to pay tuition or fees for 
postsecondary courses; and 
‘‘(2) transportation to and from such program. 
‘‘(h) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Each eligible insti-
tution receiving a grant under this section shall— 
‘‘(1) conduct an independent evaluation of the 
effectiveness of the activities carried out by such eli-
gible institution under this section; and 
‘‘(2) prepare and submit to the Secretary a re-
port containing the results of the evaluation de-
scribed in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to impose on any State or public 
institution of higher education any requirement or rule re-
garding credit-based academic transition programs de-
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