I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4857 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a program to 
make grants to promote innovations at historically Black colleges and 
universities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 23, 2016 
Ms. ADAMS (for herself, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Ms. BROWN 
of Florida, Ms. LEE, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. PLASKETT, 
Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, 
Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, 
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, and Mr. FATTAH) 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 establish 
a program to make grants to promote innovations at 
historically Black colleges and universities, 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 ‘‘HBCU Innovation 
Fund Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. GRANTS TO PROMOTE INNOVATIONS AT HISTORI-
CALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. 
Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended by inserting after part 
B the following new part: 
‘‘PART C—FUNDING INNOVATIONS AT HISTORI-
CALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES 
‘‘SEC. 751. PURPOSE. 
‘‘It is the purpose of this part to assist historically 
Black colleges and universities in planning, developing, im-
plementing, validating, and replicating innovations that 
provide solutions to persistent challenges in enabling eco-
nomically and educationally disadvantaged students to en-
roll in, persist through, and graduate from college, includ-
ing innovations designed to— 
‘‘(1) improve student achievement at histori-
cally Black colleges and universities; 
‘‘(2) increase the successful recruitment at his-
torically Black colleges and universities of— 
‘‘(A) students from low-income families of 
all races; 
‘‘(B) adults; and 
‘‘(C) military-affiliated students; 
‘‘(3) increase the rate at which students en-
rolled in historically Black colleges and universities 
make adequate or accelerated progress toward grad-
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uation, and successfully graduate from such colleges 
and universities; 
‘‘(4) increase the number of students pursuing 
and completing degrees in science, technology, engi-
neering, and mathematics at historically Black col-
leges and universities and pursuing graduate work in 
such fields, including through the establishment of 
innovation ecosystems on the campuses of such col-
leges and universities; 
‘‘(5) redesign course offerings and other in-
structional strategies at historically Black colleges 
and universities to improve student outcomes and re-
duce education costs; 
‘‘(6) enhance the quality and number of tradi-
tional and alternative route teacher preparation pro-
grams offered by historically Black colleges and uni-
versities; 
‘‘(7) expand the effective use of technology at 
historically Black colleges and universities; and 
‘‘(8) strengthen postgraduate employment out-
comes for students enrolled in historically Black col-
leges and universities. 
‘‘SEC. 752. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this part, the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 
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‘‘(1) a part B institution, as defined in section 
322(2); 
‘‘(2) a part B institution, as so defined, apply-
ing in a consortium with one or more other institu-
tions of higher education; 
‘‘(3) a part B institution, as so defined, apply-
ing in a consortium with one or more private non-
profit organizations; 
‘‘(4) a part B institution, as so defined, apply-
ing in a consortium with one or more local edu-
cational agencies; or 
‘‘(5) a part B institution, as so defined, apply-
ing in a consortium that includes entities described 
in more than one of subparagraphs (B), (C), and 
(D). 
‘‘SEC. 753. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—With funds made available for 
this part under section 757, the Secretary shall make com-
petitive planning and implementation grants, as described 
in subsections (b) and (c), to eligible entities to enable 
such entities to plan for the implementation of, in the case 
of a planning grant, and implement, in the case of an im-
plementation grant, innovations described in section 751 
and to support the planning, development, implementa-
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