I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3519
To address rising college tuition by strengthening the compact between the 
States, the Federal Government, and institutions of higher education 
to make college more affordable. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 19, 2003
Mr. TIERNEY (for himself, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. OWENS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. WOOL-
SEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. 
WU, Mr. HOLT, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CASE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. VAN 
HOLLEN, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. EMANUEL, 
and Ms. PELOSI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To address rising college tuition by strengthening the com-
pact between the States, the Federal Government, and 
institutions of higher education to make college more 
affordable.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘College Affordability and Accountability Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. References; effective date. 
Sec. 3. Findings. 
Sec. 4. State commitment to affordable college education. 
Sec. 5. Cost containment strategies. 
Sec. 6. Pell Plus. 
Sec. 7. Cooperative education rewards for institutions that restrain tuition in-
creases. 
Sec. 8. Study. 
Sec. 9. Articulation agreement demonstration program. 
Sec. 10. Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES; EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment 
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference 
shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi-
sion of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 
et seq.). 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as otherwise provided 
in this Act, the amendments made by this Act shall take 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) A quality college degree is the cornerstone 
of the American dream, opening the door to job op-
portunity and professional fulfillment, while increas-
ing earning power by more than a million dollars 
over a lifetime; therefore, States and the Federal 
Government should do more to make it affordable 
and accessible to all qualified students because—
(A) recent shifts in the economy have in-
creased the demand for college-educated work-
ers and increased the wage gap between college-
educated workers and those without a degree 
(workers with a bachelor’s degree earn 75 per-
cent more than workers with just a high school 
diploma); 
(B) jobs requiring some postsecondary 
education are expected to account for about 42 
percent of total job growth from 2000 through 
2010; 
(C) 
low-income, 
college-qualified 
high 
school graduates have an annual unmet need 
for student financial assistance of $3,800 in 
college expenses, expenses not covered by 
grants, loans, work, or family savings; 
(D) 46 percent of all students who work in 
addition to being full-time students report 25 
hours or more a week of employment; and 
(E) 50 percent of those employed more 
than 25 hours a week report that working hurts 
their grades and retention in college, and stu-
dents who work more than 35 hours a week are 
considerably less likely to complete a year of
college than those who work less than 15 hours 
a week. 
(2) State spending on higher education has de-
creased dramatically over time, and as a result, stu-
dents and their families, particularly working class 
and middle class families, have to pay a larger por-
tion of college costs: 
(A) In 2003–2004, tuition and fees in-
creased at colleges and universities across the 
country. Tuition increased by 14.1 percent at 
four-year public institutions, 13.8 percent at 
two-year public institutions, and 6.0 percent at 
four-year private institutions. 
(B) While 70 percent of all students pay 
$8,000 or less in tuition each year, low-income 
students continue to fall far behind in accessing 
a college education. 
(C) The ratio of a low-income family’s 
earnings used to pay for tuition increased to 71 
percent, while this ratio held steady for middle-
income families at 17 percent and 6 percent for 
those with the highest incomes. 
(3) Federal student aid is too focused on loans 
instead of grant aid because—
(A) 
although 
approximately 
$55,000,000,000 is made available annually in 
direct and indirect Federal aid to postsecondary 
education students and their families, in 2002, 
60 percent of such Federal student aid was in 
the form of loans while only 40 percent was in 
the form of grants, a reversal of the distribu-
tion 20 years ago; 
(B) the purchasing power of the maximum 
Pell Grant has declined, as Pell Grants now 
cover only about 40 percent of average fixed 
costs at 4-year public colleges, about half of 
what they covered 25 years ago; and 
(C) 
average 
student 
indebtedness 
is 
$17,000, and reaches over $120,000 for profes-
sional school graduates. 
SEC. 4. STATE COMMITMENT TO AFFORDABLE COLLEGE 
EDUCATION. 
Title I is amended by inserting after section 131 (20 
U.S.C. 1015) the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 132. STATE COMMITMENT TO AFFORDABLE COLLEGE 
EDUCATION. 
‘‘(a) MAINTENANCE
OF EFFORT REQUIRED.—No 
State shall reduce the total amount provided by the State 
for public institutions of higher education in such State
for any academic year beginning on or after July 1, 2003, 
to an amount which is less than the average amount pro-
vided by such State to such institutions of higher edu-
cation during the academic years between July 1, 1998, 
and July 1, 2003. 
‘‘(b) WITHHOLDING OF ALL EDUCATION ADMINIS-
TRATIVE FUNDS FOR VIOLATIONS.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the Secretary of Education shall 
withhold from any State that violates subsection (a) any 
amount that would otherwise be available to the State for 
administrative expenses and costs under any Federal edu-
cation program until such State has corrected such viola-
tion.’’. 
SEC. 5. COST CONTAINMENT STRATEGIES. 
Title I is further amended by inserting after section 
132 (as added by section 4) the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 133. COST CONTAINMENT STRATEGIES. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS.—Each institution of higher 
education shall in accordance with the requirements of this 
section engage in, and report upon, cost containment 
strategies. Such strategies may include (but are not lim-
ited to) the following activities: 
‘‘(1) bulk purchasing; 
‘‘(2) joint faculty appointments; 
‘‘(3) streamlining administration;
‘‘(4) energy conservation and savings; 
‘‘(5) technological innovations; and 
‘‘(6) joint degree offerings. 
‘‘(b) FIVE-YEAR PLANS.—Within 2 years after the 
enactment of the Act, each institution of higher education 
shall submit a 5-year plan on their cost containment strat-
egies and any progress made to date to the Secretary of 
Education. 
‘‘(c) RESEARCH INTO COST CONTAINMENT METH-
ODS.—
‘‘(1) 
RESEARCH
AUTHORIZED.—From 
the 
funds appropriated under paragraph (2), the Sec-
retary is authorized—
‘‘(A) to conduct or provide for the conduct 
of research to identify methods of cost contain-
ment currently utilized by institutions of higher 
education and systems of such institutions, and 
research into other possible methods of cost 
containment; 
‘‘(B) to disseminate—
‘‘(i) the information obtained by such 
research to such institutions and systems; 
and 
‘‘(ii) other research that has identified 
successful methods of cost containment;
‘‘(C) to publicly recognize institutions of 
higher education that are doing an effective job 
at cost containment; and 
‘‘(D) to work together with such institu-
tions and systems to implement these methods. 
‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
this subsection $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 and 
such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 
succeeding fiscal years. 
‘‘(d) CONSUMER INFORMATION.—
‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—
‘‘(A) CONTENTS
OF
REPORT.—The Sec-
retary shall annually prepare and publish a re-
port on college affordability in America. The 
college affordability report shall provide, at a 
minimum, comprehensive information on—
‘‘(i) the sticker price, total price of at-
tendance, net tuition price, and net access 
price for every institution of higher edu-
cation that participates in the Federal stu-
dent aid programs under title IV of this 
Act; 
‘‘(ii) the percentage change in the list-
ed sticker price, total price of attendance,
net tuition price, and net access price over 
a 3-, 5-, and 10-year time period for each 
such institution; and 
‘‘(iii) the level of Federal and State 
support for higher education per capita 
and per pupil. 
‘‘(B) ADVISORY GROUP.—To ensure that 
the annual college affordability in America re-
port provides consumer-friendly information, 
the Secretary shall convene an advisory group 
of students, parents, and college officials to 
help determine the information that shall be in-
cluded in the report. 
‘‘(2) DATA
DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary 
shall make publicly available the data collected pur-
suant to this section, including an institution’s net 
price tuition index as calculated in accordance with 
subsection (e). Such data shall be made available in 
a manner that permits the review and comparison of 
data submissions of individual institutions of higher 
education. Such data shall be presented in a form 
that is easily accessible and understandable and al-
lows parents and students to make informed deci-
sions based on the average prices for full-time un-
dergraduate students and the institution’s rate of in-
crease in the sticker price, total price of attendance, 
net tuition price, and net access price. 
‘‘(3) WEBSITE ENHANCEMENT.—
‘‘(A) WEBSITE INFORMATION.—In order to 
further enhance public knowledge and under-
standing of college affordability, the Secretary 
shall modify the college opportunities on line 
(COOL) web site. The goal of such changes 
shall be to make the website the single best 
source of information about applying to and 
paying for a postsecondary education. Such 
changes shall make the website more user 
friendly and facilitate the comparison of mul-
tiple institutions at the same time. Such website 
shall provide detailed tuition and student aid 
data for each institution (including data from 
the annual college affordability in America re-
port). As part of improving the website, the 
Secretary shall establish an advisory board of 
students and parents to guide the redesign. The 
college price calculator required by paragraph 
(4) shall be included on the COOL website. 
‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY IN OTHER FORM.—In 
addition, the Secretary shall publish all of the 
institutional information found on the COOL
website, minus the college price calculator, and 
instruct all local educational agencies to notify 
all their secondary schools of the publication of 
the COOL web site, both on-line and in-print, 
and of the steps necessary to procure such in-
formation both on-line and in-print. 
‘‘(4) COLLEGE PRICE CALCULATOR.—
‘‘(A) 
ESTABLISHMENT.—The 
Secretary 
shall establish a system for reporting to pro-
spective students and families on the net tuition 
price of institutions of higher education. Using 
the most recent data available, the Secretary 
shall make available the amount of aid typically 
granted for students based on family income 
and college attended. Such information shall be 
made available in the form of a web site price 
calculator that permits students to be able to 
enter an institution of higher education and 
their family income and be presented the sticker 
price, net tuition price, and net access price for 
students in their income bracket in order to de-
termine the approximate cost of attending such 
a school. The calculator shall include a clear 
disclaimer that financial aid decisions are made 
on a case-by-case basis and that the included
calculations are based on previous years’ data 
and can therefore serve only as general guide-
lines for the financial aid that a student may 
expect to receive. 
‘‘(B) INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION BY IN-
STITUTIONS.—Each institution of higher edu-
cation shall make available its sticker price, 
total price of attendance, net tuition price, and 
net access price and list examples of what fami-
lies in each of the quartile income brackets 
might be expected to pay in the net tuition 
price for the most recent academic year. This 
information shall be provided in written form 
and distributed to all students and applicants 
and made widely available to the public. 
‘‘(e) NET TUITION PRICE INDEX.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, on the 
basis of the data submitted under subsection (a), 
calculate a net tuition price index for each institu-
tion of higher education submitting such data and 
shall make the index available in accordance with 
subsection (b) as soon as operationally possible on 
the Department’s college opportunity on line 
(COOL) website.
and expand an existing program of cooperative 
education, or (ii) establish and improve or ex-
pand comprehensive cooperative education pro-
grams; and 
‘‘(F) encourage model cooperative edu-
cation programs in the fields of science and 
mathematics for women and minorities who are 
underrepresented in such fields 
from the amounts available in each fiscal year under 
section 802(b)(4); and 
‘‘(3) the conduct of research relating to cooper-
ative education, from the amounts available in each 
fiscal year under section 802(b)(5). 
‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 
the Secretary may—
‘‘(A) make grants to or contracts with in-
stitutions of higher education, or combinations 
of such institutions; and 
‘‘(B) make grants to or contracts with 
other public or private nonprofit agencies or or-
ganizations, whenever such grants or contracts 
will make an especially significant contribution 
to attaining the objectives of this section. 
‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—