FINISH Act
Bill: S.518 | Sponsor: Sen. Young, Todd (R-IN)
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Fund for Innovation and Success in Higher Education Act or the FINISH Act
This bill establishes and revises programs to increase access to higher education for high-need students, increase their graduation rates, improve the efficiency of postsecondary education, and evaluate higher education programs.
Specifically, the bill authorizes the Department of Education to
The bill also encourages IHEs to make all forms of postsecondary instructional content, including open educational resources (e.g., textbooks), widely available. Open educational resources either reside in the public domain or have been released under a copyright license that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and sharing with others.

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to support innovative, 
evidence-based approaches that improve the effectiveness and efficiency 
 of postsecondary education for all students, to allow pay for success 
initiatives, to provide additional evaluation authority, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fund for Innovation and Success in 
Higher Education Act'' or the ``FINISH Act''.

SEC. 2. INNOVATION GRANTS.

    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; and
            (2) by inserting after section 744 the following:

``SEC. 745. INNOVATION GRANTS.

    ``(a) Purposes.--The purposes of this section are to--
            ``(1) increase access to, retention in, and completion of 
        postsecondary education opportunities for high-need students;
            ``(2) address the adverse impacts on postsecondary 
        educational access and attainment for high-need students 
        brought about as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic;
            ``(3) identify and support the most effective interventions 
        to increase postsecondary degree attainment and career success 
        of high-need students, particularly such students who are 
        adversely impacted by the COVID-19 health pandemic; and
            ``(4) improve the efficiency of postsecondary education, 
        including by reducing the percentage of students enrolling in 
        postsecondary remediation and increasing the effectiveness of 
        postsecondary remediation.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means 
        any of the following:
                    ``(A) A State educational agency.
                    ``(B) A public or private nonprofit institution of 
                higher education.
                    ``(C) The Bureau of Indian Education.
                    ``(D) A consortium of any of the entities described 
                in subparagraphs (A) through (C).
                    ``(E) A partnership between a State educational 
                agency or public or private nonprofit institution of 
                higher education and one or more of the following:
                            ``(i) A nonprofit organization.
                            ``(ii) An intermediary organization.
                            ``(iii) A business.
                            ``(iv) A sponsor of a program receiving 
                        assistance under the National and Community 
                        Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.).
                            ``(v) A local educational agency.
            ``(2) First generation college student.--The term `first 
        generation college student' means--
                    ``(A) an individual both of whose parents did not 
                complete a baccalaureate degree; or
                    ``(B) in the case of any individual who regularly 
                resided with and received support from only one parent, 
                an individual whose only such parent did not complete a 
                baccalaureate degree.
            ``(3) High-need student.--The term `high-need student'--
                    ``(A) means a postsecondary student who is at risk 
                of educational failure or otherwise in need of special 
                assistance and support; and
                    ``(B) may include an adult learner, working 
                student, part-time student, student from a low-income 
                background, student of color, former foster youth, 
                first generation college student, student with a 
                disability, student who is deaf or blind or visually 
                impaired, or student who is an English learner.
            ``(4) Intermediary organization.--The term `intermediary 
        organization' means an entity--
                    ``(A) with strong skills and a track record of 
                success in--
                            ``(i) identifying effective interventions 
                        to address State, regional, or local problems;
                            ``(ii) managing high-quality subgrant 
                        processes; and
                            ``(iii) providing technical assistance and 
                        support to subgrantees to ensure quality and 
                        improve outcomes; and
                    ``(B) that utilizes an evidence-based 
                decisionmaking strategy when selecting high-performing 
                entities, on a competitive basis, to receive subgrants 
                in order to validate and grow effective interventions.
    ``(c) Program Authorized.--
            ``(1) In general.--From amounts made available to carry out 
        this section, the Secretary shall award grants, on a 
        competitive basis, to eligible entities to enable the eligible 
        entities to create, develop, implement, replicate, or scale 
        evidence-based and field-initiated innovations, including 
        through pay for success initiatives (as defined in section 
        124(a)), in order to improve postsecondary access and 
        completion or career success for high-need students.
            ``(2) Grants.--The grants awarded under this section shall 
        implement and evaluate programs, interventions, and strategies 
        that address the purposes described under subsection (a) and, 
        to the extent practicable based on the strength of the 
        applications, include--
                    ``(A) early-phase grants to fund the development, 
                implementation, and feasibility testing of a practice, 
                program, or intervention that prior research suggests 
                has promise, for the purpose of determining whether the 
                practice, program, or innovation can successfully 
                improve, for high-need students--
                            ``(i) access to, retention in, and 
                        completion of a postsecondary program of study; 
                        or
                            ``(ii) career success;
                    ``(B) mid-phase grants to fund implementation and a 
                rigorous evaluation of a practice, program, or 
                intervention that has been successfully implemented 
                under an early-phase grant described in subparagraph 
                (A) or another effort meeting similar criteria, for the 
                purpose of measuring (using existing administrative 
                data where possible) the impact and cost-effectiveness 
                of the practice, program, or intervention; or
                    ``(C) expansion grants to fund implementation and a 
                rigorous replication evaluation of a practice, program, 
                or intervention that has been found to produce sizable, 
                important impacts under a mid-phase grant described in 
                subparagraph (B) or another effort meeting similar 
                criteria, for the purposes of--
                            ``(i) determining whether such impacts can 
                        be successfully reproduced and sustained over 
                        time; and
                            ``(ii) identifying the conditions in which 
                        the practice, program, or initiative is most 
                        effective.
    ``(d) Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--An eligible entity desiring 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 require.
            ``(2) Contents.--An application submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall include--
                    ``(A) a description of the high-need students that 
                the eligible entity is proposing to serve through the 
                grant; and
                    ``(B) a description of the outcome measures, 
                including explicit outcome measures for high-need 
                students, that the eligible entity will use, in 
                addition to the outcome measures described in 
                subsection (f)(2)(A), to evaluate the success of the 
                grant.
    ``(e) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that--
            ``(1) propose to serve the largest number of high-need 
        students; or
            ``(2) serve a high proportion of students from one or more 
        school districts with a school district locale code of 31, 32, 
        33, 41, 42, or 43, as determined by the Secretary using the 
        school district locale codes in effect on December 1, 2019.
    ``(f) Evaluations.--Each recipient of a grant under this section 
shall conduct, and submit to the Secretary, a rigorous, independent 
evaluation of--
            ``(1) the effectiveness of the practice, program, or 
        intervention carried out under such grant;
            ``(2) the outcomes achieved by such grant, which shall 
        include--
                    ``(A) the numbers and percentages, in the aggregate 
                and disaggregated by each subgroup of students (as 
                defined in section 1111(c)(2) of the Elementary and 
                Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
                6311(c)(2))), of--
                            ``(i) students supported by the grant 
                        entering, persisting in, and completing 
                        postsecondary education;
                            ``(ii) such students enrolling in remedial 
                        coursework at the institution;
                            ``(iii) such students enrolling in and 
                        completing such remedial coursework; and
                            ``(iv) such students enrolling in and 
                        completing such remedial coursework and 
                        successfully completing first-year credit-
                        bearing coursework within 16 months of 
                        enrollment in an institution of higher 
                        education; and
                    ``(B) the recipient's performance on any other 
                outcome measures described in the application in 
                accordance with subsection (d)(2)(B); and
            ``(3) the activities carried out under such grant.
    ``(g) Reports.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of the Fund for Innovation and Success in Higher 
        Education Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary 
        shall prepare and submit to the authorizing committees a report 
        on the grants carried out under this section.
            ``(2) Contents.--Each report issued under this subsection 
        shall--
                    ``(A) include--
                            ``(i) information from the outcomes 
                        reported in the evaluations submitted under 
                        subsection (f) for the reporting period about 
                        the success of the grants supported under this 
                        section; and
                            ``(ii) the number of high-need students 
                        served through the grants under this section 
                        during the reporting period;
                    ``(B) disaggregate all data on student outcomes 
                related to the grants by, at a minimum, race and 
                income, and, to the extent practicable, any other 
                relevant student characteristic, as determined by the 
                Secretary; and
                    ``(C) consider--
                            ``(i) how the tiered-evidence grant 
                        structure described in subsection (c)(2) can be 
                        applied to other grant programs authorized 
                        under this Act, in order to strengthen those 
                        programs; and
                            ``(ii) how the evidence generated by the 
                        projects, programs, and interventions supported 
                        by grants under this section can inform how to 
                        carry out other grants authorized under this 
                        Act.
            ``(3) Public availability.--The Secretary shall make each 
        report issued under this subsection available to the public 
        through the website of the Department.''.

SEC. 3. OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES.

    Section 741(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1138(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(14) making all forms of postsecondary instructional 
        content widely available, which may include the use of open 
        educational resources (defined, for purpose of this paragraph, 
        as teaching, learning, or research resources that reside in the 
        public domain or have been released under a copyright license 
        that permits their free use, reuse, modification, and sharing 
        with others).''.

SEC. 4. PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVES.

    Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 124. PAY FOR SUCCESS INITIATIVES.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means a 
        partnership between--
                    ``(A) a private entity (which may include a private 
                nonprofit entity); and
                    ``(B) an institution of higher education, a 
                Federal, State, or local public entity, or a Tribal 
                entity.
            ``(2) Pay for success initiative.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `pay for success 
                initiative' means a performance-based grant, contract, 
                or other agreement--
                            ``(i) between an eligible entity and the 
                        Secretary or a grant recipient, as authorized 
                        under subsection (b)(1);
                            ``(ii) in which--
                                    ``(I) a commitment is made to pay 
                                the eligible entity for improved 
                                outcomes, including meaningful output 
                                measures strongly correlated to 
                                outcomes, that result in increased 
                                public value or social benefit to 
                                students and the public sector, such as 
                                increased effectiveness in improving 
                                outcomes, direct cost savings or cost 
                                avoidance, or increased public revenue; 
                                and
                                    ``(II) the entity providing the 
                                funds under the grant, contract, or 
                                agreement imposes minimal 
                                administrative requirements to allow 
                                for maximum flexibility to achieve 
                                increased public value and social 
                                benefit; and
                            ``(iii) that requires--
                                    ``(I) a study describing how the 
                                proposed intervention is based on 
                                evidence of effectiveness, which may be 
                                a study not exclusively developed for 
                                the specific grant, contract, or other 
                                agreement;
                                    ``(II) a rigorous, third-party 
                                evaluation that uses experimental or 
                                quasi-experimental design or other 
                                research methodologies that allow for 
                                the strongest possible causal 
                                inferences to determine whether the 
                                initiative has met its proposed 
                                outcomes;
                                    ``(III) an annual, publicly 
                                available report on the progress of the 
                                initiative; and
                                    ``(IV) that payments be made to the 
                                recipient of the grant, contract, or 
                                agreement only when agreed-upon 
                                outcomes are achieved, except as 
                                provided under paragraph (2) or (3) of 
                                subsection (b).
                    ``(B) Exclusion.--The term `pay for success 
                initiative' does not include any initiative that--
                            ``(i) reduces the benefits to a student or 
                        the obligations of an entity under this Act, 
                        the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 
                        et seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act 
                        of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the 
                        Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 
                        U.S.C. 1400 et seq.), or any other law; or
                            ``(ii) reduces services that an individual 
                        is entitled to receive under Federal, State, or 
                        local law.
    ``(b) Pay for Success Initiative Authority.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this Act and except as provided under subsection (c)--
                    ``(A) any recipient of a grant under this Act may 
                request to use grant funds to carry out a pay for 
                success initiative that accomplishes the objectives of 
                the grant and meets all requirements of the grant 
                (except to the extent a requirement is specifically 
                modified by the pay for success initiative), if such 
                use is proposed in the application or plan submitted 
                for such grant; and
                    ``(B) the Secretary may approve not more than 5 
                pilot demonstrations each fiscal year from the grant 
                applications or plans that contain a request to carry 
                out a pay for success initiative.
            ``(2) Use of funds for feasibility studies and rigorous 
        third-party evaluation.--If the Secretary, or a grant 
        recipient, is authorized to carry out a pay for success 
        initiative under paragraph (1), the Secretary or grant 
        recipient may use funds available for the pay for success 
        initiative--
                    ``(A) to conduct the feasibility study required 
                under subsection (a)(2)(A)(iii)(I) or the rigorous 
                third-party evaluation required under subsection 
                (a)(2)(A)(iii)(II); or
                    ``(B) to provide funds to the entity carrying out 
                the pay for success initiative for the costs of the 
                initial costs associated with starting the initiative.
            ``(3) Use of remaining funds.--Notwithstanding any other 
        provision of law, if the Secretary or a grant recipient is 
        carrying out a pay for success initiative under paragraph (1) 
        and the pay for success initiative has met or exceeded its 
        proposed outcomes, the Secretary or grant recipient may use any 
        funds remaining at the conclusion of the pay for success 
        initiative to enter into an additional agreement, through a 
        competitive process, with an eligible entity to expand capacity 
        under the pay for success initiative or to carry out additional 
        pilot demonstrations of pay for success initiatives.
    ``(c) Student Protections.--
            ``(1) No negative impact on student aid.--A pay for success 
        initiative shall not be supported with funds under this Act if 
        the pay for success initiative would adversely affect the 
        funding of, or student access to, individual student aid awards 
        made under section 401 or any other program supported under 
        this Act.
            ``(2) Noninclusion in determination of need.--A grant or 
        aid provided directly to a student under a pay for success 
        initiative supported with funds under this Act shall not be 
        considered in determining that student's need for grant, loan, 
        or work assistance under title IV of this Act, except that in 
        no case shall the total amount of student financial assistance 
        awarded to a student through a pay for success initiative and 
        under title IV exceed that student's cost of attendance, as 
        defined in section 472.
    ``(d) Availability of Funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision 
of this Act, any funds made available for a fiscal year to an entity 
for a pay for success initiative authorized under this section shall 
remain available until expended.''.

SEC. 5. EVALUATION.

    Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1011 et seq.), as amended by section 4, is further amended by adding at 
the end the following:

``SEC. 125. EVALUATION AUTHORITY.

    ``(a) Evaluation Reservation.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of 
        the Institute of Education Sciences, may, for each fiscal year, 
        reserve not more than 1 percent of the amount appropriated for 
        each discretionary grant program authorized under this Act 
        (except for the Federal Pell Grant program under section 401) 
        in order to rigorously and independently evaluate the 
        effectiveness and efficiency of the outcomes of all programs 
        authorized under this Act.
            ``(2) Effect on other requirements.--The amount reserved 
        under paragraph (1) shall be in addition to any other amounts 
        reserved for evaluation under this Act.
    ``(b) Evaluation Plan.--On a biennial basis, the Director of the 
Institute of Education Sciences shall develop, submit to the 
authorizing committees, and make publicly available on the website of 
the Department, an evaluation plan for the next 2 fiscal years that--
            ``(1) describes the specific activities that will be 
        carried out under subsection (a) for the 2-year period 
        applicable to the plan, and the timelines of such activities;
            ``(2) contains the results of the activities carried out 
        under subsection (a) for the most recent 2-year period; and
            ``(3) describes how programs authorized under this Act will 
        be regularly evaluated, including the outcome measures to be 
        used to evaluate each program.
    ``(c) Pooling Authority.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the 
Institute of Education Sciences--
            ``(1) may consolidate the funds reserved under subsection 
        (a) for purposes of carrying out the activities described in 
        subsection (b); and
            ``(2) shall not be required to evaluate each program 
        authorized under this Act each year.
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to conflict with or supercede any other evaluation 
requirement for a specific program or activity authorized under this 
Act.''.
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