Sec. 201. Pathways to student success for historically Black colleges and universities
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/bill/115/s/2483/is/section-201·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
From amounts appropriated under section 204(a) for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall award grants to participating 4-year historically Black colleges or universities that meet the requirements of subsection
(b)to— encourage students to enroll and successfully complete a bachelor’s degree at institutions eligible under subsection (b); provide incentives to community college students to transfer to institutions eligible under subsection
(b)through strong transfer pathways to complete a bachelor’s degree program; and support institutions eligible under subsection
(b)to better serve new and existing students by engaging in reforms and innovations designed to improve completion rates and other student outcomes. To be eligible to receive a grant under the program under this section, an institution shall be a historically Black college or university that— has a student body of which not less than 35 percent are low-income students; commits to maintaining or adopting and implementing promising and evidence-based institutional reforms and innovative practices to improve the completion rates and other student outcomes, such as— providing comprehensive academic and student support services, including mentoring and advising; providing accelerated learning opportunities and degree pathways, such as dual or concurrent enrollment programs and pathways to graduate and professional degree programs; advancing distance and competency-based education; partnering with employers, industry, nonprofit associations, and other groups to provide opportunities to advance learning outside the classroom, including work-based learning opportunities such as internships or apprenticeships or programs designed to improve inter-cultural development and personal growth, such as foreign exchange and study abroad programs; reforming remedial education, especially for low-income students, first generation college students, adult students, and other underrepresented students; or implementing course redesigns of high-enrollment courses to improve student outcomes and reduce cost; sets performance goals for improving student outcomes for the duration of the grant; and if receiving a grant for transfer students, has articulation agreements with community colleges at the national, State, or local level to ensure that community college credits can fully transfer to the institution. For the first year that an eligible institution, as described in subsection (b), participates in the grant program under this section and subject to paragraph (3), such eligible institution shall receive a grant in an amount based on the product of— the actual cost of tuition and fees at the eligible institution in such year (referred to in this section as the per-student rebate); multiplied by the number of eligible students enrolled in the eligible institution for the preceding year. For each succeeding year after the first year of the grant program under this section, each eligible institution, as described in subsection (b), that participate in the grant program shall receive a grant in the amount determined under paragraph
(1)for such year, except that in no case shall the amount of the per-student rebate for an eligible institution increase by more than 3 percent as compared to the amount of such rebate for the preceding year. No eligible institution, as described in subsection (b), participating in the grant program under this section shall receive a per-student rebate amount for any year that is greater than the national average of annual tuition and fees at public 4-year institutions of higher education for such year, as determined by the Secretary. During the first year of participation in the grant program under this section, no eligible institution, as described in subsection (b), may increase tuition and fees at a rate greater than any annual increase at the eligible institution in the previous 5 years. An eligible institution, as described in subsection (b), that desires a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. Funds awarded under this section to an eligible institution, as described in subsection (b), shall be used to waive or significantly reduce tuition and fees for eligible students in an amount of not more than up to the annual per-student rebate amount for each student, for not more than the first 60 credits an eligible student enrolls in the eligible institution.