College Equity Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2301 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide capacity-building assistance to institutions of higher education to examine and address inequities in college student access and success, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 24, 2021 Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide capacity-building assistance to institutions of higher edu- cation to examine and address inequities in college stu- dent access and success, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Equity Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that institutions of higher 7 education should examine institutional policies related to 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2301 IS admissions, financial aid, remedial education, support 1 services, coursework, faculty, and staff that may have dif- 2 ferential impacts on historically underrepresented stu- 3 dents. 4 SEC. 3. EQUITY GRANTS. 5 Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 6 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 7 the following: 8 ‘‘PART F—EQUITY GRANTS 9 ‘‘SEC. 791. EQUITY PLANNING GRANTS. 10 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 12 planning grants to institutions of higher education 13 to encourage institutions to conduct equity audits. 14 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A grant award under this 15 section shall be 2 years in duration. 16 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM GRANT AWARD.—A grant award 17 under this section shall be in an amount that is not 18 less than $100,000. 19 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—A institution of higher edu- 20 cation that desires to receive a planning grant under this 21 section shall submit an application to the Secretary at 22 such time, in such form, and containing such information, 23 as the Secretary may require, including not less than the 24 following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2301 IS ‘‘(1) A narrative statement with sufficient detail 1 regarding how the institution intends to conduct the 2 equity audit and that provides examples of certain 3 policies, practices, and trends the institution intends 4 to examine. 5 ‘‘(2) A description of all relevant offices, staff, 6 and student representation who will be involved in 7 implementing the equity audit, including demo- 8 graphic makeup of staff who will be involved in im- 9 plementing the equity audit, disaggregated by race, 10 gender, tenure status, and rank. 11 ‘‘(3) A description of what specific data, enroll- 12 ment data, and outcome measures the institution 13 will examine and for which student populations, 14 disaggregated by gender, race, ethnicity, national or- 15 igin, income, criminal justice background, military 16 service history, age, first-generation student status, 17 students with disabilities, student parents, and 18 transfer students. 19 ‘‘(c) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—An institution of high- 20 er education that receives a planning grant under this sec- 21 tion to conduct an equity audit shall undertake a thorough 22 internal review of the institution’s policies, practices, and 23 resources to identify areas that might produce gaps in ac- 24 cess and outcomes by gender, race, ethnicity, national ori- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2301 IS gin, income, criminal justice background, military service 1 history, or age, or for first-generation students, students 2 with disabilities, student parents, and transfer students. 3 The equity audit shall examine, with respect to the institu- 4 tion of higher education, the following: 5 ‘‘(1) Admissions policies, including the demo- 6 graphics of the State or region where the institution 7 is located, the demographics of communities where 8 the institution recruits, the secondary schools from 9 which enrolled students have graduated, the makeup 10 of students admitted through early admissions, early 11 decision, demonstrated interest, athletic preference 12 admissions, and legacy admissions, the use of race, 13 standardized tests, questions about citizenship sta- 14 tus, and questions about criminal convictions in ad- 15 missions processes, the use of application fees and 16 waivers, and the treatment and admission of trans- 17 fer students and credit transfer policies, including 18 articulation agreements. 19 ‘‘(2) Outreach, communication, and other inter- 20 actions with students who accept admission to the 21 institution to ensure they officially enroll when the 22 school term begins, including interactions to encour- 23 age students to accept their offer of admission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2301 IS ‘‘(3) The financial aid awarding policies and 1 processes, including presentation of offer letters that 2 clearly state the cost of attendance and make clear 3 the difference between types of aid to students, the 4 financial aid appeal process, the process of handling 5 student accounts if funds are delayed due to 6 verification, institutional grant aid policies (includ- 7 ing the distribution of need-based and non-need- 8 based grants), the process of distribution of campus- 9 based aid, the availability and distribution of emer- 10 gency aid, the availability or usage of in-kind assist- 11 ance programs, and the process of which students 12 receive institutional support and which students lose 13 institutional support and when that occurs. 14 ‘‘(4) Access to, and participation in, pre-college 15 and first-year experience offerings, such as orienta- 16 tion and bridge programs and advising. 17 ‘‘(5) Educational supports, such as remedial 18 placement and success, gateway and intro course 19 placement and success, academic resource center 20 usage, advisor to student ratios, and how students 21 are differentially affected by satisfactory academic 22 progress policies. 23 ‘‘(6) Student support services, including demo- 24 graphics of staff and students served by academic or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2301 IS career advising, child care centers, mentoring pro- 1 grams, and mental health and counseling services. 2 ‘‘(7) Access to, and availability of, identity- 3 based centers, staff, academic departments, and ex- 4 tracurricular organization for students of color, 5 LGBTQ students, veterans, and other students. 6 ‘‘(8) Access to, and participation in, small aca- 7 demic programs, STEM programs, study abroad, 8 undergraduate research opportunities, internships, 9 volunteer programs, and civic service programs. 10 ‘‘(9) Diversity among administrators, advisers, 11 faculty overall, adjunct faculty, and teachers of core 12 and introductory-level courses, including pay equity, 13 career advancement, and tenure, and the demo- 14 graphics of faculty teaching historically underrep- 15 resented students. 16 ‘‘(10) Hiring processes for administrators, ad- 17 visers, faculty overall, adjunct faculty, and teachers 18 of core and introductory-level courses. 19 ‘‘(11) Physical accessibility on the grounds of 20 the institution and programmatic accessibility of 21 campus services, activities, and programs. 22 ‘‘(12) Demographics of students hired by em- 23 ployers who recruit on campus for internships or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2301 IS employment or that the institution has partnerships 1 with in work-based programs. 2 ‘‘(13) Any other policy, practice, or trend the 3 institution deems relevant to identify areas that 4 might produce gaps in access or outcomes, such as 5 disciplinary fines and billing practices that lead to 6 institutional holds or preventing students from en- 7 rolling. 8 ‘‘(d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—An institution of 9 higher education that receives a grant under this section 10 shall submit a report to the Secretary detailing findings 11 of the equity audit not later than 90 days after the date 12 that the grant period ends and make the report available 13 on the website of the institution. 14 ‘‘SEC. 792. EQUITY IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. 15 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 ‘‘(1) EDUCATIONAL AND RELATED EXPENDI- 17 TURES.— 18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘educational 19 and related expenditures’ means, with respect 20 to an institution of higher education for an aca- 21 demic year, the total amount that is equal to 22 the sum of— 23 ‘‘(i) the amount expended by the insti- 24 tution of higher education in the academic 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2301 IS year for instruction and student services, 1 and 2 ‘‘(ii) the amount determined under 3 subparagraph (B) with respect to the insti- 4 tution of higher education for the academic 5 year. 6 ‘‘(B) EDUCATION SHARE.—With respect to 7 an institution of higher education for an aca- 8 demic year, the amount determined under this 9 subparagraph is equal to the product of— 10 ‘‘(i) the percentage that is equal to— 11 ‘‘(I) the amount expended by the 12 institution of higher education in the 13 academic year for instruction and stu- 14 dent services, divided by 15 ‘‘(II) the amount expended by 16 the institution of higher education in 17 the academic year for instruction, stu- 18 dent services, research, and public 19 service, and 20 ‘‘(ii) the amount expended by the in- 21 stitution of higher education in the aca- 22 demic year for instruction, student serv- 23 ices, and operation maintenance. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2301 IS ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 1 tity’ means an institution of higher education that 2 has received an equity planning grant under section 3 791. 4 ‘‘(3) FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT UNDER- 5 GRADUATE STUDENTS.—The term ‘full-time equiva- 6 lent undergraduate students’ means the sum of the 7 number of undergraduate students enrolled full time 8 at an institution of higher education, plus the full- 9 time equivalent of the number of undergraduate stu- 10 dents enrolled part time (determined on the basis of 11 the quotient of the sum of the credit hours of all 12 part-time students divided by 12) at such institu- 13 tion. 14 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award, 16 on a competitive basis, implementation grants to en- 17 able eligible entities to develop and execute an im- 18 provement plan to address the findings of the equity 19 audit. 20 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF GRANT SIZE.—The 21 Secretary shall award implementation grants under 22 this section in an amount based on— 23 ‘‘(A) the eligible entity’s enrollment size; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2301 IS ‘‘(B) the severity of equity audit findings, 1 including low overall performance outcomes or 2 large performance gaps between groups of stu- 3 dents. 4 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—A grant award under this 5 section shall be 5 years in duration. 6 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that de- 8 sires to receive an implementation grant under this 9 section shall submit an application to the Secretary 10 at such time, in such form, and containing such in- 11 formation, as the Secretary may require. 12 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted 13 under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 14 ‘‘(A) Demographic information and data 15 about the eligible entity, including a description 16 of the entity’s mission, history, enrollment size, 17 enrollment by race or ethnicity, the student 18 population it serves, and educational and re- 19 lated expenditures. 20 ‘‘(B) A description of equity audit find- 21 ings, including the gaps in outcomes identified 22 and for which group of students, including by 23 race or ethnicity. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2301 IS ‘‘(C) An improvement plan that includes a 1 description of the specific activities the eligible 2 entity will carry out with the funds made avail- 3 able by such grant to address the specific gaps 4 or problems identified by the equity audit. 5 ‘‘(D) A description of how the eligible enti- 6 ty will annually monitor and assess its progress 7 in closing achievement gaps. 8 ‘‘(E) A description of the level of institu- 9 tional commitment and which institutional lead- 10 ers and offices will be involved in the planning, 11 improvement, and assessment process. 12 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—An application submitted 13 under paragraph (1) shall receive priority based on 14 the following: 15 ‘‘(A) The average educational and related 16 expenditures per full-time equivalent under- 17 graduate student of the eligible entity is low in 18 comparison with the average educational and 19 related expenditures per full-time equivalent un- 20 dergraduate student of institutions that offer 21 similar instruction. 22 ‘‘(B) The eligible entity demonstrates low 23 overall performance outcomes or large perform- 24 ance gaps between groups of students and sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 07:35 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2301.IS S2301 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2301 IS mits additional written statements from select 1 executive-level institutional leaders, including 2 members of any governing board of trustees, to 3 demonstrate their interest and commitment to 4 executing the improvement plan. 5 ‘‘(C) The eligible entity has an enrollment 6 of students not less than 30 percent of whom 7 are eligible to receive a Federal Pell Grant. 8 ‘‘(d) RE [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]