Colleges could compete for grants to improve college preparation classes

Colleges could compete for grants of at least $500,000 to improve classes that prepare students for college-level work. Congress would need to provide funding. Recipients would generally contribute nonfederal money equal to 10% of their grant. The match would not apply to tribal colleges or colleges in Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, or Palau. Each grant would last five years. The proposed funding level is $162.5 million a year for fiscal years 2027–2032.

Students could qualify for federal student grants or loans while enrolled in participating remedial programs. These programs would prepare students for a first undergraduate degree or certificate, or provide English instruction needed to use existing knowledge and skills. Students would need to enroll in a remedial program supported through the proposed grants. The aid permission would cover up to two academic years of enrollment.

Grant recipients would report individual student records annually to federal education officials. Reports would cover current and former students in grant-funded remedial programs. Selling the collected data would be banned. Identifying information could not be used for law enforcement or other action against students, including debt collection and immigration enforcement. Deliberately disclosing identifying information without legal permission could bring a fine of up to $5,000, up to five years in prison, or both. Federal officers or employees convicted of that disclosure offense would lose their jobs. Annual reporting would continue throughout the grant and for five years after it ends.