HR-9957-119
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Sponsored by Jahana Hayes (D-CT)
What it does
This bill would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require colleges and universities to publicly report graduation and completion rates broken down by four student categories: first-time full-time, first-time part-time, non-first-time full-time, and non-first-time part-time students. It would also require reporting at multiple time thresholds — 100%, 150%, 200%, and 300% of the normal program length — and mandate that all percentages be displayed consistently and with equal visibility on consumer-facing disclosures.
Who benefits
Prospective college students and their families, who would gain more detailed information when comparing institutions. Part-time students and transfer students (non-first-time enrollees), who are currently underrepresented in standard graduation rate metrics. First-generation college students and working adults who are more likely to enroll part-time or transfer. Researchers, journalists, and policy analysts who study higher education outcomes. Community colleges and institutions that serve non-traditional students, whose completion rates may look more favorable under expanded metrics. Employers who use graduation rates as a proxy for institutional quality.
Who is hurt
Colleges and universities that would bear new administrative and compliance costs to track and report the additional data categories. Institutions whose expanded metrics reveal lower-than-reported completion rates for non-traditional student populations, potentially affecting enrollment and reputation. The Department of Education, which would need to update its College Scorecard and related systems to accommodate the new reporting format. Institutions with small enrollment in specific student subcategories may face data suppression challenges or statistical unreliability in reported rates.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that current federal graduation rate metrics — which track only first-time, full-time students — exclude roughly 40% of undergraduates, according to National Student Clearinghouse data, systematically hiding the outcomes of part-time and transfer students who are disproportionately lower-income and minority. They contend that expanding disclosure to these groups gives consumers an accurate, complete picture of institutional performance and enables students to make better-informed enrollment decisions, potentially reducing student debt taken on at low-completion institutions.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that adding multiple new student subcategories and time thresholds will produce a flood of data points that confuse rather than inform prospective students, particularly those without college-educated family members to help interpret the metrics. They contend that the compliance burden falls disproportionately on under-resourced community colleges and minority-serving institutions — the very schools that serve the most non-traditional students — and that without adequate federal funding to support new data infrastructure, the mandate may strain institutional capacity without meaningfully improving student decision-making.
Constitutional context
This bill operates under Congress's Spending Clause authority (Art. I, §8, cl. 1) to attach conditions to federal higher education funding through the Higher Education Act. Under South Dakota v. Dole (1987), such conditions are permissible if they are related to the federal interest in the program and do not cross the line from incentive to coercion. A disclosure requirement tied to existing HEA participation is well within established conditional spending doctrine and does not raise significant constitutional concerns.
Checks and balances
Congress expands the disclosure mandate; the Department of Education gains implementation authority to standardize display formats; institutions retain operational autonomy but must comply as a condition of federal financial aid participation.
Historical precedent
The Student Right-to-Know Act of 1990 first required colleges to publicly disclose graduation rates for federal financial aid recipients, establishing the framework this bill would expand.