What This Bill Does
This bill would let the Secretary of Education award grants to build evidence-based student success programs aimed at improving participation, retention, and completion for high-need students. The focus is on helping students who face the biggest barriers to finishing college or other postsecondary programs, such as low-income students, first-generation students, and others with greater academic or financial risk. The grants would support programs that can show measurable results, rather than one-size-fits-all interventions. In practical terms, it creates a federal funding stream for colleges and related partners to expand advising, tutoring, and other completion-focused supports.
- Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants.
- Funds evidence-based student success programs.
- Targets high-need students.
- Aims to increase participation, retention, and completion rates.
- Would support colleges and other institutions serving at-risk students.
Who This Bill Affects
If you are a student at a college or university that wins one of these grants, you could see more advising, tutoring, mentoring, or emergency support aimed at helping you stay enrolled and finish. The biggest effect would be for high-need students who are most at risk of stopping out, since the bill is designed to improve retention and completion rather than change tuition or loan terms for everyone. If your school does not receive a grant, the direct effect on you would be limited.
See how this bill affects you — sign in for a personalized analysisWho Supports & Opposes This
- Community colleges and public universities These schools often serve the largest share of high-need students and say targeted federal grants can help them expand advising, tutoring, and completion supports that improve graduation rates.
- Low-income and first-generation students Students facing financial and academic barriers benefit from programs that keep them enrolled, reduce stop-outs, and make it more likely they finish a degree or credential.
- Higher-education administrators focused on outcomes Evidence-based grants reward programs that can demonstrate results, which can help institutions use federal dollars more efficiently and build stronger student-support systems.
- Fiscal conservatives They may argue the bill expands federal spending and adds another grant program without guaranteeing long-term results or clear limits on administrative costs.
- Institutions with limited grant capacity Smaller colleges may worry that competitive grants favor schools with stronger administrative staffs, leaving the neediest campuses less able to access the money.
- Advocates for local control in education They may prefer states and colleges decide how to support students rather than having Washington steer program design through federal grant criteria.
Key Implications
-
““award grants to create evidence-based student success programs””
The Education Department would be able to fund programs that colleges can show are backed by evidence, which encourages interventions with measurable outcomes rather than general student services.
-
““increase participation, retention, and completion rates””
The goal is not just to get students enrolled, but to keep them in school and help them finish, which is where many students face the biggest barriers.
-
““high-need students””
The benefits are aimed at students who face greater obstacles to success, such as financial hardship, first-generation status, or other risk factors that make persistence harder.
-
““Secretary of Education””
This places the program under federal administration, meaning the department would set grant rules, evaluate applications, and oversee how funds are used.
Latest Status
June 11, 2026
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Related Bills
Take Action
Get more from BillBoard
Free tools to understand, respond to, and track this bill.
Ask AI about this billData sourced from api.congress.gov.