Student Aid Improvement Act of 2019
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Student Aid Improvement Act of 2019
This bill revises provisions related to federal financial student aid.
Specifically, the bill replaces the expected family contribution metric with a student aid index used to assess a family's financial need and approximate their financial resources to contribute to a student's higher education expenses.
The bill also revises the process for filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and it removes certain eligibility requirements related to drug-related offenses and registration with the Selective Service System.
The bill reauthorizes the Pell Grant program through FY2021, establishes a new eligibility formula for Pell Grants, and increases the maximum Pell Grant award. The Department of Education (ED) must conduct certain activities to educate students and their families about Pell Grant eligibility at a younger age. In addition, the bill expands Pell Grant eligibility to (1) certain incarcerated individuals; and (2) students enrolled in short-term programs that provide training in high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or occupations.
ED must develop a standard terminology and format for financial aid offers, which shall provide certain information such as costs, grant and scholarship aid, annual net price, work-study, loans, and accepting or declining aid.
In addition, the bill provides that a borrower on a 10-year standard loan repayment plan shall not be subject to a maximum monthly payment or any other maximum monthly payment.
Further, the bill makes funding for historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions permanent.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on September 26, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 26, 2019: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced it on September 26, 2019. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 26, 2019, 2541 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2541 days ago, on September 26, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers