PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 21, 2016
Access, Success, and Persistence in Reshaping Education Act of 2016 or the ASPIRE Act
This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 by requiring the Department of Education (ED) to rank institutions of higher education based on the percentage of first-time, full-time students who receive Pell Grants and are enrolled at the institutions. The institutions in the bottom 5% must improve the enrollment of those students by specific deadlines or pay a fee-per-student penalty.
Additionally, ED must rank institutions of higher education based on the percentage of first-time, full-time students who enroll at the school and graduate within 6 years. The bill gives institutions in the bottom 5% the option of receiving funding to improve student graduation rates. Those institutions must improve those rates by specific deadlines or pay a penalty.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
The bill establishes consumer warning requirements for institutions with low enrollment or graduation rates.
ED must establish: (1) grant programs for improving graduation rates, and (2) a bonus program for providing nonfinancial rewards to institutions of higher education that make college more affordable and increase college access and success for low-income or working class students and moderate-income students.
ED must collect the penalty fees and use them to fund the grant and award program.
People & committees
Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] · D–DE
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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