How would the Aim Higher Act and the PROSPER Act affect accountability?

On July 24, 2018, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) of the U.S. House Committee on Education & the Workforce introduced the Aim Higher Act, a bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA).

The Democratic proposal follows the December 2017 PROSPER Act (Promoting Opportunity, Success, and Prosperity through Education Reform or H.R. 4508), an HEA reauthorization bill introduced by House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC).

Both bills would revise several of the major accountability components of the Higher Education Act.

The chart below compares significant accountability provisions in current law, the Aim Higher Act, and the PROSPER Act, highlighting changes to key accountability metrics that impact the way the federal government measures institutional effectiveness.

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