H.R. 3412: Flexibility to Innovate for College Affordability Act

113th Congress · introduced 2013-10-30 · Education · Latest: Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2013-10-30 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Gowdy, Trey [R-SC-4] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Flexibility to Innovate for College Affordability Act

Plain summary

Flexibility to Innovate for College Affordability Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to establish the Higher Education Regulatory Reform Task Force to prepare a report, that is to be submitted to Congress and made available on a publicly accessible website, on federal regulatory requirements for institutions of higher education (IHEs). Requires the report to contain: (1) a list of rules that are determined to be outmoded, duplicative, ineffective, or excessively burdensome; (2) an analysis of how the costs of such rules outweigh their benefits; (3) recommendations to consolidate, modify, simplify, or repeal such rules and a description of the justification for and impact of such recommendations; and (4) recommendations on establishing a permanent entity to review new regulatory requirements affecting IHEs. Requires the President to submit to Congress a legislative proposal for carrying out some or all of the recommendations contained in the report. Establishes congressional procedures to expedite consideration of the President's proposal. Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary to waive certain statutory or regulatory requirements under title IV to allow IHEs participating in the experimental sites initiative to increase the maximum federal Pell Grant and loan award amounts for students in proportion to the amount that their workload exceeds the minimum full-time academic workload. (The experimental sites initiative was established to test the effectiveness of providing participating IHEs with statutory and regulatory flexibility in awarding and disbursing student aid under title IV.) Authorizes the waiver of statutory and regulatory requirements under title IV that might bias the results of experiments carried out by IHEs under the initiative to provide title IV assistance to: (1) students enrolled in remedial courses or competency-based learning programs, which are not accredited but are approved by the IHE and provide competencies for success in certain programs of study at the IHE; (2) students to pay test fees if the students could be awarded academic credit for prior learning based on the test results; and (3) secondary school students enrolled in courses at the IHE. Requires the IHEs to demonstrate to the Secretary that these waivers would reduce the total cost of attendance for participating students.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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A “Nay” vote

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Flexibility to Innovate for College Affordability Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Gowdy, Trey [R-SC-4] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Peter Welch (D-VT)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (4)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Ballot initiative: A proposed law or constitutional amendment that citizens place on the ballot by gathering enough voter signatures, so voters decide it directly. About half the states allow some form of it.
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.
Statute: A written law passed by a legislature. A statute can be changed by a later law; changing a constitution needs an amendment.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-113hr3412.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/113/hr>

Record fed-us-cong113-hr3412 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong113 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong113