Sponsors (2)
The bill expands access to and transparency around credit-for-prior-learning—helping many adult and low-income students finish credentials faster and with some financial support—but it raises administrative and reporting costs for institutions, risks inconsistent credit decisions and privacy issues, and may increase federal spending.
Adult and nontraditional students can earn academic credit for verified prior learning, potentially shortening time-to-degree, lowering tuition, and accelerating workforce entry.
Students (including low-income and Pell recipients) and policymakers gain greater transparency because institutions must publicly disclose prior-learning assessment standards and publish disaggregated averages, helping prospective students compare programs and choose colleges that value prior experience.
Students can receive up to $2,000 per award year to cover costs (including test fees) for credit-for-prior-learning assessments, reducing out-of-pocket barriers to earning college credit.
Colleges, accreditors, and financial-aid offices will face substantial administrative, compliance, and reporting burdens (updating COA, creating/validating assessments, documenting standards, and submitting disaggregated data), raising institutional costs and implementation complexity.
Inconsistent implementation or strict expert-defined assessment thresholds could produce unequal credit-award decisions across institutions and exclude some prior experiences from qualifying, worsening equity and potentially lengthening time-to-degree for some students; the $2,000 cap may also leave certain assessment costs uncovered.
Taxpayers and federal student aid programs could face higher spending if many students use the $2,000 allowance, increasing federal aid outlays.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Adds a refundable allowance up to $2,000 to the cost of attendance for prior-learning assessment fees, defines eligible prior-learning assessments, requires accreditor review of assessment standards, and adds disaggregated College Navigator reporting.
Official title: Amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include in the calculation of cost of attendance an allowance for costs for prior learning assessments.
Introduced June 24, 2026 by Amy Klobuchar · Last progress June 24, 2026
Requires colleges and accreditors to recognize and report credit awarded for learning gained outside higher education. It adds up to a $2,000 annual allowance to the federal “cost of attendance” to cover assessment costs, defines what counts as an eligible credit-for-prior-learning assessment, requires accreditors to verify institutions have public, expert-based prior-learning assessment standards, and directs the Department of Education to publish disaggregated data on who receives such credit and how many credits are awarded. The bill takes effect July 1, 2027, and applies across the Higher Education Act’s student-aid definitions, accreditation reviews, and College Navigator reporting requirements; it includes an inflation adjustment for the assessment allowance after the 2025–2026 award year.