Mel’s Law

This proposal, called Mel’s Law, would require any college that uses federal student aid to have a clear policy for giving a degree to a student who dies before finishing school, if that student was enrolled and on track to graduate based on the school’s standards . Accrediting agencies would not be allowed to judge a college based on how many of these posthumous degrees it awards .

Key points:

• Who is affected: Colleges that take federal student aid; families of students who pass away while enrolled; college accrediting agencies .
• What changes: Colleges must certify they have a policy to award posthumous degrees to enrolled students who die and were in good academic standing; accreditors cannot count the number of such degrees against a school .
• When: The changes would start one year after the law is enacted.