Two U.S. senators on Wednesday proposed legislation that would give selective colleges that enroll relatively few low-income students (the bottom 5 percent of all institutions) four years to boost their enrollment numbers from this group or face paying a fee to continue being eligible for federal financial aid.
The bill also would use money from the fees to grant up to $8 million to colleges with mostly open admissions and low graduation rates (also bottom 5 percent) to improve their student outcomes. Colleges would need to opt in to be eligible for the completion money. If they failed to improve graduation rates, participating colleges could face a penalty and temporary loss of access to federal financial aid.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/09/22/senate-proposal-enroll-more-low-income-students-or-pay-fine