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To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education, as a condition of participating in programs under title IV of such Act, to not terminate or otherwise alter the enrollment status of a student due to a disruption of the student's Federal student financial aid under such title caused by a lapse in appropriations.
Summary
This bill requires colleges and universities that participate in federal student financial aid programs to maintain students' enrollment status during a government shutdown. The bill prohibits these institutions from terminating or otherwise altering a student's enrollment status due to disruptions in federal student financial aid caused by a lapse in appropriations. This requirement applies as a condition for institutions to participate in title IV federal student aid programs.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
19 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Del. Plaskett, Stacey E. [D-VI-At Large] (D-VI)
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN)
- Rep. Craig, Angie [D-MN-2] (D-MN)
- Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (D-PA)
- Rep. Fields, Cleo [D-LA-6] (D-LA)
- Rep. Foushee, Valerie P. [D-NC-4] (D-NC)
- Rep. Goldman, Daniel S. [D-NY-10] (D-NY)
- Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (D-CA)
- Rep. Jackson, Jonathan L. [D-IL-1] (D-IL)
- Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4] (D-GA)
- Rep. Kennedy, Timothy M. [D-NY-26] (D-NY)
- Rep. Landsman, Greg [D-OH-1] (D-OH)
- Rep. Lee, Summer L. [D-PA-12] (D-PA)
- Rep. McIver, LaMonica [D-NJ-10] (D-NJ)
- Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] (D-MI)
- Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] (D-AL)
- Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI)
- Rep. Velázquez, Nydia M. [D-NY-7] (D-NY)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Shomari Figures’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $50,975
- CUNNINGHAM BOUNDS LLC $42,900
- BALL HEALTHCARE SERVICES $13,200
- BCBSAL $9,900
- KDF STRATEGIES $9,900
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Shomari Figures → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Oct 28, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- Oct 28, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 28, 2025
Mr. Figures (for himself, Mr. Fields, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mrs. McIver, Ms. Norton, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Carson, Mrs. Foushee, Ms. Craig, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, Ms. Plaskett, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Kennedy of New York, and Mr. Goldman of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education, as a condition of participating in programs under title IV of such Act, to not terminate or otherwise alter the enrollment status of a student due to a disruption of the student’s Federal student financial aid under such title caused by a lapse in appropriations.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Guaranteeing Retention and Aid During Shutdowns Act” or the “GRAD Act”.
SEC. 2. PRESERVING STUDENT ENROLLMENT STATUS DURING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.
Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(30) The institution will not terminate or otherwise alter the enrollment status of a student due to a disruption of the student’s Federal student financial aid under title IV caused by a lapse in appropriations.”. <all>
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