S. 5665 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
America’s College Promise Act of 2026
Cosponsors: 6 (6 D, 0 R) · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-14
Introduced: 2026-09-30
Latest action (2026-09-30): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
What S. 5665 does, in plain terms
America's College Promise Act of 2026 This bill provides funding and establishes grant programs to expand access to higher education, including by providing free community college to students. Specifically, the bill establishes a program to waive resident tuition and fees for community college students. The Department of Education (ED) must award grants to states and tribal colleges and universities to pay the federal share of the program. As a condition of receiving such a grant, a state must (1) submit a plan to align the requirements for receiving a regular high school diploma with the requirements for entering credit-bearing coursework at community colleges; and (2) submit a plan to improve transfer pathways between institutions of higher education (IHEs), including by ensuring that associate degrees awarded by community colleges are fully transferable to four-year IHEs. Next, the bill directs ED to award grants to states and tribal colleges and universities for implementing evidence-based institutional reforms and innovative practices to improve student outcomes. In addition, ED must award grants to participating historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, and minority-serving institutions to waive or significantly reduce the first 60 credits of tuition and fees for low-income students.
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.
Constitution Index
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S. 5665 has not been graded yet. New measures with an official summary are graded daily under the published rubric.
What should pass
“VFA SI Solution”
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Federal-State Community College Partnership and Student Success Act
Generated by VFA SI Solutions
Make community college more affordable and improve student success, including added help for low-income students at historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, and other minority-serving institutions.
Bipartisan rationale: VFA assesses this draft honors Democratic priorities by expanding debt-free community college access and targeted tuition relief for low-income students at participating historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities, and minority-serving institutions. VFA assesses it honors Republican priorities by keeping participation voluntary with state control of education, requiring state matching funds, capping federal spending with no new tax, adding steady-progress standards, and ending the program automatically unless Congress votes to continue it.
Possible legislative path: In each chamber, support may come from members focused on college affordability and workforce training, while opposition may come from members concerned about federal cost, state control of education, and effects on private colleges.
Source limits: The full bill text and current law were not available for this draft, so exact eligibility rules, income definitions, tuition formulas, existing appeal rights, cost effects, and statutory conflicts should be verified at the Congress.gov bill page before action. Proposed student notices and appeals described here are new VFA additions, not confirmed existing rights.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 Amendment X Amendment V Article I, Section 9, Clause 7
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