# College Thriving Act: Plain Language Summary

The College Thriving Act would create a federal grant program to help colleges develop and teach a new course for all first-year students focused on life and success skills. The federal government would award grants to colleges that want to create these courses, with preference given to schools where at least half of students receive federal financial aid (Pell Grants). Each grant would last five years and provide funding for colleges to develop, test, and fully implement the course.

The course itself would be designed to help new students adjust to college life and develop practical skills they need to succeed. It would cover topics like managing stress and setbacks, time management, mental health and wellbeing, building healthy relationships, dealing with conflict, and connecting with campus resources like academic advisors and counseling services. The course would have a small class size, wouldn't be graded (or would be pass-fail), and would be offered to first-year students at the start of their first semester.

The program would roll out in phases over the five-year grant period. In year one, colleges would prepare by training instructors, getting approval from faculty and administration, and setting up the logistics. In year two, they'd run a pilot version of the course with a smaller group of students to test what works. Then in years three through five, colleges would offer the course to all first-year students, making improvements based on what they learned from the pilot. Throughout the process, colleges would evaluate how well the course is working and report their findings back to the Department of Education.

The bill would authorize $50 million in federal funding for this program. This money would help colleges that might not otherwise have resources to develop and staff these courses, particularly schools serving lower-income students who may need extra support adjusting to college.

College Thriving Act

Foushee, Valerie P.

College Thriving ActThis bill requires the Department of Education (ED) to award competitive grants to eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs) to carry out skills-for-success courses for all enrolled first-year students (including transfer students).&nbsp;Skills-for-success course means a course that (1) has a low student-to-teacher ratio, (2) is not graded or is pass-fail, and (3) provides skills for success in college in specified topics (e.g., time management skills, coping with stress, and goal setting).&nbsp;In awarding grants, ED must give priority to IHEs where at least 50% of all students enrolled in the most recent academic year were eligible to receive a Federal&nbsp;Pell Grant.