US Congress · H.R. 468 · In committee

Mel’s Law

Introduced

Moved

Reached a final decision

Introduced 2025-01-15

Derived from the official record below.

Officially: “Mel’s Law” Read the full text

Education

What it does

Mel's Law This bill requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in federal student aid programs to establish policies for awarding posthumous degrees. Specifically, the IHE must certify that it has a policy to award a posthumous degree to a deceased student who (1) was enrolled in a degree program at the IHE; (2) died prior to completing such program; and (3) at the time of death, was in academic standing consistent with the requirements for graduation from such program (as determined by the IHE). The bill prohibits accrediting agencies from taking into consideration the

Summary by the Congressional Research Service, from the official record. Plain-language version below. Not legal advice.

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1Short title

This section would give the Act the short title "Mel's Law."

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Official text, verbatim from the record

1. Short title This Act may be cited as Mel’s Law .

2Requirement to award posthumous degrees

This section would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965. As a condition of participating in title IV federal student aid programs, an institution of higher education would have to certify that it has established a policy to award posthumous degrees to deceased students who were enrolled in a degree program at the institution, died before completing that program, and at the time of death were in academic standing consistent with the requirements for graduation from that program, as determined by the institution. All three of these conditions would have to be met for a student to qualify. The section would also require that when an accrediting agency or association sets the standards it uses to accredit an institution, those standards cannot take into account the number of posthumous degrees the institution has awarded to deceased students. The amendments made by this section would take effect on the date that is one year after the date this Act is enacted.

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Official text, verbatim from the record

2. Requirement to award posthumous degrees (a) Posthumous degrees 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: (30) The institution certifies that the institution has established a policy to award posthumous degrees to deceased students who— (A) had been enrolled in a degree program at the institution; (B) died prior to completing such program; and (C) at the time of death, were in academic standing consistent with the requirements for graduation from such program, as determined by the institution. . (b) Accreditation criteria Section 496(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1099b(a) ) is amended— (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through (8) as paragraphs (7) through (9), respectively; and (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following: (6) the standards for accreditation of the agency or association do not take into consideration the number of posthumous degrees awarded by the institution to deceased students; . (c) Effective date The amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.

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Where it is

Introduced · 2025-01-15

In the House.

Committee, then floor votes in both chambers · next · the next step

Official documents

Full bill textread it on this site, version ih (Introduced in House), as published by GovInfo

official

The on-site text is shown verbatim from the GovInfo publication, captured 2026-07-12. The same version at GovInfo.

The numbers

of bills introduced became law in the 118th Congress, 2023 to 2024 (n=16,213)

sponsors, out of 218 needed to pass

Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record. Last action: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. (2025-01-15).