Mel’s Law in plain language
1: Short title
This section would give the Act the short title "Mel's Law."
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as Mel’s Law .
2: Requirement 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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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.