Both sides have signed this (Bill Ranking)
H.R. 468 · 119th Congress (2025-2026)
7 members · Left 5 · Center 1 · Right 1 (Bill Ranking)
| Sponsor | Rep. Velázquez, Nydia M. (D-NY) (Introduced 01/15/2025) |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Voting Record | Left · DW-NOMINATE -0.55 · measured from every roll-call vote this member has cast (voteview.com) (Sponsor Ranking) |
| Support |
LLLCLRR support across the spectrum: 7 members signed on (Bill Ranking) this bill: sponsor + current cosponsors, each once |
| Committees | House - Education and Workforce Committee |
| Latest Action | 01/15/2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. |
| Roll Call Votes | There have been no roll call votes |
| Source | view on congress.gov → |
Introduced in House (01/15/2025)
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 number of posthumous degrees awarded to deceased students by the IHE. (Under current law, an IHE must be accredited by an accrediting agency to participate in federal student aid programs.)
119 HR 468 IH: Mel’s Law U.S. House of Representatives 2025-01-15 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I119th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 468IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJanuary 15, 2025Ms. Velázquez (for herself, Ms. Malliotakis, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Tonko, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, and Mrs. McIver) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and WorkforceA BILLTo amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education, as a condition of participation in programs under title IV of such Act, to establish a policy to award posthumous degrees to certain deceased students, and for other purposes.1.Short titleThis Act may be cited as Mel’s Law.2.Requirement to award posthumous degrees(a)Posthumous degreesSection 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 criteriaSection 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 dateThe amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.
The bill's own words, from our database (synced from the GPO BILLS XML); paragraph breaks added at the bill's section boundaries, nothing else changed.
| Date | Chamber | All Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 01/15/2025 | Library of Congress | Introduced in House |
| 01/15/2025 | Library of Congress | Introduced in House |
| 01/15/2025 | House floor actions | Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. |
| Title Type | Title |
|---|---|
| Display Title | Mel’s Law |
| Official Title as Introduced | To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education, as a condition of participation in programs under title IV of such Act, to establish a policy to award posthumous degrees to certain deceased students, and for other purposes. |
| Short Title(s) as Introduced | Mel’s Law |
There are no amendments to this bill.
* = Original cosponsor
| Committee | Activity |
|---|---|
| House - Education and Workforce Committee | 01/15/2025 Referred To |
No related bill information was received for H.R. 468.
Policy Area: Education
All data on this page comes from our own database (legislation.congress_* tables), synced daily from the GPO govinfo BILLSTATUS and BILLS collections. Formatted after congress.gov; nothing is generated. Member placement is their DW-NOMINATE score (voteview.com, Lewis et al.) - a measurement of roll-call voting behavior, not our judgement. Buckets: Left below −0.50 · Lean Left to −0.25 · Center to +0.25 · Lean Right to +0.50 · Right above +0.50. The bill's Support meter aggregates the people who signed the bill - sponsor and current cosponsors, each counted once - nothing else.