1. Short title This Act may be cited as the College Equity Act of 2019 . 2. Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that institutions of higher education should examine institutional policies related to admissions, financial aid, remedial education, support services, coursework, faculty, and staff that may have differential impacts on historically underrepresented students. 3. Equity grants Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: F Equity Grants 791. Equity planning grants (a) Authorization (1) In general The Secretary shall award planning grants to institutions of higher education to encourage institutions to conduct equity audits. (2) Duration A grant award under this section shall be 2 years in duration. (3) Minimum grant award A grant award under this section shall be in an amount that is not less than $100,000. (b) Applications An institution of higher education that desires to receive a planning grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such form, and containing such information, as the Secretary may require, including not less than the following: (1) A narrative statement with sufficient detail regarding how the institution intends to conduct the equity audit and that provides examples of certain policies, practices, and trends the institution intends to examine. (2) A description of all relevant offices and staff who will be involved in implementing the equity audit. (3) A description of what specific data and outcome measures the institution will examine and for which student populations. (c) Use of grant funds An institution of higher education that receives a planning grant under this section to conduct an equity audit shall undertake a thorough internal review of the institution's policies, practices, and resources to identify areas that might produce gaps in outcomes by gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, income, criminal justice background, military service