Federal

Pell to Grad Act

Source: Congress.gov · 1,019 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes the rules for Federal Pell Grants, which are federal financial aid (money from the government to help pay for school). The bill allows students to receive Pell Grants for a longer period of time. It specifically allows graduate students (students pursuing education after earning a four-year degree) to receive grants if they received grants while getting their first undergraduate degree.

Who It Affects

Students pursuing Federal Pell Grants at colleges and universities. Graduate students in particular would be newly eligible under this bill.

Key Provisions

• Students can now receive Federal Pell Grants while pursuing their first graduate degree, as long as they received Pell Grants for at least one semester but fewer than 16 semesters while completing their undergraduate degree. (Sec. 2) • Time spent in noncredit or remedial courses (basic coursework that does not count toward a degree) does not count toward the student's grant period. (Sec. 2) • Graduate students must meet all other requirements to be eligible for Pell Grants and cannot receive grants longer than their duration limits allow. (Sec. 2) • The maximum time a student can receive Pell Grants increases from 12 semesters to 16 semesters. (Sec. 2)

What Changes

If this bill becomes law, graduate students who received Pell Grants during their undergraduate education will become eligible to receive additional Pell Grants to help pay for graduate school. The total time a student can receive Pell Grants extends from 12 semesters to 16 semesters.

Important Definitions

Postbaccalaureate student: a student pursuing studies after earning a four-year undergraduate degree. Baccalaureate course of study: a four-year undergraduate degree program.

Effective Date

The bill states that amendments shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. No specific calendar date is provided in the bill text.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 961 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the period of eligibility for Federal Pell Grants, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 9, 2023 Ms. STEVENS (for herself and Mr. GOMEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase the period of eligibility for Federal Pell Grants, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pell to Grad Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS. 5 Section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 6 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or as a 8 postbaccalaureate student in accordance with sub- 9 section (c)(1),’’ after ‘‘as an undergraduate,’’; and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H961.IH H961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 961 IH (2) in subsection (c)— 1 (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 2 follows: 3 ‘‘(1) The period during which a student may re- 4 ceive Federal Pell Grants shall be the period re- 5 quired for the completion of the first undergraduate 6 baccalaureate course of study being pursued by that 7 student at the institution at which the student is in 8 attendance except that— 9 ‘‘(A) any period during which the student 10 is enrolled in a noncredit or remedial course of 11 study as defined in paragraph (2) shall not be 12 counted for the purpose of this paragraph; and 13 ‘‘(B) the period during which a student 14 may receive Federal Pell Grants shall also in- 15 clude the period required for the completion of 16 the first postbaccalaureate course of study at 17 an eligible institution that meets the definition 18 of institution of higher education in section 19 101, in a case in which— 20 ‘‘(i) the student received a Federal 21 Pell Grant during the period required for 22 the completion of the student’s first under- 23 graduate baccalaureate course of study for 24 at least 1 but fewer than 16 semesters, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H961.IH H961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 961 IH the equivalent of at least 1 but fewer than 1 16 semesters, as determined under para- 2 graph (5); 3 ‘‘(ii) the student would otherwise be 4 eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, but for 5 the completion of such baccalaureate 6 course of study; and 7 ‘‘(iii) the period during which the stu- 8 dent receives Federal Pell Grants does not 9 exceed the student’s duration limits under 10 paragraph (5).’’; and 11 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘12’’ 12 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘16’’. 13 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO LAW AS MODIFIED 14 BY THE CONSOLIDATED APPROPRIATIONS 15 ACT, 2021. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401 of the Higher Edu- 17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a), as amended by sec- 18 tion 703 of division FF the Consolidated Appropriations 19 Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260), is further amended— 20 (1) in subsection (b)(8)(A), by inserting ‘‘or as 21 a postbaccalaureate student in accordance with sub- 22 section (d)(1),’’ after ‘‘as an undergraduate,’’; 23 (2) in subsection (d)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H961.IH H961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 961 IH (A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as 1 follows: 2 ‘‘(1) The period during which a student may re- 3 ceive Federal Pell Grants shall be the period re- 4 quired for the completion of the first undergraduate 5 baccalaureate course of study being pursued by that 6 student at the institution at which the student is in 7 attendance except that— 8 ‘‘(A) any period during which the student 9 is enrolled in a noncredit or remedial course of 10 study, as described in paragraph (2), shall not 11 be counted for the purpose of this paragraph; 12 and 13 ‘‘(B) the period during which a student 14 may receive Federal Pell Grants shall also in- 15 clude the period required for the completion of 16 the first postbaccalaureate course of study at 17 an eligible institution that is an institution of 18 higher education as defined in section 101, in 19 a case in which— 20 ‘‘(i) the student received a Federal 21 Pell Grant during the period required for 22 the completion of the student’s first under- 23 graduate baccalaureate course of study for 24 at least 1 but fewer than 16 semesters, or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H961.IH H961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 961 IH the equivalent of at least 1 but fewer than 1 16 semesters, as determined under para- 2 graph (5); 3 ‘‘(ii) the student would otherwise be 4 eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, but for 5 the completion of such baccalaureate 6 course of study; and 7 ‘‘(iii) the period during which the stu- 8 dent receives Federal Pell Grants does not 9 exceed the student’s duration limits under 10 paragraph (5).’’; and 11 (B) in paragraph (5)(A), by striking ‘‘12’’ 12 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘16’’. 13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 14 subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in the enact- 15 ment of title VII of division FF of the Consolidated Appro- 16 priations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260). 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Mar 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H961.IH H961 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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