I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2174 To establish a rural postsecondary and economic development grant program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 23, 2021 Ms. STEFANIK (for herself, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. LONG, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mrs. HARTZLER, and Mrs. AXNE) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To establish a rural postsecondary and economic development grant program. 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 ‘‘Success for Rural Stu- 4 dents and Communities Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. RURAL POSTSECONDARY AND ECONOMIC DEVEL- 6 OPMENT GRANT PROGRAM. 7 Part Q of title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161q) is amended by adding at the end 9 the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2174 IH ‘‘SEC. 862. RURAL POSTSECONDARY AND ECONOMIC DE- 1 VELOPMENT GRANT PROGRAM. 2 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 3 to— 4 ‘‘(1) increase enrollment and graduation rates 5 of secondary school graduates and nontraditional 6 students from rural areas at 2-year and 4-year insti- 7 tutions of higher education, their articulation from 8 2-year degree programs into 4-year degree pro- 9 grams, and their attainment of market-relevant cre- 10 dentials and certificates; 11 ‘‘(2) ensure rural communities benefit from 12 their students’ success by advancing rural economic 13 development and cultivation of a skilled local work- 14 force with employment opportunities for college 15 graduates; 16 ‘‘(3) promote economic growth and development 17 in the rural United States through partnership 18 grants to consortia of rural serving institutions of 19 higher education, local educational agencies, and re- 20 gional economic development entities; 21 ‘‘(4) foster innovation and development of effec- 22 tive practices, identify and document effective prac- 23 tices for the purpose of continuous quality improve- 24 ment, and ensure that additional rural areas benefit 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2174 IH from innovations through dissemination of practices 1 that are most effective in rural areas; and 2 ‘‘(5) foster elevated levels of investment in rural 3 students and communities by State, private sector, 4 and philanthropic partners. 5 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 6 ‘‘(1) NONTRADITIONAL STUDENT.—The term 7 ‘nontraditional student’ means an individual who— 8 ‘‘(A) delays enrollment in an institution of 9 higher education by 3 or more years after sec- 10 ondary school graduation; 11 ‘‘(B) attends an institution of higher edu- 12 cation part-time; or 13 ‘‘(C) attends an institution of higher edu- 14 cation and— 15 ‘‘(i) works full-time; 16 ‘‘(ii) is an independent student, as de- 17 fined in section 480; 18 ‘‘(iii) has 1 or more dependents other 19 than a spouse; 20 ‘‘(iv) is a single parent or is the pri- 21 mary caregiver for a family member; 22 ‘‘(v) is aging out of foster care; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2174 IH ‘‘(vi) has been involved in the juvenile 1 justice system or the adult criminal justice 2 system; or 3 ‘‘(vii) is in recovery from a substance 4 use disorder. 5 ‘‘(2) REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EN- 6 TITY.—The term ‘regional economic development en- 7 tity’ means an entity working to promote economic 8 development in, or employing residents of, a rural 9 area, which may include local boards (as defined in 10 section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 11 tunity Act), Chambers of Commerce, and employers 12 in the rural region covered by the grant. 13 ‘‘(3) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ 14 means an area that is defined, identified, or other- 15 wise recognized as rural by a governmental agency 16 of the State in which the area is located. 17 ‘‘(4) RURAL SERVING INSTITUTION OF HIGHER 18 EDUCATION.—The term ‘rural serving institution of 19 higher education’ means an institution of higher 20 education that serves rural areas. 21 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.— 22 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE PARTNERSHIP.—A partnership 23 eligible to apply for a grant and carry out activities 24 under this section (referred to in this section as an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2174 IH ‘eligible partnership’) shall include partners rep- 1 resenting not less than 3 of the following types of 2 organizations: 3 ‘‘(A) A local educational agency or edu- 4 cational service agency (as such term is defined 5 in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 6 ondary Education Act of 1965) serving a rural 7 area. 8 ‘‘(B) An institution of higher education. 9 ‘‘(C) A regional economic development en- 10 tity. 11 ‘‘(D) A rural community-serving organiza- 12 tion, including a philanthropy, with dem- 13 onstrated success supporting rural students in 14 accessing higher education and attaining 2-year 15 or 4-year degrees, including supporting students 16 articulating from a 2-year to a 4-year college. 17 ‘‘(2) OPTIONAL PARTNERS.—Other organiza- 18 tions serving rural students, families, or commu- 19 nities, including agencies of Tribal, State, or local 20 government, community action agencies, or other 21 non-governmental agencies, and local elected officials 22 may participate in the eligible partnership as op- 23 tional partners. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2174 IH ‘‘(3) LEAD APPLICANT.—Any required partner 1 in an eligible partnership described in paragraph (1) 2 may be designated by the eligible partnership to 3 serve as the lead applicant and submit a competitive 4 application on behalf of the eligible partnership of 5 which that partner entity is a member. 6 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION.—No more than 1 partner 7 may submit a grant application under this section 8 on behalf of an eligible partnership. 9 ‘‘(d) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made avail- 11 able under subsection (j), the Secretary may award 12 grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible partner- 13 ships to carry out the activities described in sub- 14 section (f). 15 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—A grant awarded under this 16 section shall be awarded for a period of not less than 17 5 years and not more than 9 years. 18 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM GRANTS.—A grant awarded 19 under this section shall be in an amount not less 20 than $1,000,000. 21 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible partnership 23 desiring a grant under this section shall submit to 24 the Secretary an application at such time, in such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2174 IH manner, and containing such information as the Sec- 1 retary may reasonably require. 2 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding 3 grants under this section, the Secretary shall give 4 special consideration to applications that dem- 5 onstrate the most potential and propose the most 6 promising and innovative approaches for— 7 ‘‘(A) increasing the number and percent- 8 age of graduates from rural secondary schools 9 who enroll in and graduate from institutions of 10 higher education; 11 ‘‘(B) increasing the number of market-rel- 12 evant credentials and certificates awarded to 13 students in rural communities; 14 ‘‘(C) meeting the employment needs of re- 15 gional employers; 16 ‘‘(D) strengthening the regional economy 17 of a rural area; 18 ‘‘(E) utilizing Labor Market Information 19 data to determine regional job growth opportu- 20 nities and connect that information to edu- 21 cation and other partners; and 22 ‘‘(F) creating shared data systems acces- 23 sible to all partners. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2174 IH ‘‘(f) MATCH.—As part of the application, each eligi- 1 ble partnership applying for a grant under this section 2 shall secure and document commitments of matching 3 funds, in cash or in kind, totaling not less than 20 percent 4 of the amount of grant funding that the eligible partner- 5 ship is requesting in the application. Matching funds may 6 be contributed from any non-Federal source, including a 7 State, local, private, nonprofit, or philanthropic source. 8 ‘‘(g) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible partnership that 9 receives a grant under this section shall use grant and 10 matching funds to carry out not less than 2 of the fol- 11 lowing 4 activities: 12 ‘‘(1) Improving postsecondary enrollment rates 13 for rural secondary school students by providing 14 supports to students, beginning as early as middle 15 school, but in no case later than grade 11, and con- 16 tinuing through completion of postsecondary edu- 17 cation. Such supports may include— 18 ‘‘(A) providing students and families with 19 counseling related to applying for postsecondary 20 education, and Federal and State financial as- 21 sistance for postsecondary education; 22 ‘‘(B) providing students at rural high 23 schools, and their families, with exposure and 24 access to campuses, courses, programs, and in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2174 IH ternships of institutions of higher education, in- 1 cluding covering the cost of transportation to 2 and from such institutions; 3 ‘‘(C) providing students of rural high 4 schools exposure and access to courses offering 5 dual or concurrent enrollment that will earn 6 credits towards postsecondary degrees, creden- 7 tials, or certificates; 8 ‘‘(D) supporting early connectivity to re- 9 gional employment opportunities for rural stu- 10 dents, including early opportunities for career 11 exploration and exposure, expanding career 12 counseling and opportunities for work-based 13 learning experiences, opportunities available 14 through career and technical education schools, 15 and designing and implementing college and ca- 16 reer pathways in secondary schools that align to 17 local labor market demands; 18 ‘‘(E) supporting the transition of students 19 from high school to postsecondary education; 20 ‘‘(F) supporting students in completing 21 their postsecondary degree or credential; 22 ‘‘(G) supporting the transition of students 23 articulating from 2-year degree programs to 4- 24 year degree programs; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2174 IH ‘‘(H) other initiatives that assist students 1 and families in developing interest in, applying 2 for, attending, and graduating from rural serv- 3 ing institutions of higher education. 4 ‘‘(2) Increasing enrollment and completion rates 5 of rural nontraditional students in degree programs 6 at institutions of higher education, which may in- 7 clude— 8 ‘‘(A) programs to provide nontraditional 9 students with counseling related to applying for 10 postsecondary education, and Federal and State 11 financial assistance for postsecondary edu- 12 cation; 13 ‘‘(B) community outreach initiatives to en- 14 courage nontraditional students to enroll in an 15 institution of higher education; 16 ‘‘(C) programs to increase rural nontradi- 17 tional student persistence in and completion of 18 postsecondary education; or 19 ‘‘(D) programs to improve the enrollment 20 of nontraditional students in 2-year degree pro- 21 grams and the transition of nontraditional stu- 22 dents articulating from 2-year degree programs 23 to 4-year degree programs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2174 IH ‘‘(3) Creating or strengthening academic pro- 1 grams at rural serving institutions of higher edu- 2 cation to prepare graduates to enter into high-need 3 occupations in the regional and local economies, and 4 to provide additional career training to such stu- 5 dents in fields relevant to the regional economy. 6 Such activities may include— 7 ‘‘(A) developing and expanding work-based 8 learning opportunities, such as apprenticeships 9 or paid internships, including covering the cost 10 of transportation or the cost of internet access 11 for virtual opportunities; 12 ‘‘(B) establishing policies and processes for 13 assessing and awarding course credit for prior 14 learning; 15 ‘‘(C) developing and expanding programs 16 that accelerate learning and recognized postsec- 17 ondary credential attainment, including com- 18 petency-based education, corequisite remedi- 19 ation, and other strategies for acceleration; 20 ‘‘(D) developing and expanding efficient 21 career pathways to credentials, including the 22 development of stackable credentials and inte- 23 grated education and training strategies; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2174.IH H2174 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2174 IH ‘‘(E) working with local boards on the use 1 of labor market information for making pro- 2 gram decisions; or 3 ‘‘(F) engaging employers in the develop- 4 ment of programs and curricula. 5 ‘‘(4) Generating local and regional economic de- 6 velopment that creates employment opportunities for 7 rural students with postsecondary degrees, which 8 may include— 9 ‘‘(A) promoting and incentivizing remote 10 work opportunities to connect local talent with 11 non-local employers; 12 ‘‘(B) supporting entrepreneurship as a 13 part of career pathways in secondary school and 14 postsecondary academic and career programs; 15 ‘‘(C) developing strategies to address 16 transportation and internet connectivity gaps 17 that create barriers to employment opportuni- 18 ties in rural areas; 19 ‘‘(D) designing and implementing mar- 20 keting efforts to attract employers and talent to 21 the region or community; or 22 ‘‘(E) developing strategies to identify start- 23 up funding for local entrepreneurs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:02 May 21, 2021 Jkt 019200 P [Text truncated for display. 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