College for All Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2730 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure College for All. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 21, 2021 Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. KHANNA, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. WELCH, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. OMAR, Mr. POCAN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. JONES, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. WILLIAMS of Geor- gia, Ms. BUSH, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis- sissippi, Mr. TORRES of New York, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. MENG, Ms. CHU, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Commit- tees on the Budget, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure College for All. 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 ‘‘College for All Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2730 IH TITLE I—FEDERAL-STATE PART- 1 NERSHIP TO ELIMINATE TUI- 2 TION AND REQUIRED FEES 3 SEC. 101. FEDERAL-STATE PARTNERSHIP TO ELIMINATE 4 TUITION AND REQUIRED FEES. 5 The Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 6 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘TITLE IX—FEDERAL-STATE 8 PARTNERSHIP TO ELIMINATE 9 TUITION AND REQUIRED 10 FEES 11 ‘‘SEC. 901. GRANT PROGRAM TO ELIMINATE TUITION AND 12 REQUIRED FEES AT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS 13 OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRIBAL COL- 14 LEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. 15 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 16 ‘‘(1) AWARD YEAR.—The term ‘award year’ has 17 the meaning given the term in section 481(a). 18 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com- 19 munity college’ means— 20 ‘‘(A) a public institution of higher edu- 21 cation at which the credential that is predomi- 22 nantly awarded to students is at the sub-bacca- 23 laureate level; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2730 IH ‘‘(B) a public postsecondary vocational in- 1 stitution, as defined under section 102(c). 2 ‘‘(3) COST OF ATTENDANCE.—The term ‘cost of 3 attendance’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 4 tion 472. 5 ‘‘(4) DUAL OR CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT 6 PROGRAM.—The term ‘dual or concurrent enrollment 7 program’ has the meaning given the term in section 8 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 9 Act of 1965. 10 ‘‘(5) EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL.—The 11 term ‘early college high school’ has the meaning 12 given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary 13 and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 14 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE INDIAN ENTITY.—The term ‘eli- 15 gible Indian entity’ means the entity responsible for 16 the governance, operation, or control of a Tribal Col- 17 lege or University. 18 ‘‘(7) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 19 student’ means an individual, regardless of age, who 20 has not obtained a baccalaureate degree or higher 21 degree and— 22 ‘‘(A) is enrolled, or plans to enroll, in a 23 community college in the State in which the in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2730 IH dividual is a resident or in a 2-year Tribal Col- 1 lege or University; or 2 ‘‘(B) is a working class or middle class stu- 3 dent, as described in subsection (d)(3), who is 4 enrolled or plans to enroll in a 4-year public in- 5 stitution of higher education in the State in 6 which the individual is a resident or in a 4-year 7 Tribal College or University. 8 ‘‘(8) FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT ELIGIBLE STU- 9 DENTS.—The term ‘full-time equivalent eligible stu- 10 dents’, when used with respect to an institution of 11 higher education, has the meaning given the term 12 ‘full-time equivalent students’, except that the cal- 13 culation shall be made based on the number of eligi- 14 ble students enrolled at such institution. 15 ‘‘(9) FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT STUDENTS.—The 16 term ‘full-time equivalent students’ means the sum 17 of the number of students enrolled full time at an 18 institution, plus the full-time equivalent of the num- 19 ber of students enrolled part time (determined on 20 the basis of the quotient of the sum of the credit 21 hours of all part-time students divided by 12) at 22 such institution. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2730 IH ‘‘(10) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 1 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 2 meaning given the term in section 101. 3 ‘‘(11) PUBLIC 4-YEAR INSTITUTION OF HIGHER 4 EDUCATION.—The term ‘public 4-year institution of 5 higher education’ means a public institution of high- 6 er education that is not a community college. 7 ‘‘(12) TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.—The 8 term ‘Tribal College or University’ has the meaning 9 given the term in section 316(b)(3). 10 ‘‘(13) 2-YEAR TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVER- 11 SITY.—The term ‘2-year Tribal College or Univer- 12 sity’ means a Tribal College or University at which 13 the credential that is predominantly awarded to stu- 14 dents is at the sub-baccalaureate level. 15 ‘‘(14) 4-YEAR TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVER- 16 SITY.—The term ‘4-year Tribal College or Univer- 17 sity’ means a Tribal College or University that is not 18 a 2-year Tribal College or University. 19 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 20 ‘‘(1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From amounts 21 appropriated under subsection (g), the Secretary 22 shall award grants, from allotments under sub- 23 section (c), to States and eligible Indian entities hav- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2730 IH ing applications approved under subsection (e), to 1 enable the States and eligible Indian entities— 2 ‘‘(A) to eliminate tuition and required fees 3 for all eligible students at community colleges 4 in the State or at 2-year Tribal Colleges and 5 Universities of the eligible Indian entity; and 6 ‘‘(B) to eliminate tuition and required fees 7 for working class and middle class eligible stu- 8 dents, as described in subsection (d)(3), at pub- 9 lic 4-year institutions of higher education in the 10 State or 4-year Tribal Colleges and Universities 11 of the eligible Indian entity. 12 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE REQUIREMENT.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 14 subparagraphs (B) and (C), each State or eligi- 15 ble Indian entity that receives a grant under 16 this section shall provide a non-Federal share of 17 funds for an award year from non-Federal 18 sources in an amount that is equal to 25 per- 19 cent of the amount required to eliminate tuition 20 and required fees— 21 ‘‘(i) in the case of a State, at commu- 22 nity colleges in the State for all eligible 23 students and at public 4-year institutions 24 of higher education in the State for work- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2730 IH ing class and middle class eligible students, 1 as described in subsection (d)(3), for the 2 award year; and 3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an eligible Indian 4 entity, at 2-year Tribal Colleges and Uni- 5 versities of the eligible Indian entity for all 6 eligible students and at 4-year Tribal Col- 7 leges and Universities of the eligible Indian 8 entity for working class and middle class 9 eligible students, as described in subsection 10 (d)(3), for the award year. 11 ‘‘(B) NON-FEDERAL SHARE REQUIREMENT 12 FOR CERTAIN ELIGIBLE INDIAN ENTITIES.— 13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an 14 eligible Indian entity that receives a grant 15 under this section for an award year for 16 which not less than 75 percent of the stu- 17 dents enrolled in the 2-year Tribal Colleges 18 and Universities and 4-year Tribal Colleges 19 and Universities of the eligible Indian enti- 20 ty are low-income students, such eligible 21 Indian entity shall provide a non-Federal 22 share of funds from non-Federal sources in 23 an amount that is equal to not more than 24 5 percent of the amount necessary to elimi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2730 IH nate tuition and required fees at 2-year 1 Tribal Colleges and Universities of the eli- 2 gible Indian entity for all eligible students 3 and at 4-year Tribal Colleges and Univer- 4 sities of the eligible Indian entity for work- 5 ing class and middle class eligible students, 6 as described in subsection (d)(3), for the 7 award year. 8 ‘‘(ii) LOW-INCOME STUDENT.—In this 9 subparagraph, the term ‘low-income stu- 10 dent’ has the meaning given such term by 11 the Secretary, except that such term shall 12 not exclude any student eligible for a Fed- 13 eral Pell Grant under section 401. 14 ‘‘(iii) DATA.—In calculating the num- 15 ber of enrolled students and low-income 16 students for purposes of clause (i), the 17 Secretary shall use— 18 ‘‘(I) for the first award year of 19 the program under this section, the 20 number of students enrolled in award 21 year 2019–2020; and 22 ‘‘(II) for each subsequent award 23 year, the projected student enrollment 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2730 IH numbers for the award year for which 1 the allotment is made. 2 ‘‘(C) AUTOMATIC STABILIZER.— 3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 4 subparagraph (A) and subsection (c)(1), in 5 the case in which a trigger is turned on— 6 ‘‘(I) under clause (ii) with re- 7 spect to a State, the Secretary shall— 8 ‘‘(aa) apply subparagraph 9 (A), by substituting ‘10 percent’ 10 for ‘25 percent’; and 11 ‘‘(bb) apply subsection 12 (c)(1), by substituting ‘90 per- 13 cent’ for ‘75 percent’; and 14 ‘‘(II) under clause (iii) with re- 15 spect to an eligible Indian entity, the 16 Secretary shall— 17 ‘‘(aa) in the case in which 18 subparagraph (B) is not applica- 19 ble— 20 ‘‘(AA) apply subpara- 21 graph (A), by substituting 22 ‘10 percent’ for ‘25 percent’; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2730 IH ‘‘(BB) apply subsection 1 (c)(1), by substituting ‘90 2 percent’ for ‘75 percent’; or 3 ‘‘(bb) in the case in which 4 subparagraph (B) is applicable— 5 ‘‘(AA) apply subpara- 6 graph (B)(i), by substituting 7 ‘3 percent’ for ‘5 percent’; 8 and 9 ‘‘(BB) apply subsection 10 (c)(1), by substituting ‘97 11 percent’ for ‘95 percent’. 12 ‘‘(ii) TRIGGER FOR STATES.—A trig- 13 ger shall be turned on under this clause 14 with respect to a State if— 15 ‘‘(I) the 3-month moving average 16 of the national prime-age employment- 17 to-population ratio (PAEPOP) is less 18 than 98 percent of the maximum in 19 the previous 12 months, and such 20 trigger shall stay on until the 3-month 21 moving average of the national 22 PAEPOP has improved for three con- 23 secutive months and is above 95 per- 24 cent of the maximum in the 12 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2730 IH months before the trigger was turned 1 on; 2 ‘‘(II) the 3-month moving aver- 3 age of the total unemployment rate 4 (TUR) of the State is at or above 7.5 5 percent, and such trigger shall stay on 6 until the 3-month moving average of 7 the TUR of the State falls below 7.5 8 percent.; or 9 ‘‘(III) the 3-month moving aver- 10 age of the total unemployment rate 11 (TUR) of the State is at or above 108 12 percent of the maximum in the pre- 13 vious 12 months, and such trigger 14 shall stay on until the 3-month mov- 15 ing average of the TUR of the State 16 falls below 115 percent of the max- 17 imum in the 12 months before the 18 trigger was turned on. 19 ‘‘(iii) TRIGGER FOR ELIGIBLE INDIAN 20 ENTITY.—A trigger shall be turned on 21 under this clause with respect to an eligible 22 Indian entity if any Tribal College or Uni- 23 versity governed, operated, or controlled by 24 the eligible Indian entity is located in a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2730 IH State for which a trigger is turned on 1 under clause (ii). 2 ‘‘(iv) INCLUSION OF DETERMINATION 3 IN EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS REPORTS.— 4 Notwithstanding any other provision of 5 law, the Commissioner of the Bureau of 6 Labor Statistics shall include in each 7 monthly employment situation report and 8 each State unemployment and employment 9 report published by the Commissioner a 10 specific determination of whether any 11 State or national trigger is turned on 12 under this subparagraph. 13 ‘‘(3) NO IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—No in-kind 14 contribution shall count toward the non-Federal 15 share requirement under paragraph (2). 16 ‘‘(4) SUSTAIN AND EXPAND EXISTING PRO- 17 GRAMS.—The Secretary shall encourage States to 18 sustain and expand tuition-free ‘College Promise’ 19 programs that are in existence on the date of enact- 20 ment of the College for All Act of 2021, especially 21 for programs that cover the ‘last dollar’ of tuition 22 and fees after exhausting Federal and State aid . 23 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION OF ALLOTMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:48 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2730.IH H2730 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2730 IH ‘‘(1) FIRST AWARD YEAR OF PROGRAM.—The 1 Secretary shall allot, to each eligible State or eligible 2 Indian entity that submits an application under this 3 section for a grant under subsection (b)(1) for the 4 first award year of the program under this section, 5 an amount that is equal to 75 percent (or not less 6 than 95 percent in the case of an eligible Indian en- 7 tity described in subsection (b)(2)(B)) of the tot [Text truncated for display. 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