Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3946 To improve the structure of the Federal Pell Grant program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 16, 2021 Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. KILMER, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. TONKO, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. CARSON, Ms. BUSH, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. WELCH, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. KHANNA, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. ROSS, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. OMAR, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. NADLER, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. MENG, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. MFUME, Mr. JONES, Ms. ROYBAL- ALLARD, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. NEWMAN, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. EVANS, Mr. SIRES, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, and Mr. LOWENTHAL) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To improve the structure of the Federal Pell Grant program, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3946 IH 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 Grant Preserva- 4 tion and Expansion Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) The United States needs individuals with 8 the knowledge, skills, and abilities that enable them 9 to thrive as educated citizens in society and success- 10 fully participate in an interconnected economy. 11 (2) Investments in higher education through 12 student aid such as the Federal Pell Grant program 13 under section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 14 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) help students and families 15 reach, afford, and complete education and training 16 opportunities beyond high school. 17 (3) The Federal Pell Grant program is the larg- 18 est source of federally funded grant aid for postsec- 19 ondary education. 20 (4) The Federal Pell Grant program allows mil- 21 lions of people of the United States to attend college 22 and is especially vital for students of color. Three in 23 5 African American undergraduate students, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3946 IH one-half of all Latino undergraduate students, rely 1 on the Federal Pell Grant program. 2 (5) The Federal Pell Grant program should 3 continue to be a reliable source of funding for aspir- 4 ing students, their families, and future generations 5 that they can count on to be there for them when 6 they seek higher education. 7 (6) To stabilize Federal Pell Grant funding and 8 ensure the grant will continue to serve millions of 9 students now and in the future, the program should 10 become a fully mandatory program that grows with 11 inflation. 12 (7) Restoring prior eligibility cuts and expand- 13 ing access to underserved students will give millions 14 of students and families the critical student aid sup- 15 port they need and deserve. 16 SEC. 3. TABLE OF CONTENTS; REFERENCES. 17 (a) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 18 this Act is as follows: 19 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Findings. Sec. 3. Table of contents; references. Sec. 4. Doubling Federal Pell Grants and providing all Federal Pell Grants through mandatory funding. Sec. 5. Providing increased Federal Pell Grants and other assistance for recipi- ents of means-tested benefits. Sec. 6. Federal Pell Grant eligibility for dreamer students. Sec. 7. Providing Federal Pell Grants for dependents of fallen heroes. Sec. 8. Restoring the total semesters of Federal Pell Grant eligibility. Sec. 9. Reducing financial aid penalties from satisfactory academic progress de- terminations. Sec. 10. Conforming amendments. Sec. 11. Effective date. VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3946 IH (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 1 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 2 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 3 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid- 4 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the 5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 6 SEC. 4. DOUBLING FEDERAL PELL GRANTS AND PRO- 7 VIDING ALL FEDERAL PELL GRANTS 8 THROUGH MANDATORY FUNDING. 9 (a) AMOUNT OF MINIMUM FEDERAL PELL 10 GRANTS.—Section 401 (20 U.S.C. 1070a), as amended by 11 section 703 of the FAFSA Simplification Act (title VII 12 of division FF of Public Law 116–260) (referred to in 13 this Act as the ‘‘FAFSA Simplification Act’’), is further 14 amended— 15 (1) in subsection (a)(2)(F), by striking ‘‘10 per- 16 cent’’ and inserting ‘‘5 percent’’; 17 (2) in subsection (b)— 18 (A) in paragraph (1)(B)(i), by striking 19 ‘‘paragraph (5)(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 20 (5)’’; 21 (B) by striking paragraph (5) and insert- 22 ing the following: 23 ‘‘(5) MAXIMUM FEDERAL PELL GRANT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3946 IH ‘‘(A) AWARD YEAR 2023–2024.—For award 1 year 2023–2024, the total maximum Federal 2 Pell Grant award shall be $9,000. 3 ‘‘(B) AWARD YEAR 2024–2025.—For award 4 year 2024–2025, the total maximum Federal 5 Pell Grant award shall be $10,000. 6 ‘‘(C) AWARD YEAR 2025–2026.—For award 7 year 2025–2026, the total maximum Federal 8 Pell Grant award shall be $11,000. 9 ‘‘(D) AWARD YEAR 2026–2027.—For award 10 year 2026–2027, the total maximum Federal 11 Pell Grant award shall be $12,000. 12 ‘‘(E) AWARD YEAR 2027–2028.—For award 13 year 2027–2028, the total maximum Federal 14 Pell Grant award shall be $13,000. 15 ‘‘(F) AWARD YEAR 2028–2029 AND SUBSE- 16 QUENT YEARS.—For award year 2028–2029, 17 and each subsequent award year, the total max- 18 imum Federal Pell Grant award shall be 19 $13,000— 20 ‘‘(i) increased by the adjustment per- 21 centage for the award year for which the 22 amount under this subparagraph is being 23 determined; and 24 ‘‘(ii) rounded to the nearest $50. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3946 IH ‘‘(G) DEFINITION OF ADJUSTMENT PER- 1 CENTAGE.—In this paragraph, the term ‘adjust- 2 ment percentage,’ as applied to an award year, 3 is equal to the percentage increase in the Con- 4 sumer Price Index, as defined in section 478(f), 5 between April 2026 and the April in the year 6 prior to the beginning of the award year.’’; 7 (C) by striking paragraphs (6) and (7) and 8 inserting the following: 9 ‘‘(6) APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS.—There are 10 authorized to be appropriated, and there are appro- 11 priated, out of any money in the Treasury not other- 12 wise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary 13 for fiscal year 2023 and each subsequent fiscal year 14 to provide the total maximum Federal Pell Grant for 15 which a student shall be eligible under this section 16 during an award year.’’; and 17 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and 18 (9) as paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; 19 (3) in subsection (d)(5)(B)(ii)— 20 (A) in subclause (I)(bb), by striking ‘‘or’’ 21 after the semicolon; 22 (B) in subclause (II)(bb)(CC), by striking 23 the period and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 24 (C) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3946 IH ‘‘(III) during a period for which 1 the student did not receive a loan 2 under this title but for which, if the 3 student had received such a loan, the 4 student would have qualified for loan 5 forgiveness under subclause 6 (II)(bb)(CC).’’; 7 (4) by striking subsections (g) and (h); and 8 (5) by redesignating subsections (i) and (j) as 9 subsections (g) and (h), respectively. 10 (b) REPEAL OF SCORING REQUIREMENT.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 406 of H. Con. Res. 12 95 (109th Congress) is amended— 13 (A) by striking subsection (b); and 14 (B) by striking ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon’’ 15 and inserting the following: ‘‘Upon’’. 16 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 17 by paragraph (1) shall take effect beginning on July 18 1, 2023. 19 (c) ADJUSTMENT FOR AWARD YEAR 2022–2023.— 20 Notwithstanding section 401(b)(7)(C)(iii) of the Higher 21 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(7)(C)(iii)), 22 the amount determined under such clause for purposes of 23 section 401(b)(7)(B)(iii) of such Act for award year 2022– 24 2023 shall be $2,535. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3946 IH SEC. 5. PROVIDING INCREASED FEDERAL PELL GRANTS 1 AND OTHER ASSISTANCE FOR RECIPIENTS 2 OF MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS. 3 (a) INCREASED AMOUNT OF MAXIMUM FEDERAL 4 PELL GRANTS FOR STUDENTS WITH NEGATIVE STU- 5 DENT AID INDEXES.—Section 401(b)(1) (20 U.S.C. 6 1070a(b)(1)), as amended by section 4 and section 703 7 of the FAFSA Simplification Act, is further amended— 8 (1) in subparagraph (A)— 9 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 10 striking ‘‘A student’’ and inserting ‘‘Except in 11 the case of a student with a student aid index 12 of less than zero, a student’’; 13 (B) by striking clause (i); and 14 (C) by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) 15 as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively; 16 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 17 through (E) as subparagraphs (C) through (F), re- 18 spectively; 19 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘(B) A student with a student aid index of 22 less than zero shall receive a Federal Pell Grant 23 award that exceeds the total maximum Federal 24 Pell Grant by an amount equal to the amount 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3946 IH by which the student’s student aid index is less 1 than zero.’’; 2 (4) in subparagraph (C), as redesignated by 3 paragraph (2)— 4 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by 5 striking ‘‘subparagraph (A) for an academic 6 year,’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (A), or an 7 increased Federal Pell Grant under subpara- 8 graph (B), for an academic year,’’; and 9 (B) in clause (ii), by striking ‘‘, except that 10 a student aid index of less than zero shall be 11 considered to be zero for the purposes of this 12 clause’’; 13 (5) in subparagraph (D), as redesignated by 14 paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘(A) or (B)’’ and insert- 15 ing ‘‘(A), (B), or (C)’’; 16 (6) in subparagraph (E), as redesignated by 17 paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or an increased Federal 18 Pell Grant under subparagraph (B)’’ after ‘‘subpara- 19 graph (A)’’; or 20 (7) in subparagraph (F), as redesignated by 21 paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or a minimum Federal 22 Pell Grant under subparagraph (C)’’ and inserting 23 ‘‘an increased Federal Pell Grant under subpara- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3946 IH graph (B), or a minimum Federal Pell Grant under 1 subparagraph (D)’’. 2 (b) SPECIAL STUDENT AID INDEX RULE FOR RE- 3 CIPIENTS OF MEANS-TESTED BENEFITS.—Section 473 4 (20 U.S.C. 1087mm), as amended by section 702(b) of 5 the FAFSA Simplification Act, is further amended by 6 adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR MEANS-TESTED BENEFIT 8 RECIPIENTS.—Notwithstanding subsection (b), for an ap- 9 plicant (or, as applicable, an applicant and spouse, or an 10 applicant’s parents) who, at any time during the previous 11 24-month period, received a benefit under a means-tested 12 Federal benefit program (or whose parent or spouse re- 13 ceived such a benefit, as applicable), the Secretary shall 14 for the purposes of this title consider the student aid index 15 as equal to –$1,500 for the applicant.’’. 16 SEC. 6. FEDERAL PELL GRANT ELIGIBILITY FOR DREAMER 17 STUDENTS. 18 Section 484 (20 U.S.C. 1091), as amended by section 19 702(n) of the FAFSA Simplification Act, is further 20 amended— 21 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting ‘‘, or be a 22 Dreamer student, as defined in subsection (u)’’ after 23 ‘‘becoming a citizen or permanent resident’’; and 24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Jul 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3946 IH ‘‘(u) DREAMER STUDENTS.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 2 ‘Dreamer student’ means an individual who— 3 ‘‘(A)(i) is not a citizen or national of the 4 United States; and 5 ‘‘(ii) is inadmissible or deportable under 6 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 7 1101 et seq.)); and 8 ‘‘(B)(i) in the case of such an individual 9 who was younger than 18 years of age on the 10 date on which the individual initially entered 11 the United States— 12 ‘‘(I) has earned a high school diploma, 13 the recognized equivalent of such diploma 14 from a secondary school, or a high school 15 equivalency diploma recognized by State 16 law, or is scheduled to complete the re- 17 quirements for such a diploma or equiva- 18 lent before the next academic year begins; 19 ‘‘(II) is enrolled at an institution of 20 higher education pursuant to subsection 21 (d); 22 ‘‘(III) has served in the uniformed 23 services (as such term is defined in section 24 101 of title 10, United States Code) for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3946.IH H3946 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3946 IH not less than 2 years and, if discharged, 1 received an honorable discharge; 2 ‘‘(IV) has acquired a degree, certifi- 3 cate, or recognized postsecondary creden- 4 tial from an institutio [Text truncated for display. 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