Expanding Access to Graduate Education Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4002 To expand access to graduate education by amending the Federal Pell Grant program to include postbaccalaureate study. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Ms. KUSTER (for herself, Mr. BURCHETT, Ms. SCHRIER, and Mr. UPTON) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor A BILL To expand access to graduate education by amending the Federal Pell Grant program to include postbaccalaureate study. 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 ‘‘Expanding Access to 4 Graduate Education Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FEDERAL PELL GRANTS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS. 6 Section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4002.IH H4002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4002 IH (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘or as a 1 postbaccalaureate student in accordance with sub- 2 section (c)(1),’’ after ‘‘as an undergraduate,’’; and 3 (2) by amending subsection (c)(1) to read as 4 follows: 5 ‘‘(c) PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.—(1) The 6 period during which a student may receive Federal Pell 7 Grants shall be the period required for the completion of 8 the first undergraduate baccalaureate course of study 9 being pursued by that student at the institution at which 10 the student is in attendance except that— 11 ‘‘(A) any period during which the student is en- 12 rolled in a noncredit or remedial course of study as 13 defined in paragraph (2) shall not be counted for the 14 purpose of this paragraph; and 15 ‘‘(B) the period during which a student may re- 16 ceive Federal Pell Grants shall also include the pe- 17 riod required for the completion of the first 18 postbaccalaureate course of study in a case in 19 which— 20 ‘‘(i) the student received a Federal Pell 21 Grant during the period required for the com- 22 pletion of the student’s first undergraduate bac- 23 calaureate course of study for at least 1 but 24 fewer than 12 semesters, or the equivalent of at 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4002.IH H4002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4002 IH least 1 but fewer than 12 semesters, as deter- 1 mined under paragraph (5); 2 ‘‘(ii) the student would otherwise be eligi- 3 ble for a Federal Pell Grant, but for the com- 4 pletion of such baccalaureate course of study; 5 and 6 ‘‘(iii) the period during which the student 7 receives Federal Pell Grants does not exceed 8 the student’s duration limits under paragraph 9 (5).’’. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4002.IH H4002 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS