Pell Grant Restoration Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2498 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify the Federal Pell Grant duration limits of borrowers who attend an institution of higher education that closes or commits fraud or other misconduct, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. BROWN) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to clarify the Federal Pell Grant duration limits of borrowers who attend an institution of higher education that closes or commits fraud or other misconduct, and for other pur- poses. 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 Restoration 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2498.IS S2498 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2498 IS SEC. 2. FEDERAL PELL GRANT DURATION LIMITS. 1 Section 401(c)(5) of the Higher Education Act of 2 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(c)(5)) is amended— 3 (1) by striking ‘‘(5) The period’’ and inserting 4 the following: ‘‘(5) MAXIMUM PERIOD.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 6 subparagraph (B), the period’’; and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.— 9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any Federal Pell 10 Grant that a student received during a pe- 11 riod described in subclause (I) or (II) of 12 clause (ii) shall not count towards the stu- 13 dent’s duration limits under this para- 14 graph. 15 ‘‘(ii) APPLICABLE PERIODS.—Clause 16 (i) shall apply with respect to any Federal 17 Pell Grant awarded to a student to attend 18 an institution— 19 ‘‘(I) during a period— 20 ‘‘(aa) for which the student 21 received a loan under this title; 22 and 23 ‘‘(bb) for which the loan de- 24 scribed in item (aa) is forgiven 25 under— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2498.IS S2498 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2498 IS ‘‘(AA) section 437(c)(1) 1 or 464(g)(1) due to the clos- 2 ing of the institution; 3 ‘‘(BB) section 455(h) 4 due to the student’s success- 5 ful assertion of a defense to 6 repayment of the loan; or 7 ‘‘(CC) section 8 432(a)(6), section 685.215 9 of title 34, Code of Federal 10 Regulations (or a successor 11 regulation), or any other 12 loan forgiveness provision or 13 regulation under this Act, as 14 a result of a determination 15 by the Secretary or a court 16 that the institution com- 17 mitted fraud or other mis- 18 conduct; or 19 ‘‘(II) during a period for which 20 the student did not receive a loan 21 under this title but for which, if the 22 student had received such a loan, the 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2498.IS S2498 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2498 IS student would have qualified for loan 1 forgiveness under subclause (I)(bb).’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:57 Sep 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2498.IS S2498 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS