Pell Plus Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4608 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to create the Pell Plus program. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 4, 2019 Mr. KILMER (for himself, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, and Mr. PETERS) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to create the Pell Plus 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 ‘‘Pell Plus Act of 2019’’. 4 SEC. 2. PELL PLUS PROGRAM. 5 Section 401(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 6 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)) is amended by adding at the end 7 the following: 8 ‘‘(9) PELL PLUS PROGRAM.—(A) For each 9 award year for which a student receives a Federal 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4608.IH H4608 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4608 IH Pell Grant and meets the requirements of subpara- 1 graph (B), the Secretary shall award such student 2 an additional Federal Pell Grant in an amount equal 3 to the amount of the student’s Federal Pell Grant 4 award determined under paragraph (2)(A) for such 5 award year. 6 ‘‘(B) A student meets the requirements of this 7 subparagraph, if the student— 8 ‘‘(i) during the award year during which 9 the student receives the additional Federal Pell 10 Grant under subparagraph (A)— 11 ‘‘(I) is enrolled in the student’s first 12 undergraduate baccalaureate course of 13 study at a Pell Plus institution; and 14 ‘‘(II) is maintaining progress toward 15 completion of such course of study in not 16 more than a total of 4 academic years; and 17 ‘‘(ii) has completed 4 semesters, or the 18 equivalent, of such course of study. 19 ‘‘(C) The period during which a student re- 20 ceives an additional Federal Pell Grant under sub- 21 paragraph (A) shall be included in calculating the 22 duration limits with respect to such student under 23 subsection (c)(5), and to the extent that such period 24 was a fraction of a semester or the equivalent, only 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4608.IH H4608 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4608 IH that same fraction of such semester or equivalent 1 shall count towards such duration limits. 2 ‘‘(D) For purposes of this paragraph, a Pell 3 Plus institution is an eligible institution for purposes 4 of this subpart that— 5 ‘‘(i) notifies the Secretary that the institu- 6 tion desires to participate in the program under 7 this paragraph; 8 ‘‘(ii) agrees to provide, to each student re- 9 ceiving an additional Federal Pell Grant under 10 subparagraph (A), for each award year for 11 which the student receives such additional Fed- 12 eral Pell Grant— 13 ‘‘(I) a notification about whether the 14 student is maintaining the progress toward 15 completion required under subparagraph 16 (B)(i)(II); and 17 ‘‘(II) an amount of funds— 18 ‘‘(aa) equal to such additional 19 Federal Pell Grant; and 20 ‘‘(bb) using the resources of the 21 institution, such as— 22 ‘‘(AA) an institutional grant 23 or scholarship; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4608.IH H4608 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4608 IH ‘‘(BB) through a tuition or 1 fee waiver; or 2 ‘‘(CC) foundation or other 3 charitable organization funds; 4 and 5 ‘‘(iii) the Secretary determines meets the 6 requirements of this subparagraph.’’. 7 SEC. 3. INFORMATION DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES. 8 Section 485(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(a)(1)) is amended— 10 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara- 11 graph (U); and 12 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub- 13 paragraph (V) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(W) in the case of an institution that is 16 a Pell Plus institution under section 401(b)(9), 17 any applicable information with respect to the 18 institution’s participation in the program under 19 such section.’’. 20 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 21 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 22 with respect to award year 2020–2021 and each suc- 23 ceeding award year. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4608.IH H4608 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS