PELL Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 496 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend Federal Pell Grant eligibility to certain short-term workforce programs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 25, 2023 Ms. STEFANIK (for herself, Ms. FOXX, Mr. BANKS, Mrs. HINSON, and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend Federal Pell Grant eligibility to certain short-term work- force programs. 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 ‘‘Promoting Employ- 4 ment and Lifelong Learning Act’’ or the ‘‘PELL Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY FOR WORKFORCE PELL 6 GRANTS. 7 Section 481(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 8 (20 U.S.C. 1088(b)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 496 IH (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 1 paragraphs (4) and (5), respectively; and 2 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(3) (A) A program is an eligible program for 5 purposes of the Workforce Pell Grants program 6 under section 401(k) only if— 7 ‘‘(i) it is at least 150 clock hours of in- 8 struction, but not more than 600 clock hours of 9 instruction, or an equivalent number of credit 10 hours, offered during a minimum of 8 weeks, 11 but not more than 15 weeks; 12 ‘‘(ii) it is determined by an accrediting 13 agency or association recognized by the Sec- 14 retary pursuant to section 496(a) to— 15 ‘‘(I) provide an education aligned with 16 the requirements of in-demand industry 17 sectors or occupations, as defined in sec- 18 tion 3 of the Workforce Innovation and 19 Opportunity Act; 20 ‘‘(II) meet the hiring requirements of 21 potential employers in the sectors or occu- 22 pations described in subclause (I); 23 ‘‘(III) have been offered by an institu- 24 tion for not less than 1 year prior to a de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 496 IH termination by such agency or association 1 under this paragraph; 2 ‘‘(IV) have a verified completion rate 3 of at least 70 percent, calculated so as to 4 ensure that a student shall be counted as 5 a completion if the student completes the 6 program within 150 percent of the normal 7 time for completion; and 8 ‘‘(V) have verified a job placement 9 rate of at least 70 percent; and 10 ‘‘(iii) for each award year, the total 11 amount of the published tuition and fees of the 12 program for such year is an amount that does 13 not exceed the value-added earnings of students 14 who received Federal financial aid under this 15 title and who completed the program 3 years 16 prior to the award year, as such earnings are 17 determined by calculating the difference be- 18 tween— 19 ‘‘(I) the median earnings of such stu- 20 dents, as adjusted by the State and metro- 21 politan area regional price parities of the 22 Bureau of Economic Analysis based on the 23 location of such program; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 496 IH ‘‘(II) 150 percent of the poverty line 1 applicable to a single individual as deter- 2 mined under section 673(2) of the Commu- 3 nity Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 4 9902(2)) for such year. 5 ‘‘(B)(i) In the case of a program that has not 6 previously participated in programs under this title 7 and is being determined eligible for the first time 8 under this paragraph, the Secretary may consider 9 such program to be an eligible program for purposes 10 of the Workforce Pell Grants program under section 11 401(k) for a provisional eligibility period that may 12 not exceed 3 years, if such program— 13 ‘‘(I) subject to subclause (II), meets the 14 requirements of subparagraph (A); and 15 ‘‘(II) in lieu of the determination of me- 16 dian earnings under subclause (I) of subpara- 17 graph (A)(iii), provides to the Secretary for 18 purposes of meeting the requirements of sub- 19 paragraph (A)(iii), alternate earnings of stu- 20 dents who complete the program, which are sta- 21 tistically rigorous, accurate, comparable, and 22 representative of students who complete such 23 program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 496 IH ‘‘(ii) In a case in which the Secretary deter- 1 mines that a program provided inaccurate earnings 2 data under clause (i)(II) for purposes of receiving 3 provisional eligibility under clause (i), such program 4 shall return to the Secretary any funds received 5 under this title during the period beginning on first 6 date of the provisional eligibility period and ending 7 on the date of determination under this clause. 8 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall establish an appeals 9 process to permit eligible programs for purposes of 10 the Workforce Pell Grants program under section 11 401(k) to submit alternate earnings data to comply 12 with subparagraph (A)(iii), provided that such data 13 are statistically rigorous, accurate, comparable, and 14 representative of students who receive a Workforce 15 Pell Grant and complete the eligible program.’’. 16 SEC. 3. DATA COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION RELATED 17 TO WORKFORCE PELL. 18 Section 131 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 19 U.S.C. 1015) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘(i) DATA COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION RE- 22 LATED TO WORKFORCE PELL.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, on an 24 annual basis, collect, verify, and make publicly avail- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 496 IH able on the College Scorecard or any similar suc- 1 cessor website, the information required under 2 clause (i), subclauses (IV) and (V) of clause (ii), and 3 clause (iii), and of subsection (b)(3)(A) of section 4 481, with respect to each eligible program that 5 meets the requirements of section 481(b)(3), includ- 6 ing— 7 ‘‘(A) the length of the program (as meas- 8 ured in clock hours, credit hours, or weeks); 9 ‘‘(B) the number of students enrolled in 10 the eligible program during the most recent 11 academic year for which data is available; 12 ‘‘(C) the percentage of students who enroll 13 in the eligible program and who complete the 14 eligible program within— 15 ‘‘(i) 150 percent of the normal time 16 for completion of such program; and 17 ‘‘(ii) 200 percent of the normal time 18 for completion of such program; 19 ‘‘(D) the percentage of students who are 20 employed not later than 180 days after com- 21 pleting the eligible program; and 22 ‘‘(E) the percentage of individuals— 23 ‘‘(i) who have completed such eligible 24 program; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 496 IH ‘‘(ii) 3 years after such completion, 1 whose median earnings exceed 150 percent 2 of the poverty line applicable to a single in- 3 dividual, as determined under section 4 673(2) of the Community Services Block 5 Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)). 6 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding any other 7 provision of this subsection, if disclosure of any data 8 under paragraph (1) is prohibited under State or 9 Federal privacy laws or regulations, the Secretary 10 shall take such steps as the Secretary determines 11 necessary to make publicly available such data in ac- 12 cordance with such laws and regulations.’’. 13 SEC. 4. WORKFORCE PELL GRANTS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401 of the Higher Edu- 15 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a), as amended by sec- 16 tion 703 of the FAFSA Simplification Act (title VII of 17 division FF of Public Law 116–260), is amended by add- 18 ing at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(k) WORKFORCE PELL GRANTS PROGRAM.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the award year begin- 21 ning on July 1, 2024, and each subsequent award 22 year, the Secretary shall award grants (referred to 23 as ‘Workforce Pell Grants’) to eligible students 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 496 IH under paragraph (2) in accordance with this sub- 1 section. 2 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.—For award year 3 2024–2025 and each succeeding award year, to be 4 eligible to receive a Workforce Pell Grant under this 5 subsection for any period of enrollment, a student 6 shall meet the eligibility requirements for a Federal 7 Pell Grant under this section, except that the stu- 8 dent— 9 ‘‘(A) shall be enrolled, or accepted for en- 10 rollment, in an eligible program described in 11 section 481(b)(3); and 12 ‘‘(B) may not have received a 13 postbaccalaureate degree. 14 ‘‘(3) TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF AWARDS.— 15 The Secretary shall award Workforce Pell Grants 16 under this subsection in the same manner and with 17 the same terms and conditions as the Secretary 18 awards Federal Pell Grants under subsection (b), ex- 19 cept that a student who is eligible for a grant equal 20 to less than the amount of the minimum Federal 21 Pell Grant because the eligible workforce develop- 22 ment program in which the student is enrolled or ac- 23 cepted for enrollment is less than an academic year 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 496 IH (in hours of instruction or weeks of duration) may 1 still be eligible for a Workforce Pell Grant. 2 ‘‘(4) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No 3 eligible student described in paragraph (2) may, for 4 the same period of enrollment, receive both a grant 5 under this subsection and a Federal Pell Grant 6 under subsection (b).’’. 7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 8 subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in section 9 703 of the FAFSA Simplification Act (title VII of division 10 FF of Public Law 116–260; 134 Stat. 3191) and in ac- 11 cordance with section 701(b) of such Act. 12 SEC. 5. ACCREDITING AGENCY DETERMINATION OF ELIGI- 13 BILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR THE WORK- 14 FORCE PELL GRANTS PROGRAM. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 496(a)(4) of the Higher 16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b(a)(4)) is amend- 17 ed— 18 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 19 the end; 20 (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 21 at the end; and 22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(C) if such agency or association has or seeks 24 to include within its scope of recognition the evalua- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 496 IH tion of the quality of institutions offering an eligible 1 program for purposes of the Workforce Pell Grants 2 program (in accordance with section 481(b)(3)), 3 such agency or association shall, in addition to meet- 4 ing the other requirements of this subpart, dem- 5 onstrate to the Secretary that, with respect to such 6 eligible programs— 7 ‘‘(i) the agency’s or association’s standards 8 include a process for determining if the institu- 9 tion has the capability to effectively offer such 10 an eligible program; and 11 ‘‘(ii) the agency or association requires a 12 demonstration that the program— 13 ‘‘(I) satisfies the requirements of sub- 14 paragraph (A)(ii) of section 481(b)(3); and 15 ‘‘(II) provides academic content, an 16 amount of instructional time, and com- 17 petencies to satisfy any applicable edu- 18 cational requirement so that a student who 19 completes the program and seeks employ- 20 ment is qualified to practice or work in the 21 sectors or occupations that the program 22 prepares students to enter;’’. 23 (b) ADDITIONAL NACIQI REVIEW MEETINGS.—For 24 the purpose of preparing for the implementation of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 496 IH Workforce Pell Grant program under section 401(k) of the 1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (as added by section 4), 2 in addition to the meetings required under section 3 114(d)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 4 U.S.C. 1011c(d)(1)), the National Advisory Committee on 5 Institutional Quality and Integrity (as established by such 6 section 114) shall, through 2025, hold meetings to evalu- 7 ate the additions to the scope of recognition of accrediting 8 agencies and associations with respect to an eligible pro- 9 gram for purposes of the Workforce Pell Grants program 10 (in accordance with section 481(b)(3) of the Higher Edu- 11 cation Act of 1965, as added by section 2). 12 (c) INTERIM ACCREDITATION AUTHORITY.— 13 (1) NOTIFICATION.—Beginning on the date of 14 enactment of this Act, a qualified accrediting agency 15 or association which seeks to include within its scope 16 of recognition the evaluation of the quality of insti- 17 tutions offering eligible programs for the purposes of 18 the Workforce Pell Grants program, may include 19 within its scope of recognition the evaluation of such 20 institutions if the accrediting agency or associa- 21 tion— 22 (A) submits to the Secretary a notification 23 of the agency’s or association’s intent to add 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:39 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H496.IH H496 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 496 IH the evaluation of such institutions to its scope 1 of recognition; and 2 (B) includes with such notification an ex- 3 planation of how the agency or association in- 4 tends to meet the criteria under section 5 496(a)(4)(C) of the Higher Education Act of 6 1965 (as added by subsection (a)) with respect 7 to the evaluation of institutions for purposes of 8 the Workforce Pell Grants program. 9 (2) REVIEW OF SCOPE OF CHANGES.—Upon re- 10 ceipt of a notification from an accrediting agency or 11 association under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 12 direct the National Advisory Committee on Institu- 13 tional Quality and Integrity (as established by sec- 14 tion 114 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 15 U.S.C. 1011c)) to evaluate, at the next available 16 meeting of such Committee, the addition to the 17 scope of [Text truncated for display. 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