College for All Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1963 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure College for All. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to ensure College for All. 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 ‘‘College for All Act 4 of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—FEDERAL-STATE PARTNERSHIP TO FULLY ELIMINATE TUITION AND REQUIRED FEES VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1963 IS Sec. 101. Federal-State partnership to fully eliminate tuition and required fees. TITLE II—GRANT PROGRAM TO ELIMINATE TUITION AND FEES FOR ELIGIBLE STUDENTS AT PRIVATE NONPROFIT HISTORI- CALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AND MINORITY- SERVING INSTITUTIONS Sec. 201. Grant program to eliminate tuition and fees for eligible students at private nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions. Sec. 202. Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, United States Virgin Is- lands, Guam, and Freely Associated States college access. TITLE III—FEDERAL PELL GRANT IMPROVEMENTS Sec. 301. Federal Pell Grant improvements. TITLE IV—INCLUSIVE STUDENT SUCCESS GRANTS Sec. 401. Inclusive student success grants. TITLE V—INCREASING SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS Sec. 501. Increasing success for low-income and first generation students. TITLE VI—INVESTMENTS IN HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES, TRIBAL COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES, AND OTHER MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTIONS Sec. 601. Appropriations for historically Black colleges and universities, Tribal colleges and universities, and minority-serving institutions. TITLE VII—SNYDER ACT Sec. 701. Rule of construction regarding the Snyder Act. TITLE I—FEDERAL-STATE PART- 1 NERSHIP TO FULLY ELIMI- 2 NATE TUITION AND RE- 3 QUIRED FEES 4 SEC. 101. FEDERAL-STATE PARTNERSHIP TO FULLY ELIMI- 5 NATE TUITION AND REQUIRED FEES. 6 Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1963 IS ‘‘PART F—COLLEGE FOR ALL 1 ‘‘Subpart 1—Grants for Tuition-Free Public College 2 ‘‘SEC. 783. PURPOSE. 3 ‘‘The purpose of this subpart is to establish a Fed- 4 eral-State partnership with States and Tribal Colleges and 5 Universities to provide for the elimination of tuition and 6 required fees for eligible students. 7 ‘‘SEC. 784. DEFINITIONS. 8 ‘‘In this subpart: 9 ‘‘(1) AWARD YEAR.—The term ‘award year’ has 10 the meaning given the term in section 481(a). 11 ‘‘(2) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘community 13 college’ means— 14 ‘‘(i) a public institution of higher edu- 15 cation at which— 16 ‘‘(I) the highest degree awarded 17 is an associate degree; or 18 ‘‘(II) an associate degree is the 19 most frequently awarded degree; 20 ‘‘(ii) a public postsecondary vocational 21 institution, as defined under section 22 102(c); or 23 ‘‘(iii) at the designation of the Sec- 24 retary, in the case of a State in which 25 there is no community college operated or 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1963 IS controlled by the State that meets a defini- 1 tion under clause (i) or (ii), a college or 2 similarly defined and structured academic 3 entity— 4 ‘‘(I) that was in existence on 5 July 1, 2023; 6 ‘‘(II) within a public 4-year insti- 7 tution of higher education; and 8 ‘‘(III) at which— 9 ‘‘(aa) the highest degree 10 awarded is an associate degree; 11 or 12 ‘‘(bb) an associate degree is 13 the most frequently awarded de- 14 gree. 15 ‘‘(B) COMMUNITY COLLEGES OPERATED 16 OR CONTROLLED BY A STATE TO INCLUDE COM- 17 MUNITY COLLEGES OPERATED OR CONTROLLED 18 BY LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WITHIN THE 19 STATE.—The terms ‘community college oper- 20 ated or controlled by a State’ and ‘community 21 college operated or controlled by the State’ in- 22 cludes a community college operated or con- 23 trolled by a local government within such State. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1963 IS ‘‘(3) COST OF ATTENDANCE.—The term ‘cost of 1 attendance’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 2 tion 472. 3 ‘‘(4) DUAL OR CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT 4 PROGRAM.—The term ‘dual or concurrent enrollment 5 program’ has the meaning given the term in section 6 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 7 Act of 1965. 8 ‘‘(5) EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL.—The 9 term ‘early college high school’ has the meaning 10 given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary 11 and Secondary Education Act of 1965. 12 ‘‘(6) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible stu- 14 dent’ means an individual, regardless of age or 15 immigration status, who has not obtained a 16 baccalaureate degree or higher degree and— 17 ‘‘(i) in the case of a student enrolled 18 in a community college or a 2-year Tribal 19 College or University— 20 ‘‘(I) is enrolled, or plans to en- 21 roll, as an undergraduate student in 22 an eligible program (as defined in sec- 23 tion 481(b)) at a community college in 24 the State in which the individual is a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1963 IS resident or in a 2-year Tribal College 1 or University; 2 ‘‘(II) and who is enrolled in a 3 community college that charges dif- 4 ferent tuition rates on the basis on 5 residency, either— 6 ‘‘(aa) qualifies for in-State 7 resident tuition at such commu- 8 nity college; or 9 ‘‘(bb) would qualify for such 10 in-State resident tuition at such 11 community college, but for the 12 student’s immigration status; 13 ‘‘(III) is not enrolled in a dual or 14 concurrent enrollment program or an 15 early college high school; and 16 ‘‘(IV) who is eligible to complete 17 the Free Application for Federal Stu- 18 dent Aid under section 483(a), has 19 filed such application for the applica- 20 ble award year for which the student 21 is enrolled; or 22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a student enrolled 23 in an eligible 4-year institution of higher 24 education— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1963 IS ‘‘(I) is enrolled, or plans to en- 1 roll, as an undergraduate student in 2 an eligible program (as defined in sec- 3 tion 481(b)) at a public 4-year institu- 4 tion of higher education or in a 4-year 5 Tribal College or University; 6 ‘‘(II) is a working class or middle 7 class student, as described in section 8 787(a)(3); 9 ‘‘(III) who is enrolled in a public 10 4-year institution of higher education 11 that charges different tuition rates 12 based on residency, either— 13 ‘‘(aa) qualifies for in-State 14 resident tuition at such institu- 15 tion; or 16 ‘‘(bb) would qualify for such 17 in-State resident tuition at such 18 institution, but for the student’s 19 immigration status; 20 ‘‘(IV) is not enrolled in a dual or 21 concurrent enrollment program or an 22 early college high school; and 23 ‘‘(V) who is eligible to complete 24 the Free Application for Federal Stu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1963 IS dent Aid under section 483(a), has 1 filed such application for the applica- 2 ble award year for which the student 3 is enrolled. 4 ‘‘(B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—For pur- 5 poses of subparagraph (A), in-State resident 6 tuition includes in-district tuition and out-of- 7 district in-State tuition. 8 ‘‘(7) 4-YEAR TRIBAL COLLEGE OR UNIVER- 9 SITY.—The term ‘4-year Tribal College or Univer- 10 sity’ means a Tribal College or University that is not 11 a 2-year Tribal College or University. 12 ‘‘(8) FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT STUDENTS.—The 13 term ‘full-time equivalent students’ means the sum 14 of the number of students enrolled full time at an 15 institution, plus the full-time equivalent of the num- 16 ber of students enrolled part time (determined on 17 the basis of the quotient of the sum of the credit 18 hours of all part-time students divided by 12) at 19 such institution. 20 ‘‘(9) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 21 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 22 meaning given the term in section 101(a). 23 ‘‘(10) NET PRICE.—The term ‘net price’ means 24 the difference between cost of attendance and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1963 IS sum of only grants and institutional and State schol- 1 arships. 2 ‘‘(11) PUBLIC 4-YEAR INSTITUTION OF HIGHER 3 EDUCATION.—The term ‘public 4-year institution of 4 higher education’ means a public institution of high- 5 er education that is not a community college. 6 ‘‘(12) REVERSE TRANSFER POLICY.—The term 7 ‘reverse transfer policy’ means a policy or program 8 that allows an institution of higher education to— 9 ‘‘(A) implement a process of retroactively 10 granting a certificate or associate degree to a 11 student who had not completed the require- 12 ments for such certificate or degree before the 13 student transferred; or 14 ‘‘(B) allow academic credits for coursework 15 completed at a 4-year institution of higher edu- 16 cation to be applied to a previously attended 17 community college for the purpose of obtaining 18 an associate degree or a certificate. 19 ‘‘(13) STATE FISCAL SUPPORT FOR HIGHER 20 EDUCATION.— 21 ‘‘(A) INCLUSIONS.— 22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 23 vided in subparagraph (B), the term ‘State 24 fiscal support for higher education’, used 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1963 IS with respect to a State for such State’s fis- 1 cal year, means an amount that is equal 2 to— 3 ‘‘(I) the amount of applicable 4 State funds appropriated by the 5 State, including funds from lottery re- 6 ceipts, in the fiscal year, that are used 7 to support institutions of higher edu- 8 cation and student financial aid for 9 higher education in the State; and 10 ‘‘(II) any funds described in 11 clause (ii), if applicable. 12 ‘‘(ii) LOCAL FUNDS.—In the case of a 13 State that includes, as part of the State 14 share under section 786(b)(2)(B) for an 15 award year, funds provided to community 16 colleges by local governments in such State 17 for the purpose of carrying out this sub- 18 part, local funds provided to community 19 colleges operated or controlled by the State 20 for operating expenses (excluding capital 21 expenses, research and development costs, 22 and local funds that are included in the 23 State share under section 786(b)(2)(B)) 24 shall be included in the calculation of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1963 IS State fiscal support for higher education 1 under clause (i). 2 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—State fiscal support 3 for higher education for a State fiscal year does 4 not include— 5 ‘‘(i) funds described in subparagraph 6 (A) that are returned to the State; 7 ‘‘(ii) State-appropriated funds derived 8 from Federal sources, including funds pro- 9 vided under sections 786(a) and 801; 10 ‘‘(iii) funds that are included in the 11 State share under section 786(b), except as 12 provided in subparagraph (A)(ii), including 13 funds included in the State share in ac- 14 cordance with paragraph (2)(A) of such 15 section; 16 ‘‘(iv) amounts that are portions of 17 multiyear appropriations to be distributed 18 over multiple years that are not to be 19 spent for the year for which the calculation 20 under this paragraph is being made, sub- 21 ject to subparagraph (C); 22 ‘‘(v) tuition, fees, or other educational 23 charges paid directly by a student to an in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1963 IS stitution of higher education or to the 1 State; 2 ‘‘(vi) funds for— 3 ‘‘(I) financial aid to students at- 4 tending, or operating expenses of— 5 ‘‘(aa) out-of-State institu- 6 tions of higher education (includ- 7 ing for the purpose of exclusive 8 online enrollment at an out-of- 9 State institution); 10 ‘‘(bb) proprietary institu- 11 tions of higher education (as de- 12 fined in section 102(b)); or 13 ‘‘(cc) institutions of higher 14 education not accredited by an 15 agency or association recognized 16 by the Secretary pursuant to sec- 17 tion 496; 18 ‘‘(II) financial aid to students 19 awarded predominantly or signifi- 20 cantly on the basis of merit; 21 ‘‘(III) research and development; 22 or 23 ‘‘(IV) hospitals, athletics, or 24 other auxiliary enterprises; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jul 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1963.IS S1963 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1963 IS ‘‘(vii) corporate or other private dona- 1 tions directed to 1 or more institutions of 2 higher education permitted to be expended 3 by the State; and 4 ‘‘(viii) any other funds that the Sec- 5 retary determines shall not be included in 6 the calculation of State fiscal support for 7 higher education for such State. 8 ‘‘(C) ADJUSTMENTS FOR BIENNIAL APPRO- 9 PRIATIONS.—The Secretary shall make adjust- 10 ments to the calculations under this paragraph 11 to accurately reflect State fiscal support for 12 higher education in States with 2-year appro- 13 priation cycles. 14 ‘‘(14) STATE FISCAL SUPPORT FOR HIGHER 15 EDUCATION PER FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT STU- 16 DENT.—The term ‘State fiscal support for higher 17 education per full-time equivalent student’, when 18 used with respect to a State for [Text truncated for display. 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