Pell Grant Protection Act

Summary: Pell Grant Protection Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to set the maximum Federal Pell Grant for which a student may be eligible for an award year at a specified amount, increased for inflation each year, plus any additional amount specified in the last enacted appropriation Act applicable to that award year. Appropriates for FY2015 and each succeeding fiscal year such sums as may be necessary to provide, in combination with any amounts separately appropriated for the additional Pell Grant amount, each eligible student with the maximum Pell Grant amount, minus the student's expected family contribution. (This converts the Pell Grant program into a mandatory spending program.) Directs the Secretary of Education to award an additional Pell Grant to an eligible student who: (1) has received a Pell Grant for an award year, and (2) is enrolled in a program of study for one or more additional payment periods during the same award year that are not otherwise covered by the Pell Grant.  Permits the total amount of the Pell Grants awarded to such student for the award year to exceed the total maximum Pell Grant for such award year.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pell Grant Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to restore the role of Federal Pell 
Grants as the foundational Federal investment in higher education, in 
order to strengthen the economy of the United States by improving 
opportunities for low-income students to complete higher education and 
join the middle class.

SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Federal Pell Grants provided under section 401 of the 
        Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) (referred to in 
        this Act as ``Federal Pell Grants'') have historically been the 
        fundamental Federal investment in helping low-income students 
        pay for college and enter the middle class. In the 1979-1980 
        academic year, the maximum Federal Pell Grant paid for 77 
        percent of the average cost of attendance at an in-State, 4-
        year institution of higher education. However, in the 2012-2013 
        academic year, the maximum Federal Pell Grant covered only 
        about 30 percent of that average cost of attendance.
            (2) The program providing Federal Pell Grants already acts 
        as a quasi-entitlement, in which both mandatory funding and 
        discretionary funding combine to maintain a maximum Federal 
        Pell Grant amount.
            (3) The Congressional Budget Office reports on any overall 
        financial surplus or shortfall in the funding provided for the 
        Federal Pell Grant program. However, in recent years, in order 
        to meet the maximum Federal Pell Grant level with the provided 
        level of funding, Congress has made cuts to the program through 
        imposing additional eligibility requirements for Federal Pell 
        Grants and limiting the availability of year-round Federal Pell 
        Grants, causing significant uncertainty and reducing access to 
        higher education for millions of hardworking college students.
            (4) Removing the Federal Pell Grant program from the 
        uncertainty of the congressional discretionary appropriations 
        process will improve student access to, and the affordability 
        of, higher education.
            (5) The ``traditional student'' who attends college for 4 
        years immediately after high school is now a minority of 
        college students today. Ambitious students now need more 
        flexibility to attend school year-round while juggling work 
        schedules.
            (6) Section 1860 of the Department of Defense and Full-Year 
        Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (Public Law 112-10, 125 
        Stat. 169) eliminated the provision of the Federal Pell Grant 
        program of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et 
        seq.) that allowed 2 Federal Pell Grant awards per year, 
        creating significant hardship for many students trying to take 
        courses over the summer or outside the traditional school 
        calendar. Allowing students to continue to receive Federal Pell 
        Grants in successive semesters, without a gap, would reduce the 
        time needed to complete their degrees.

SEC. 4. CONVERTING THE TRADITIONAL FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM TO A 
              MANDATORY SPENDING PROGRAM.

    (a) Legislative Provisions.--Section 401(b) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking clauses (i) and (ii) and 
                        inserting the following:
                            ``(i)(I) for award year 2014-2015, $5,730; 
                        or
                            ``(II) for award year 2015-2016 and each 
                        subsequent award year, the amount of the 
                        maximum Federal Pell Grant determined under 
                        this clause for the immediately preceding award 
                        year, increased by a percentage equal to the 
                        estimated percentage increase, if any, in the 
                        Consumer Price Index (as determined by the 
                        Secretary, using the definition in section 
                        478(f)) for the most recent calendar year 
                        ending prior to the beginning of that award 
                        year; plus
                            ``(ii) any additional amount specified for 
                        the maximum Federal Pell Grant in the last 
                        enacted appropriation Act applicable to that 
                        award year, less''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(C)(i) For fiscal year 2015 and each succeeding fiscal year, 
there are appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated, such sums as may be necessary to provide, in combination 
with any amounts separately appropriated under subparagraph (A)(ii), 
Federal Pell Grants under this section in the amount specified in 
subparagraph (A) to all eligible students.
    ``(ii) The amounts made available by clause (i) for any fiscal year 
shall be available beginning on October 1 of that fiscal year, and 
shall remain available through September 30 of the succeeding fiscal 
year.''; and
            (2) by striking paragraph (7).
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to Federal Pell Grants awarded under section 401 of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) for award year 2014-
2015 and each succeeding award year.

SEC. 5. YEAR-ROUND FEDERAL PELL GRANT STUDENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 401(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)), as amended by section 4, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(7) Year-Round Federal Pell Grant Students.--
            ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this subsection, the Secretary shall award, to an eligible 
        student who has received a Federal Pell Grant for an award year 
        and is enrolled in a program of study for 1 or more additional 
        payment periods during the same award year that are not 
        otherwise covered by the student's Federal Pell Grant, an 
        additional Federal Pell Grant for the additional payment 
        periods.
            ``(B) Amounts.--In the case of a student receiving more 
        than one Federal Pell Grant in a single award year under 
        subparagraph (A), the total amount of the Federal Pell Grants 
        awarded to such student for the award year may exceed the total 
        maximum Federal Pell Grant for such award year, as calculated 
        under clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (2)(A).
            ``(C) Inclusion in duration limit.--Any period of study 
        covered by a Federal Pell Grant awarded under subparagraph (A) 
        shall be included in determining a student's duration limit 
        under subsection (c)(5).
    ``(8) Crossover Period.--In any case where an eligible student is 
receiving a Federal Pell Grant for a payment period that spans 2 award 
years, the Secretary shall allow the eligible institution in which the 
student is enrolled to determine the award year to which the additional 
period shall be assigned.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on July 1, 2014.