II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 839 

To extend Federal Pell Grant eligibility of certain short-term programs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2019 

Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. PORTMAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. 

CAPITO, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. BROWN, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, and Mr. CARDIN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions 

A BILL 

To extend Federal Pell Grant eligibility of certain shortterm programs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jumpstart Our Busi5 nesses by Supporting Students Act of 2019’’ or the 

6 ‘‘JOBS Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXTENDING FEDERAL PELL GRANT ELIGIBILITY OF 

2 CERTAIN SHORT-TERM PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401 of the Higher Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by in5 serting after subsection (j) the following: 

6 ‘‘(k) JOB TRAINING FEDERAL PELL GRANT PRO7 GRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

9 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE CAREER PATHWAY PRO10 GRAM.—The term ‘eligible career pathway pro11 gram’ means a program that— 

12 ‘‘(i) meets the requirements of section 

13 484(d)(2); 

14 ‘‘(ii) is listed on the provider list 

15 under section 122(d) of the Workforce In16 novation and Opportunity Act; 

17 ‘‘(iii) is part of a career pathway, as 

18 defined in section 3 of that Act; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) is aligned to a program of study 

20 as defined in section 3 of the Carl D. Per21 kins Career and Technical Education Act 

22 of 2006. 

23 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE JOB TRAINING PRO24 GRAM.— 

25 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible 

26 job training program’ means a career and 


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1 technical education program at an institu2 tion of higher education that— 

3 ‘‘(I) provides not less than 150, 

4 and not more than 600, clock hours of 

5 instructional time over a period of not 

6 less than 8 weeks and not more than 

7 15 weeks; 

8 ‘‘(II) provides training aligned 

9 with the requirements of high-skill, 

10 high-wage, or in-demand industry sec11 tors or occupations in the State or 

12 local area, as determined by an indus13 try or sector partnership; 

14 ‘‘(III) is a program of training 

15 services, and provided through an eli16 gible training provider, as described 

17 under section 122(d) of the Workforce 

18 Innovation and Opportunity Act; 

19 ‘‘(IV) provides a student, upon 

20 completion of the program, with a rec21 ognized postsecondary credential that 

22 is recognized by employers in the rel23 evant industry, including credentials 

24 recognized by industry or sector part25 nerships in the relevant industry in 


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1 the State or local area where the in2 dustry is located and the job training 

3 program is provided; 

4 ‘‘(V) has been determined by the 

5 institution of higher education (after 

6 validation of that determination by an 

7 industry or sector partnership) to pro8 vide academic content, an amount of 

9 instructional time, and a recognized 

10 postsecondary credential that are suf11 ficient to— 

12 ‘‘(aa) meet the hiring re13 quirements of potential employ14 ers; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) satisfy any applicable 

16 educational prerequisite require17 ment for professional licensure or 

18 certification, so that the student 

19 who completes the program and 

20 seeks employment qualifies to 

21 take any licensure or certification 

22 examination needed to practice or 

23 find employment in an occupa24 tion that the program prepares 

25 students to enter; 


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1 ‘‘(VI) may include integrated 

2 education and training; 

3 ‘‘(VII) may be offered as part of 

4 an eligible career pathway program; 

5 ‘‘(VIII) does not exceed by more 

6 than 50 percent the minimum number 

7 of clock hours required for training if 

8 the State has established such a re9 quirement; and 

10 ‘‘(IX) shall include institutional 

11 credit articulation for a student en12 rolled in a noncredit job training pro13 gram. 

14 ‘‘(ii) APPROVAL BY THE SEC15 RETARY.—In the case of a program that is 

16 seeking to establish eligibility as an eligible 

17 job training program under this subpara18 graph, the Secretary shall make a deter19 mination about whether the program meets 

20 the requirements of this subparagraph not 

21 more than 60 days after the date on which 

22 such program is submitted for consider23 ation as an eligible job training program. 

24 ‘‘(iii) ADDITIONAL ASSURANCE.—The 

25 Secretary shall not determine that a proVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839

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1 gram is an eligible job training program in 

2 accordance with clause (ii) unless the Sec3 retary receives a certification from the ap4 propriate State board containing an assur5 ance that the program meets the require6 ments of clause (i). 

7 ‘‘(C) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU8 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu9 cation’ means— 

10 ‘‘(i) an institution of higher education, 

11 as defined in section 101; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) a postsecondary vocational insti13 tution, as defined in section 102(c). 

14 ‘‘(D) INSTITUTIONAL CREDIT ARTICULA15 TION.—The term ‘institutional credit articula16 tion’ means an institution of higher education 

17 provides a student who has completed a non18 credit program with the equivalent academic 

19 credit that may be applied to a subsequent 

20 credit-bearing certificate or degree program 

21 upon enrollment in such program at such insti22 tution. 

23 ‘‘(E) WIOA DEFINITIONS.—The terms ‘in24 dustry or sector partnership’, ‘in-demand indus25 try sector or occupation’, ‘recognized postsecVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Mar 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839

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1 ondary credential’, and ‘State board’ have the 

2 meanings given such terms in section 3 of the 

3 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 

4 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—For the award year begin5 ning on July 1, 2019, and each subsequent award 

6 year, the Secretary shall carry out a program 

7 through which the Secretary shall award Federal 

8 Pell Grants to students in eligible job training pro9 grams (referred to as a ‘job training Federal Pell 

10 Grant’). Each eligible job training Federal Pell 

11 Grant awarded under this subsection shall have the 

12 same terms and conditions, and be awarded in the 

13 same manner, as a Federal Pell Grant awarded 

14 under subsection (a), except as follows: 

15 ‘‘(A) A student who is eligible to receive a 

16 job training Federal Pell Grant under this sub17 section is a student who— 

18 ‘‘(i) has not yet attained a 

19 postbaccalaureate degree; 

20 ‘‘(ii) attends an institution of higher 

21 education; 

22 ‘‘(iii) is enrolled, or accepted for en23 rollment, in an eligible job training pro24 gram at such institution of higher edu25 cation; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) meets all other eligibility re2 quirements for a Federal Pell Grant (ex3 cept with respect to the type of program of 

4 study, as provided in clause (iii)). 

5 ‘‘(B) The amount of a job training Federal 

6 Pell Grant for an eligible student shall be deter7 mined under subsection (b), except that sub8 section (b)(4) shall not apply. 

9 ‘‘(3) INCLUSION IN TOTAL ELIGIBILITY PE10 RIOD.—Any period during which a student receives 

11 a job training Federal Pell Grant under this sub12 section shall be included in calculating the student’s 

13 period of eligibility for Federal Pell Grants under 

14 subsection (c), and the eligibility requirements re15 garding students who are enrolled in an under16 graduate program on less than a full-time basis shall 

17 similarly apply to students who are enrolled in an el18 igible job training program at an eligible institution 

19 on less than a full-time basis.’’. 

20 (b) ACCREDITING AGENCY RECOGNITION OF ELIGI21 BLE JOB TRAINING PROGRAMS.—Section 496(a)(4) of the 

22 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b(a)(4)) 

23 is amended— 

24 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

25 after the semicolon; 


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1 (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

2 after the semicolon; and 

3 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(C) if such agency or association has or 

5 seeks to include within its scope of recognition 

6 the evaluation of the quality of institutions of 

7 higher education participating in the job train8 ing Federal Pell Grant program under section 

9 401(k), such agency or association shall, in ad10 dition to meeting the other requirements of this 

11 subpart, demonstrate to the Secretary that, 

12 with respect to such eligible job training pro13 grams (as defined in that subsection)— 

14 ‘‘(i) the agency or association’s stand15 ards include a process for determining if 

16 the institution has the capability to effec17 tively offer an eligible job training pro18 gram; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the agency or association re20 quires a demonstration that the program— 

21 ‘‘(I) has identified each recog22 nized postsecondary credential offered 

23 and the corresponding industry or sec24 tor partnership that actively recog25 nizes each credential in the relevant 


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1 industry in the State or local area 

2 where the industry is located; and 

3 ‘‘(II) provides the academic con4 tent and amount of instructional time 

5 that is sufficient to— 

6 ‘‘(aa) meet the hiring re7 quirements of potential employ8 ers; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) satisfy any applicable 

10 educational prerequisites for pro11 fessional licensure or certification 

12 requirements so that the student 

13 who completes the program and 

14 seeks employment qualifies to 

15 take any licensure or certification 

16 examination that is needed to 

17 practice or find employment in 

18 an occupation that the program 

19 prepares students to enter.’’. 

20 (c) INTERAGENCY DATA SHARING.—The Secretary 

21 of Education shall coordinate and enter into a data shar22 ing agreement with the Secretary of Labor to ensure ac23 cess to data related to indicators of performance collected 

24 under section 116 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor25 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3141). Under such data sharing 


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1 agreement, the Commissioner of the National Center for 

2 Education Statistics shall collect and review the contents 

3 of performance reports for eligible providers of training 

4 services described in section 116(d)(4) of that Act not less 

5 frequently than once each year. 

6 (d) MINIMUM FEDERAL PELL GRANT.—Section 

7 401(b)(4) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘ten percent’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘5 percent’’. 

10 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend11 ments made by this section, shall take effect on July 1, 

12 2019. 

Æ 


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