II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4874 

To establish an Early Federal Pell Grant Commitment Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To establish an Early Federal Pell Grant Commitment 

Program. 

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 ‘‘Early Pell Promise 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EARLY FEDERAL PELL GRANT COMMITMENT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 Subpart 1 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.) is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 401B. EARLY FEDERAL PELL GRANT COMMITMENT 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—The Secretary is au4 thorized to carry out an Early Federal Pell Grant Com5 mitment Program (referred to in this section as the ‘Pro6 gram’) under which the Secretary shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) award grants to States to pay the adminis8 trative expenses incurred in participating in the Pro9 gram; and 

10 ‘‘(2) make a commitment to award Federal Pell 

11 Grants to eligible students in accordance with this 

12 section. 

13 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The Program shall 

14 meet the following requirements: 

15 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A student shall be eli17 gible to receive a commitment from the Sec18 retary to receive a Federal Pell Grant early in 

19 the student’s academic career if the student— 

20 ‘‘(i) is in any of grades 8 through 12; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) is a member of a household re23 ceiving assistance under the supplemental 

24 nutrition assistance program established 

25 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 

26 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PELL GRANT COMMITMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

3 subparagraph (B), each eligible student who 

4 participates in the Program shall receive a com5 mitment from the Secretary to receive a Fed6 eral Pell Grant during the first 2 academic 

7 years that the student is in attendance at an in8 stitution of higher education as an under9 graduate student, if the student— 

10 ‘‘(i) applies for Federal financial aid 

11 (via the Free Application for Federal Stu12 dent Aid under section 483 (referred to in 

13 this section as ‘FAFSA’)) for the award 

14 year that the student will be in attendance 

15 at an institution of higher education; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) enrolls at such institution of 

17 higher education— 

18 ‘‘(I) not later than 1 year after 

19 such student receives a secondary 

20 school diploma or its recognized equiv21 alent; or 

22 ‘‘(II) if such student becomes a 

23 member of the Armed Forces, not 

24 later than 3 years after such student 


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1 is discharged, separated, or released 

2 from the Armed Forces. 

3 ‘‘(B) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible stu5 dent receives a commitment from the Sec6 retary to receive a Federal Pell Grant dur7 ing the first 2 academic years that the stu8 dent is in attendance at an institution of 

9 higher education as an undergraduate stu10 dent and the student is not a member of 

11 a household receiving assistance under the 

12 supplemental nutrition assistance program 

13 established under the Food and Nutrition 

14 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) at the 

15 time of the FAFSA application described 

16 in subparagraph (A)(i), then such student 

17 shall not receive a Federal Pell Grant pur18 suant to the commitment under this sec19 tion for the academic year, unless the stu20 dent, at the time of such FAFSA applica21 tion, is a member of a household that is el22 igible for benefits under— 

23 ‘‘(I) the supplemental security in24 come program under title XVI of the 


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1 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 

2 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(II) a State program funded 

4 under the temporary assistance for 

5 needy families program under part A 

6 of title IV of the Social Security Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

8 ‘‘(III) the Medicaid program 

9 under title XIX of the Social Security 

10 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); or 

11 ‘‘(IV) a means-tested Federal 

12 benefit program, not described in sub13 clause (I), (II), or (III), that is deter14 mined appropriate by the Secretary. 

15 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER AID.— 

16 A student who does not receive a Federal 

17 Pell Grant pursuant to the commitment 

18 under this section because such student is 

19 not a member of a household receiving as20 sistance under the supplemental nutrition 

21 assistance program established under the 

22 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 

23 2011 et seq.) at the time such student ap24 plies for Federal financial aid (via the 

25 FAFSA) and the student is not eligible for 


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1 benefits under a program described in 

2 clause (i), shall continue to be eligible for 

3 any other Federal student financial aid for 

4 which the student is otherwise eligible. 

5 ‘‘(C) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary 

6 shall identify for each eligible institution, each 

7 eligible student who attends that institution and 

8 participates in the Program, including students 

9 participating in accordance with subparagraph 

10 (B). 

11 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL PELL GRANT

12 REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of section 401 

13 shall apply to Federal Pell Grants awarded pursuant 

14 to this section, except that with respect to each eligi15 ble student who participates in the Program, the 

16 amount of each such eligible student’s Federal Pell 

17 Grant only shall be calculated by deeming such stu18 dent to have an expected family contribution or stu19 dent aid index, as applicable, equal to zero. 

20 ‘‘(c) STATE APPLICATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State desiring to par22 ticipate in the Program shall submit an application 

23 to the Secretary at such time and in such manner 

24 as the Secretary may require. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application shall in2 clude— 

3 ‘‘(A) a description of the proposed targeted 

4 information campaign for the Program and a 

5 copy of the plan described in subsection (e)(2); 

6 ‘‘(B) an assurance that the State will fully 

7 cooperate with the ongoing evaluation of the 

8 Program; 

9 ‘‘(C) a description of how the State will— 

10 ‘‘(i) encourage participating students 

11 to enroll in rigorous and challenging cur12 ricula and coursework, in order to reduce 

13 the need for remedial coursework at the 

14 postsecondary level; 

15 ‘‘(ii) increase the number of partici16 pating students who— 

17 ‘‘(I) obtain a secondary school di18 ploma; and 

19 ‘‘(II) complete applications for 

20 and enroll in a program of postsec21 ondary education; 

22 ‘‘(iii) introduce participating students 

23 to institutions of higher education, through 

24 trips and school-based sessions; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) provide participating students 

2 with assistance in the admissions and ap3 plication process for institutions of higher 

4 education or other postsecondary education 

5 programs; and 

6 ‘‘(v) ensure that each participating 

7 student has an educational development 

8 plan; and 

9 ‘‘(D) such other information as the Sec10 retary may require. 

11 ‘‘(3) EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—In 

12 this subsection, the term ‘educational development 

13 plan’ means an individualized plan for a student 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(A) contains a series of steps to help pro16 mote the student’s career awareness and explo17 ration; and 

18 ‘‘(B) assists students in identifying— 

19 ‘‘(i) career and technical education 

20 programs or programs of study (as those 

21 terms are defined in section 3 of the Carl 

22 D. Perkins Career and Technical Edu23 cation Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302), as in 

24 effect on July 1, 2019); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) other postsecondary options, in2 cluding baccalaureate and subbacca3 laureate degree programs. 

4 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appro6 priated under subsection (f) for a fiscal year, the 

7 Secretary shall reserve not less than 2 percent and 

8 not more than 5 percent to award a grant or con9 tract to an organization outside the Department for 

10 an independent evaluation of the impact of the Pro11 gram. 

12 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The grant or con13 tract shall be awarded on a competitive basis. 

14 ‘‘(3) MATTERS EVALUATED.—The evaluation 

15 described in this subsection shall consider metrics 

16 established by the Secretary that emphasize access 

17 to and success in institutions of higher education, 

18 encouraging low-income students to pursue higher 

19 education, and the cost effectiveness of the program. 

20 ‘‘(4) DISSEMINATION.—The findings of the 

21 evaluation shall be widely disseminated to the public 

22 by the organization conducting the evaluation as well 

23 as by the Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(e) TARGETED INFORMATION CAMPAIGN.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State receiving a 

2 grant under this section shall, in cooperation with 

3 the participating local educational agencies within 

4 the State and the Secretary, develop a targeted in5 formation campaign for the Program. 

6 ‘‘(2) PLAN.—Each State receiving a grant 

7 under this section shall include in the application 

8 submitted under subsection (c) a written plan for 

9 their proposed targeted information campaign. The 

10 plan shall include the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) OUTREACH.—Outreach to students 

12 and their families, at a minimum, at the begin13 ning and end of each academic year. 

14 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—How the State 

15 plans to provide the outreach described in sub16 paragraph (A) and to provide the information 

17 described in subparagraph (C). 

18 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION.—The annual provi19 sion by the State to all students and families 

20 participating in the Program of information re21 garding— 

22 ‘‘(i) the estimated national and state23 wide average higher education institution 

24 cost data for each academic year, which 

25 cost data shall be disaggregated by— 


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1 ‘‘(I) type of institution, includ2 ing— 

3 ‘‘(aa) 2-year public institu4 tions of higher education; 

5 ‘‘(bb) 4-year public institu6 tions of higher education; 

7 ‘‘(cc) 4-year private institu8 tions of higher education; and 

9 ‘‘(dd) private, for-profit in10 stitutions of higher education; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(II) component, including— 

13 ‘‘(aa) tuition and fees; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) room and board; 

15 ‘‘(ii) Federal Pell Grants, including— 

16 ‘‘(I) the maximum Federal Pell 

17 Grant for each academic year; 

18 ‘‘(II) when and how to apply for 

19 a Federal Pell Grant; and 

20 ‘‘(III) what the application proc21 ess for a Federal Pell Grant requires; 

22 ‘‘(iii) State-specific postsecondary edu23 cation savings programs; 

24 ‘‘(iv) State-based financial aid, includ25 ing State-based merit aid; 


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1 ‘‘(v) Federal financial aid available to 

2 students, including eligibility criteria for 

3 the Federal financial aid and an expla4 nation of the Federal financial aid pro5 grams; and 

6 ‘‘(vi) financial aid that may be avail7 able from non-governmental sources. 

8 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL INFORMATION.—The information 

9 described in paragraph (2)(C) shall be provided to 

10 eligible students annually for the duration of the 

11 students’ participation in the Program. 

12 ‘‘(4) RESERVATION.—Each State receiving a 

13 grant under this section shall reserve not less than 

14 10 percent of the grant funds received each fiscal 

15 year to carry out the targeted information campaign 

16 described in this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

19 such sums as may be necessary.’’. 


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