I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1871

To encourage partnerships between community colleges and four-year colleges 

and universities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2003

Mr. WU introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To encourage partnerships between community colleges and 

four-year colleges and universities.

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 ‘‘Community College 

5 Partnership Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COMMUNITY COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY; COLLEGE 

7 PREPARATION PROGRAMS AUTHORIZED. 

8 Subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu9 cation Act of 1965 is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating section 407E as section 

2 406E; and 

3 (2) by inserting after chapter 3 (20 U.S.C. 

4 1070a–31 et seq.) the following new chapter: 

5 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

6 OPPORTUNITY 

7 ‘‘SEC. 407A. PURPOSE. 

8 ‘‘It is the purpose of this chapter to enhance opportu9 nities of students at community or technical colleges to 

10 transfer to 4-year institutions and complete bachelor’s de11 grees. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 407B. ACTIVITIES. 

13 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap14 propriated under section 407D, the Secretary shall award 

15 grants to an eligible partnership that includes—

16 ‘‘(1) 1 or more community or technical colleges 

17 that award associate’s degrees; and 

18 ‘‘(2) 1 or more institutions of higher education 

19 that offer a baccalaureate or postbaccalaureate de20 gree not awarded by the institutions described in 

21 paragraph (1) with which it is partnered. 

22 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this 

23 part shall be used for—

24 ‘‘(1) the development of policies to expand op25 portunities for community or technical college stu-
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1 dents to earn bachelor’s degrees, including pro2 moting the transfer of academic credits between in3 stitutions and expanding articulation and guaran4 teed transfer agreements; 

5 ‘‘(2) support services to students participating 

6 in the program, such as tutoring, mentoring, and 

7 academic and personal counseling, as well as any 

8 service that facilitates the transition of students 

9 from the community or technical college to the part10 ner institution; 

11 ‘‘(3) need-based scholarships to transfer stu12 dents for their 3d and 4th years of undergraduate 

13 education; 

14 ‘‘(4) academic program enhancements at the 

15 community or technical college that result in increas16 ing the quality of the program offered and the num17 ber of student participants in the dual degree pro18 gram offered in conjunction with a baccalaureate de19 gree granting institution; and 

20 ‘‘(5) programs to identify barriers that inhibit 

21 student transfers. 

22 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—Any institution, or a consortia 

23 or system of higher education, that desires to obtain a 

24 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary an 

25 application at such time, in such manner, and containing 
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1 such information or assurances as the Secretary may re2 quire. 

3 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

4 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 

5 section. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 407C. SCHOLARSHIPS. 

7 ‘‘(a) AMOUNTS.—Scholarships awarded under this 

8 chapter shall, to the extent possible from the funds avail9 able, provide the additional amount of tuition and fees 

10 charged the participating student by the partner institu11 tion in excess of the amount of tuition and fees charged 

12 the student by the community or technical college. 

13 ‘‘(b) EFFECT ON OTHER AID.—Scholarships award14 ed under this chapter shall not be considered for the pur15 poses of awarding Federal Pell Grants under subpart 1 

16 of part A of title IV, except that in no case shall the total 

17 amount of student financial assistance awarded to a stu18 dent under this chapter and title IV exceed the student’s 

19 cost of attendance, as defined in section 472. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 407D. DEFINITION. 

21 ‘‘For the purpose of this part, the term ‘community 

22 or technical college’ means an institution of higher edu23 cation—

24 ‘‘(1) that admits as regular students persons 

25 who are beyond the age of compulsory school attend-
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1 ance in the State in which the institution is located 

2 and who have the ability to benefit from the training 

3 offered by the institution; 

4 ‘‘(2) that predominately does not provide an 

5 educational program for which it awards a bach6 elor’s degree (or an equivalent degree); 

7 ‘‘(3) that—

8 ‘‘(A) provides an educational program of 

9 not less than 2 years that is acceptable for full 

10 credit toward such a degree; or 

11 ‘‘(B) offers a 2-year program in engineer12 ing, mathematics, or the physical or biological 

13 sciences, designed to prepare a student to work 

14 as a technician or at the semiprofessional level 

15 in engineering, scientific, or other technological 

16 fields requiring the understanding and applica17 tion of basic engineering, scientific, or mathe18 matical principles of knowledge; and 

19 ‘‘(4) that is accredited by a regional accrediting 

20 agency or association recognized by the Secretary 

21 under section 496. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 407E. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated 

24 $70,000,000 to carry out this chapter for fiscal year 2004 
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1 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 3 suc2 ceeding fiscal years.’’.

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