II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 840 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow the Secretary of 

Education to award Early College Federal Pell Grants. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 5 (legislative day, APRIL 4), 2017 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow the 

Secretary of Education to award Early College Federal 

Pell Grants. 

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 ‘‘Go to High School, 

5 Go to College Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EARLY COLLEGE FEDERAL PELL GRANT. 

7 Section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(k) EARLY COLLEGE FEDERAL PELL GRANTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the re3 quirement under section 484(a)(1) that a student 

4 not been enrolled in an elementary or secondary 

5 school to be eligible to receive a Federal Pell Grant 

6 under this section, for the award years beginning on 

7 July 1, 2017, and ending on June 30, 2023, the 

8 Secretary shall carry out a program to award Early 

9 College Federal Pell Grants to eligible students to 

10 support enrollment in, and completion of, postsec11 ondary courses offered through an early college high 

12 school. 

13 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM PERIOD FOR EARLY COLLEGE

14 FEDERAL PELL GRANTS.—An eligible student may 

15 receive an Early College Federal Pell Grant under 

16 this subsection in an amount equal to the cost of not 

17 more than 4 full-time postsecondary semesters, or 

18 the equivalent of 4 full-time postsecondary semes19 ters, as determined by the Secretary by regulation, 

20 while enrolled in postsecondary courses offered by an 

21 early college high school. 

22 ‘‘(3) COUNTING OF AWARDS FOR PURPOSES OF

23 FEDERAL PELL GRANTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An Early College Fed25 eral Pell Grant received under this subsection 


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1 shall be counted toward the maximum period 

2 for which a student may receive Federal Pell 

3 Grants under this section, as provided under 

4 subsection (c)(5). 

5 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive 

6 the requirement under subparagraph (A) on a 

7 case-by-case basis for any student dem8 onstrating evidence of a credible disruption or 

9 redirection in course of study necessitating ad10 ditional time to complete a postsecondary de11 gree or credential. 

12 ‘‘(4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

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

14 this subsection, an Early College Federal Pell 

15 Grant received under this subsection shall have 

16 the same terms and conditions, and be awarded 

17 in the same manner, as Federal Pell Grants 

18 awarded under this section. 

19 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM COMPLETION.—An eligible 

20 student may only receive an Early College Fed21 eral Pell Grant under this subsection upon com22 pletion of a full-time postsecondary semester, or 

23 the equivalent of a full-time postsecondary se24 mester, as determined by the Secretary by regu25 lation. 


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1 ‘‘(C) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall pay 

2 an eligible institution that is engaged in a part3 nership as part of an early college high school 

4 an amount equal to the cost of tuition, fees, 

5 and books for each postsecondary course (in6 cluding with respect to the postsecondary 

7 courses completed to satisfy the requirement 

8 under subparagraph (B)) an eligible student 

9 completes through such early college high 

10 school, provided such eligible student satisfies 

11 the requirement under subparagraph (B). 

12 ‘‘(5) REPORTING.—Each early college high 

13 school shall annually submit to the Secretary a re14 port on the program of postsecondary courses pro15 vided to eligible students that includes the following 

16 information that is reported for all eligible students 

17 and disaggregated by each student subgroup of eligi18 ble students: 

19 ‘‘(A) Total number and percentage of eligi20 ble students who enroll in and subsequently 

21 complete the program at the early college high 

22 school. 

23 ‘‘(B) The number of postsecondary credits 

24 earned by eligible students while enrolled in the 

25 early college high school that may be applied toVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:27 Apr 11, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S840.IS S840

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1 ward a postsecondary degree or credential pro2 gram. 

3 ‘‘(C) The percentage of eligible students 

4 enrolled in the early college high school who 

5 concurrently earn a secondary school diploma 

6 and an associate degree or equivalent. 

7 ‘‘(D) The percentage of early college high 

8 school graduates completing the program who 

9 enroll in a postsecondary institution. 

10 ‘‘(E) The total amount of Early College 

11 Federal Pell Grants awarded to eligible stu12 dents served by the early college high school. 

13 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

14 ‘‘(A) EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL.— 

15 The term ‘early college high school’ has the 

16 meaning given the term in section 8101 of the 

17 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

18 1965. 

19 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term 

20 ‘eligible institution’ means an institution that— 

21 ‘‘(i) complies with the existing re22 quirements of being an eligible institution 

23 under this title; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) demonstrates that it— 


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1 ‘‘(I) is participating in a state2 wide articulation agreement; 

3 ‘‘(II) has an articulation agree4 ment in place with at least one public 

5 institution of higher education; or 

6 ‘‘(III) has a track record of stu7 dents successfully transferring credits 

8 earned at the institution to public in9 stitutions of higher education. 

10 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eli11 gible student’ means a student enrolled at an 

12 early college high school who, if such student 

13 met the requirements of section 484 for eligi14 bility for a Federal Pell Grant, would be award15 ed a Federal Pell Grant after the determination 

16 of the expected family contribution for such stu17 dent. 

18 ‘‘(D) STUDENT SUBGROUP.—The term 

19 ‘student subgroup’ means— 

20 ‘‘(i) economically disadvantaged stu21 dents; 

22 ‘‘(ii) students from major racial and 

23 ethnic groups; 

24 ‘‘(iii) children with disabilities; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) English learners.’’. 

Æ 


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