I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2017 

To provide access and assistance to increase college attendance and completion 

by part-time students. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 24, 2007 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. 

MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. HARE, Mr. SIRES, 

Mr. CONYERS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. LEE, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN

of California, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. 

JEFFERSON, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. RUSH, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 

Mr. HONDA, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mrs. 

MALONEY of New York, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. HOLDEN, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. GONZALEZ, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide access and assistance to increase college 

attendance and completion by part-time students. 

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; REFERENCES. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Part-time Student Assistance Act’’. 

6 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 

7 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 


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1 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 

2 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid3 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the 

4 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

5 SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR WORKING STUDENTS: INCREASES IN 

6 INCOME PROTECTION ALLOWANCES. 

7 (a) DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—Subparagraph (D) of 

8 section 475(g)(2) (20 U.S.C. 1087oo(g)(2)) is amended to 

9 read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(D) an income protection allowance of 

11 $9,000 (or a successor amount prescribed by 

12 the Secretary under section 478);’’. 

13 (b) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITHOUT DEPEND14 ENTS OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Clause (iv) of section 

15 476(b)(1)(A) (20 U.S.C. 1087pp(b)(1)(A)) is amended to 

16 read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(iv) an income protection allowance 

18 of $12,000 (or a successor amount pre19 scribed by the Secretary under section 

20 478);’’. 

21 (c) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITH DEPENDENTS

22 OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Paragraph (4) of section 

23 477(b) (20 U.S.C. 1087qq(b)) is amended to read as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(4) INCOME PROTECTION ALLOWANCE.—The 

2 income protection allowance is determined by the fol3 lowing table (or a successor table prescribed by the 

4 Secretary under section 478): 

‘‘Income Protection Allowance 

Family Size Number in College 

(including student) 1 2 3 4 5 

For each 

additional 

subtract: 

2 $17,580 $15,230 .................. ................

3 20,940 17,610 $16,260 .................. .................. ................

4 24,950 22,600 20,270 $17,930 ..................

5 28,740 26,390 24,060 21,720 $19,390 

6 32,950 30,610 28,280 25,940 23,610 $2,330 

For each 

additional 

add: 3,280 3,280 3,280 3,280 3,280 ’’. 

5 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Paragraph (1) of 

6 section 478(b) (20 U.S.C. 1087rr) is amended to read as 

7 follows: 

8 ‘‘(1) REVISED TABLES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) PARENT’S INCOME PROTECTION AL10 LOWANCE.—For each academic year after aca11 demic year 1993–1994, the Secretary shall pub12 lish in the Federal Register a revised table of 

13 income protection allowances for the purpose of 

14 section 475(c)(4). Such revised table shall be 

15 developed by increasing each of the dollar 

16 amounts contained in the table in such section 

17 by a percentage equal to the estimated percent18 age increase in the Consumer Price Index (as 

19 determined by the Secretary) between DecemVerDate Aug 31 2005 16:43 Apr 25, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2017.IH H2017

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1 ber 1992 and the December next preceding the 

2 beginning of such academic year, and rounding 

3 the result to the nearest $10. 

4 ‘‘(B) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITH DE5 PENDENTS OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—For each 

6 academic year after academic year 2007–2008, 

7 the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Reg8 ister a revised table of income protection allow9 ances for the purpose of section 477(b)(4). 

10 Such revised table shall be developed by in11 creasing each of the dollar amounts contained 

12 in the table in such section by a percentage 

13 equal to the estimated percentage increase in 

14 the Consumer Price Index (as determined by 

15 the Secretary) between December 2006 and the 

16 December next preceding the beginning of such 

17 academic year, and rounding the result to the 

18 nearest $10.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. EXEMPTING EARNED INCOME CREDITS FROM THE 

20 CALCULATION OF INCOME. 

21 Section 480(a)(2) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(a)(2)) is 

22 amended by inserting ‘‘or section 32’’ after ‘‘section 25A’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. CHILD CARE MEANS PARENTS IN SCHOOL. 

2 (a) MINIMUM GRANT.—Section 419N(b)(2)(B) (20 

3 U.S.C. 1070e(b)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘$30,000’’. 

5 (b) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS.—Section 419N(b)(4) is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘$350,000’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘$250,000’’. 

8 (c) INCOME ELIGIBILITY.—Section 419N(b)(7) is 

9 amended by striking ‘‘who is eligible to receive’’ and in10 serting ‘‘whose income qualifies for eligibility for’’. 

11 (d) PUBLICITY.—Section 419N(b) is further amend12 ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(8) PUBLICITY.—The Secretary shall publicize 

14 the availability of grants under this section in appro15 priate periodicals in addition to publication in the 

16 Federal Register, and shall inform appropriate edu17 cational organizations of such availability.’’. 

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

19 419N(g) is amended by striking ‘‘$45,000,000 for fiscal 

20 year 1999’’ and inserting ‘‘$75,000,000 for fiscal year 

21 2008’’. 

22 SEC. 5. YEAR-ROUND PELL GRANTS. 

23 Section 401 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following new subsection: 

25 ‘‘(k) YEAR-ROUND PELL GRANTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) PILOT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—The Sec2 retary shall establish in accordance with this sub3 section a year-round Pell grant pilot program. Any 

4 institution of higher education that desires to par5 ticipate in the program under this subsection shall 

6 submit an application to the Secretary at such time 

7 and containing or accompanied by such information 

8 and assurances as the Secretary may require. The 

9 Secretary may select not more than 200 institutions 

10 of higher education for participation in the program. 

11 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—With respect to 

12 students enrolled in institutions participating in the 

13 program under this subsection, the Secretary is au14 thorized— 

15 ‘‘(A) to award such students two Federal 

16 Pell Grants in one calendar year to permit such 

17 students to accelerate progress towards their 

18 degree or certificate objectives by enrolling in 

19 academic programs for 12 months rather than 

20 9 months of the year at participating institu21 tions; and 

22 ‘‘(B) to award such two Federal Pell 

23 Grants to such students in a total amount up 

24 to 133 percent of the maximum Federal Pell 


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1 Grant under subsection (b)(2)(A) that is appli2 cable for the academic year. 

3 ‘‘(3) CONDITIONS.—An institution submitting 

4 an application to participate in the program under 

5 this subsection shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) in the case of an associate’s degree7 granting institution, commit to improving the 

8 completion rate for the institution by at least 

9 10 percent over the period of the pilot grant; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) in the case of a bachelor’s degree12 granting institution, commit to improving the 

13 graduation rate for the institution by at least 

14 50 percent over such period. 

15 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION; EVALUATION.—The author16 ity of the Secretary under this subsection shall cease 

17 to be effective on October 1, 2013. Not later than 

18 October 1, 2011, the Secretary shall conduct an 

19 evaluation of the program under this subsection and 

20 submit to the Congress a report on the results of 

21 such evaluation.’’. 

22 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL FIPSE PROGRAM. 

23 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section— 

24 (1) to allow a demonstration program that is 

25 strictly monitored by the Department of Education 


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1 to test creative measures for improving the avail2 ability of higher education for part-time students; 

3 (2) to provide for increased access for part-time 

4 students; and 

5 (3) to help determine the most effective assist6 ance for part-time students. 

7 (b) NEW PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Section 741(a) 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1138(a)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

10 (7); 

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para12 graph (8) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(9) creating a program to create a holistic ap16 proach to addressing the needs of part-time students 

17 at not more than 150 associate’s and bachelor’s de18 gree-granting institutions that would include grants, 

19 leveraging funds from non-Federal sources, com20 prehensive child care, and better-tailored remedial 

21 course programs.’’. 

22 (c) NOTIFICATION AND REPORTS.—Section 743 (20 

23 U.S.C. 1138b) is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing new subsections: 


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1 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES AND AUTHORIZATION FOR PART2 TIME STUDENT PROGRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that de4 sires to receive a grant under subsection (b)(9) shall 

5 submit an application to the Secretary in such man6 ner and form, and containing such information and 

7 assurances, as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

8 ‘‘(2) SELECTION PROCEDURES.—The Secretary 

9 shall by regulation develop a formal procedure for 

10 the submission of applications for grants under sub11 section (b)(9) and shall publish in the Federal Reg12 ister an announcement of that procedure and the 

13 availability of funds under such subsection. 

14 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall evalu15 ate the program authorized under subsection (b)(9) 

16 on an annual basis. Such evaluations specifically 

17 shall review — 

18 ‘‘(A) the extent to which the institution 

19 has met the goals set forth in its application to 

20 the Secretary; 

21 ‘‘(B) the number of students participating 

22 in the programs offered, including the progress 

23 of such students toward recognized certificates 

24 or degrees; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) what changes, if any, in law would fa2 cilitate both the participation of part-time stu3 dents in higher education and increased gradua4 tion rates amongst these students. 

5 ‘‘(4) SEPARATE AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPRO6 PRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be appro7 priated to carry out the program authorized by sub8 section (b)(9), $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 

9 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 

10 five succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

Æ 


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