II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4465 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish an emergency 

grant aid program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

Ms. SMITH (for herself, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. CASEY) 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 establish 

an emergency grant aid program, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Emergency Grant Aid 

5 for College Students Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY FINANCIAL AID GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 Part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070b et seq.) is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘Subpart 11—Emergency Financial Aid Grants 

2 ‘‘SEC. 420T. EMERGENCY FINANCIAL AID GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) EMERGENCY FINANCIAL AID GRANT PROGRAMS

4 AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall carry out a grant pro5 gram to make grants, in accordance with subsection (b), 

6 to eligible entities to provide emergency financial aid 

7 grants to eligible students in accordance with subsection 

8 (c). 

9 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity desir11 ing to carry out an emergency grant aid program 

12 under this section shall submit an application to the 

13 Secretary, at such time, in such manner, and con14 taining such information as the Secretary may re15 quire. 

16 ‘‘(2) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall, at least 

17 60 days before each deadline to submit applications 

18 under paragraph (1), conduct outreach to institu19 tions of higher education, and systems of higher 

20 education, eligible for assistance under title III or V, 

21 to provide such institutions with information on the 

22 opportunity to apply under paragraph (1) to carry 

23 out an emergency grant aid program under this sec24 tion. 

25 ‘‘(3) CONTENTS.—Each application under para26 graph (1) shall include a description of the emerVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4465.IS S4465

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1 gency grant aid program to be carried out by the eli2 gible entity, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) an estimate of the number of emer4 gency financial aid grants that such entity will 

5 make in an award year and how such eligible 

6 entity assessed such estimate; 

7 ‘‘(B) the criteria the eligible entity will use 

8 to determine an emergency for which an eligible 

9 student will be eligible to receive an emergency 

10 financial aid grant; 

11 ‘‘(C) an assurance that an emergency for 

12 which an eligible student will be eligible to re13 ceive an emergency financial aid grant will in14 clude financial challenges related to any compo15 nent of the student’s cost of attendance or fi16 nancial challenges that would impact the ability 

17 of an eligible student to continue the course of 

18 study of such student, including— 

19 ‘‘(i) a loss of employment (including a 

20 temporary loss of employment) or a reduc21 tion in pay or hours; 

22 ‘‘(ii) costs related to transportation, 

23 child care, utilities, or housing of the stu24 dent; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a medical condition or health 

2 needs, including pregnancy and mental 

3 health, of the student, or a spouse or de4 pendent of the student; 

5 ‘‘(iv) with respect to the eligible stu6 dent, food insecurity; and 

7 ‘‘(v) in the case of an eligible student 

8 who is a dependent student— 

9 ‘‘(I) the death of a parent or 

10 guardian of such eligible student; or 

11 ‘‘(II) a medical condition of the 

12 parent or guardian of such eligible 

13 student which results in the loss of 

14 employment (including a temporary 

15 loss of employment) of such parent or 

16 guardian; 

17 ‘‘(D) an assurance that the eligible entity, 

18 when applicable, will make information available 

19 to eligible students about the eligibility of such 

20 students, and their dependents as applicable, 

21 for assistance under— 

22 ‘‘(i) the supplemental security income 

23 program under title XVI of the Social Se24 curity Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the supplemental nutrition assist2 ance program under the Food and Nutri3 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.); 

4 ‘‘(iii) the free and reduced price 

5 school lunch program established under the 

6 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

7 Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

8 ‘‘(iv) the program of block grants for 

9 States for temporary assistance for needy 

10 families established under part A of title 

11 IV of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 601 et seq.); 

13 ‘‘(v) the special supplemental nutri14 tion program for women, infants, and chil15 dren established by section 17 of the Child 

16 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786); 

17 ‘‘(vi) Medicaid program under title 

18 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 1396 et seq.); 

20 ‘‘(vii) Federal housing assistance pro21 grams, including tenant-based assistance 

22 under section 8(o) of the United States 

23 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

24 1437f(o)), and public housing, as defined 


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1 in section 3(b)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

2 1437a(b)(1)); and 

3 ‘‘(viii) any other means-tested pro4 gram determined by the Secretary to be 

5 appropriate; 

6 ‘‘(E) how the eligible entity will administer 

7 the emergency grant aid program, including— 

8 ‘‘(i) the process by which an eligible 

9 student may apply for and receive an 

10 emergency grant, including an opportunity 

11 to do so online; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the processes the eligible entity 

13 will use to respond to applications, approve 

14 applications, and disburse emergency fi15 nancial aid grants, including outside of 

16 normal business hours; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) how the eligible entity will ad18 vertise emergency grants to eligible stu19 dents; 

20 ‘‘(F) an assurance that the process by 

21 which an eligible student applies for an emer22 gency financial aid grant includes at least one 

23 opportunity to appeal a denial of such a grant; 

24 ‘‘(G) an assurance that the eligible entity 

25 will acknowledge receipt of a student’s request 


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1 and fund approved applications not later than 

2 10 business days after the date of the approval; 

3 ‘‘(H) a description of how the eligible enti4 ty will prioritize eligible students with financial 

5 need to receive emergency financial aid grants; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(I) any other information the Secretary 

8 may require. 

9 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In selecting eligible entities to 

10 carry out an emergency grant aid program under 

11 this section, the Secretary may give priority to— 

12 ‘‘(A) an eligible entity that is a community 

13 college or has an admissions rate that is 50 

14 percent or higher; 

15 ‘‘(B) an eligible entity that is eligible to re16 ceive a grant under part A or B of title III or 

17 title V, including— 

18 ‘‘(i) a historically Black college or uni19 versity; 

20 ‘‘(ii) a Hispanic-serving institution; 

21 ‘‘(iii) a Tribal College or University; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(iv) a minority-serving institution; 

24 ‘‘(C) an eligible entity that is a rural-serv25 ing institution; 


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1 ‘‘(D) an eligible entity located in— 

2 ‘‘(i) a census tract or region in which 

3 is located a local educational agency that 

4 receives special assistance payments under 

5 section 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Rus6 sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 1759a(a)(1)(F)); or 

8 ‘‘(ii) an area of deep poverty where 40 

9 percent or more of the population are at or 

10 below the Federal poverty line, as meas11 ured by the decennial Census; or 

12 ‘‘(E) an eligible entity in which not less 

13 than 30 percent of the students enrolled at such 

14 eligible entity are eligible to receive a Federal 

15 Pell Grant. 

16 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity may only 

18 use funds provided under this section to make emer19 gency financial aid grants to eligible students. 

20 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT OF AWARDS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible student 

22 may receive an amount under this section that 

23 would cause the amount of total financial aid 

24 received by such student to exceed the cost of 


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1 attendance of the institution of higher edu2 cation in which the student is enrolled. 

3 ‘‘(B) MAXIMUM AMOUNTS RECEIVED.—An 

4 eligible student may not receive a cumulative 

5 amount under this section for an academic year 

6 that is more than the maximum Federal Pell 

7 Grant available for such academic year. 

8 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATIONS.—In determining eligi9 bility for and awarding emergency financial aid 

10 grants under this section, an eligible entity may— 

11 ‘‘(A) waive the amount of need calculation 

12 under section 471; and 

13 ‘‘(B) utilize a contract with a scholarship14 granting organization designated for the sole 

15 purpose of accepting applications from, or dis16 bursing funds to, students enrolled in the insti17 tution of higher education, if such scholarship18 granting organization disburses the full allo19 cated amount provided to the institution of 

20 higher education to the student recipients. 

21 ‘‘(d) REPORTING AND OVERSIGHT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

23 once annually, each eligible entity that receives a 

24 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec25 retary a report on the progress of the eligible entity 


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1 in carrying out the programs supported by such 

2 grant. 

3 ‘‘(2) FORM OF REPORT.—The report under 

4 paragraph (1) shall be submitted to the Secretary at 

5 such time, in such manner, and containing such in6 formation as the Secretary may require. The Sec7 retary shall issue uniform guidelines describing the 

8 information that shall be reported by grantees under 

9 such paragraph. 

10 ‘‘(3) CONTENT OF REPORT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The report under 

12 paragraph (1) shall include, at minimum, the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(i) Whether the eligible entity re15 quired an application for emergency finan16 cial aid grants. 

17 ‘‘(ii) The average, minimum, and 

18 maximum amount of grants made available 

19 to eligible students, including any average, 

20 minimum, or maximum grant levels made 

21 to any specific subgroups of eligible stu22 dents, including the subgroups listed in 

23 clause (iii). 

24 ‘‘(iii) A description of any specific 

25 subgroups of eligible students who were 


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1 prioritized for the emergency financial aid 

2 grants, including students of color, low-in3 come students, first-generation college stu4 dents, students with disabilities, English 

5 learners, students experiencing homeless6 ness, former foster youth, or student par7 ents. 

8 ‘‘(iv) The number of eligible students 

9 who received an emergency financial aid 

10 grant, including the number of eligible stu11 dents who received more than one such 

12 grant, and the number of eligible students 

13 in each of the subgroups described in 

14 clause (iii) who received an emergency fi15 nancial aid grant, including the number of 

16 eligible students in each of such subgroups 

17 who received more than one such grant. 

18 ‘‘(v) The types of emergencies de19 clared and frequencies of emergencies de20 clared by eligible students. 

21 ‘‘(vi) The number of students who ap22 plied for an emergency financial aid grant, 

23 including the number of eligible students 

24 in each of the subgroups described in 


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1 clause (iii) who applied for an emergency 

2 financial aid grant. 

3 ‘‘(vii) The number of students who 

4 were denied such a grant. 

5 ‘‘(viii) The number of students who 

6 appealed a denial of such grant. 

7 ‘‘(ix) The average amount of time it 

8 took an eligible entity to respond to re9 quests for such a grant and the average 

10 amount of time it took the eligible entity to 

11 award or deny such a grant. 

12 ‘‘(x) A description and amount of any 

13 institutional funds used to supplement 

14 emergency financial aid grants provided in 

15 accordance with this section. 

16 ‘‘(xi) Outcomes of the eligible students 

17 who received such a grant, including rates 

18 of persistence, retention, and completion. 

19 ‘‘(xii) A description of the method 

20 used to disburse emergency grants to stu21 dents. 

22 ‘‘(e) DETERMINATION OF AWARDS.—Notwith23 standing any other provision of law, an eligible entity that 

24 receives a grant under this section shall solely determine 


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1 which students receive emergency financial aid grants 

2 under this section. 

3 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULES.—An emergency financial aid 

4 grant awarded to a student under this section— 

5 ‘‘(1) shall not be treated as other financial as6 sistance for the purposes of section 471; 

7 ‘‘(2) shall not be considered— 

8 ‘‘(A) in determining the amount of aid for 

9 which the student is eligible under this title for 

10 any succeeding academic year; and 

11 ‘‘(B) in determining eligibility for other 

12 public benefits for any succeeding academic 

13 year; and 

14 ‘‘(3) shall not be included in the gross income 

15 of such student for purposes of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986. 

17 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en19 tity’ means an institution of higher education. 

20 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible 

21 student’ means any student who is enrolled in an eli22 gible entity. 

23 ‘‘(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

24 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

25 meaning given the term in section 101 or 102(c). 


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1 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

4 2021 through 2026.’’. 

Æ 


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