II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2160 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize grants for institutions of higher education serving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 21, 2005 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. AKAKA) 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 authorize 

grants for institutions of higher education serving Asian 

Americans and Pacific Islanders. 

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 ‘‘Asian Americans and 

5 Pacific Islanders Higher Education Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The population of Asian American and Pa9 cific Islanders (referred to in this section as 
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1 ‘‘AAPI’’) is an exceptionally diverse population. 

2 Characteristics of the AAPI population vary accord3 ing to ethnicity, immigration patterns, historical ex4 periences, and social group issues. 

5 (2) The diversity of the AAPI population in6 cludes indigenous Pacific Islanders, well-established 

7 populations represented in the United States for sev8 eral generations, and ethnic groups who may be re9 cent immigrants or refugees, and were forced to 

10 leave their home countries. 

11 (3) The diversity of the population is reflected 

12 in the Federal government’s categories for Asian 

13 Americans and Pacific Islanders. There are 17 eth14 nic groups considered to be Asian and 4 ethnic 

15 groups considered to be Pacific Islander. Neither 

16 definition reflects AAPI individuals who may identify 

17 themselves as ‘‘more than one race’’. 

18 (4) The distinct cultural, linguistic, socio19 economic, and historical experiences that affect edu20 cational attainment of different AAPI sub-popu21 lations are often overlooked because programs and 

22 policies are based on aggregated data and the as23 sumption that AAPIs are a monolithic group. The 

24 ‘‘model minority myth’’ assumption adversely effects 

25 AAPI youth, who are perceived as being academi-
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1 cally successful and not in need of outreach, aca2 demic support systems, or other support services. 

3 (5) The ‘‘model minority myth’’ and lack of 

4 disaggregated data may prevent student services of5 fices from conducting intentional outreach efforts, 

6 such as through Federal TRIO programs including 

7 Upward Bound and Talent Search, to AAPI stu8 dents, because they are perceived to not be in need 

9 of support. 

10 (6) Additionally, disaggregated data indicates 

11 that 25.0 percent of Vietnamese Americans, 63.6 

12 percent of Hmong Americans, 42.6 percent of Cam13 bodian Americans, 34.7 percent of Laotian Ameri14 cans, and 17.7 percent of Pacific Islanders live in 

15 poverty. Such socioeconomic disparities within the 

16 community are often overlooked, as only 12.6 per17 cent of the total AAPI population lives in poverty. 

18 (7) While Asian Americans and Pacific Island19 ers overall have the highest college graduation rates 

20 of any group (44 percent in 2000), certain sub21 groups have much lower rates of degree attainment. 

22 Only 13.8 percent of Vietnamese Americans, 5.8 

23 percent of Laotian Americans, 6.1 percent of Cam24 bodian Americans, and less than 5.1 percent of 
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1 Hmong Americans had college degrees. Only 13.8 

2 percent of Pacific Islanders had college degrees. 

3 (8) Certain segments of the AAPI population 

4 face numerous barriers to accessing higher education 

5 and would benefit from grants and opportunities 

6 similar to those provided by other minority serving 

7 institutions. The designation of AAPI-serving insti8 tutions would help institutions of higher education 

9 expand their capacity to identify and assist under10 served AAPI students. 

11 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC IS12 LANDER-SERVING INSTITUTIONS. 

13 (a) AMENDMENT.—Part A of title III of the Higher 

14 Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after sec15 tion 317 (20 U.S.C. 1059d) the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 318. ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER-SERV17 ING INSTITUTIONS. 

18 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall 

19 provide grants and related assistance to Asian American 

20 and Pacific Islander-serving institutions to enable such in21 stitutions to improve and expand their capacity to serve 

22 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. 

23 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For the purpose of this sec24 tion— 
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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Asian American’ has the mean2 ing given the term ‘Asian’ in the Office of Manage3 ment and Budget’s Standards for Maintaining, Col4 lecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and 

5 Ethnicity, as published in the Federal Register on 

6 Thursday, October 30, 1997 (62 FR 58789); 

7 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Pacific Islander’ has the mean8 ing given the term ‘Native Hawaiian or other Pacific 

9 Islander’ in such Standards; 

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Asian American and Pacific Is11 lander-serving institution’ means an institution of 

12 higher education that— 

13 ‘‘(A) is an eligible institution under section 

14 312(b); and 

15 ‘‘(B) at the time of application, has an en16 rollment of undergraduate students that is at 

17 least 10 percent Asian American and Pacific Is18 lander students; and 

19 ‘‘(4) the term ‘low-income individual’ means an 

20 individual from a family whose taxable income for 

21 the preceding year did not exceed 150 percent of an 

22 amount equal to the poverty level determined by 

23 using criteria of poverty established by the Bureau 

24 of the Census. 

25 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) TYPES OF ACTIVITIES AUTHORIZED.— 

2 Grants awarded under this section shall be used by 

3 Asian American and Pacific Islander-serving institu4 tions to assist such institutions to plan, develop, un5 dertake, and carry out activities to improve and ex6 pand such institutions’ capacity to serve Asian 

7 Americans and Pacific Islanders. 

8 ‘‘(2) EXAMPLES OF AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.— 

9 Such activities may include— 

10 ‘‘(A) purchase, rental, or lease of scientific 

11 or laboratory equipment for educational pur12 poses, including instructional and research pur13 poses; 

14 ‘‘(B) renovation and improvement in class15 room, library, laboratory, and other instruc16 tional facilities; 

17 ‘‘(C) support of faculty exchanges, and fac18 ulty development and faculty fellowships to as19 sist in attaining advanced degrees in the fac20 ulty’s field of instruction; 

21 ‘‘(D) curriculum development and aca22 demic instruction; 

23 ‘‘(E) purchase of library books, periodicals, 

24 microfilm, and other educational materials; 
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1 ‘‘(F) funds and administrative manage2 ment, and acquisition of equipment for use in 

3 strengthening funds management; 

4 ‘‘(G) joint use of facilities such as labora5 tories and libraries; 

6 ‘‘(H) academic tutoring and counseling 

7 programs and student support services; 

8 ‘‘(I) establishing community outreach pro9 grams that will encourage elementary school 

10 and secondary school students to develop the 

11 academic skills and the interest to pursue post12 secondary education; 

13 ‘‘(J) establishing or improving an endow14 ment fund; 

15 ‘‘(K) academic instruction in disciplines in 

16 which Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 

17 are under-represented; 

18 ‘‘(L) conducting research and data collec19 tion for Asian American and Pacific Islander 

20 populations and sub-populations; and 

21 ‘‘(M) establishing partnerships with com22 munity based organizations serving Asian 

23 Americans and Pacific Islanders. 

24 ‘‘(d) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 
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1 ‘‘(1) INSTITUTIONAL ELIGIBILITY.—Each Asian 

2 American and Pacific Islander-serving institution de3 siring to receive assistance under this section shall 

4 submit to the Secretary such enrollment data as 

5 may be necessary to demonstrate that the institution 

6 is an Asian American and Pacific Islander-serving 

7 institution as defined in subsection (b), along with 

8 such other information and data as the Secretary 

9 may by regulation require. 

10 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—Any institution which is 

11 determined by the Secretary to be an Asian Amer12 ican and Pacific Islander-serving institution may 

13 submit an application for assistance under this sec14 tion to the Secretary. Such application shall in15 clude— 

16 ‘‘(A) a 5–year plan for improving the as17 sistance provided by the Asian American and 

18 Pacific Islander-serving institution to Asian 

19 American and Pacific Islander students; and 

20 ‘‘(B) such other information and assur21 ances as the Secretary may require. 

22 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBILITY.—No Asian American 

24 and Pacific Islander-serving institution that re25 ceives funds under this section shall concur-
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1 rently receive funds under other provisions of 

2 this part or part B. 

3 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTION.—Section 313(d) shall 

4 not apply to institutions that are eligible to re5 ceive funds under this section. 

6 ‘‘(C) DISTRIBUTION.—In awarding grants 

7 under this section, the Secretary shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) to the extent possible and con9 sistent with the competitive process under 

10 which such grants are awarded, ensure 

11 maximum and equitable distribution 

12 among all eligible institutions; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) give priority consideration to in14 stitutions that serve a significant percent15 age of Asian American and Pacific Is16 lander students who are low-income indi17 viduals.’’. 

18 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

19 399(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

20 1068h(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(D) There are authorized to be appro23 priated to carry out section 318, $30,000,000 

24 for fiscal year 2006 and such sums as may be 
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1 necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal 

2 years.’’. 

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