II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1614 

To provide grants to community colleges to improve the accessibility of computer labs and to provide information technology training for students 

and members of the public seeking to improve their computer literacy 

and information technology skills. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2009 

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide grants to community colleges to improve the 

accessibility of computer labs and to provide information 

technology training for students and members of the 

public seeking to improve their computer literacy and 

information technology skills. 

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 Technology Access Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 


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1 (1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu2 nity college’’ means an educational institution in any 

3 State that— 

4 (A) admits as regular students only per5 sons having— 

6 (i) a certificate of graduation from a 

7 school providing secondary education or 

8 the recognized equivalent of such a certifi9 cate; or 

10 (ii) completed a secondary school edu11 cation in a home school setting that is 

12 treated as a home school or private school 

13 under State law; 

14 (B) is legally authorized within such State 

15 to provide a program of education beyond sec16 ondary education; 

17 (C) provides not less than a 2-year pro18 gram that is acceptable for full credit toward 

19 an associate’s degree; 

20 (D) is a public or other nonprofit institu21 tion; and 

22 (E) is accredited by a nationally recognized 

23 accrediting agency or association, or if not so 

24 accredited, is an institution that has been 

25 granted preaccreditation status by such an 


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1 agency or association that has been recognized 

2 by the Secretary for the granting of 

3 preaccreditation status, and the Secretary has 

4 determined that there is satisfactory assurance 

5 that the institution will meet the accreditation 

6 standards of such an agency or association 

7 within a reasonable time. 

8 (2) COMPUTER LAB.—The term ‘‘computer lab’’ 

9 means a dedicated community college facility that 

10 provides onsite computer software, hardware, and 

11 technical support for students, faculty, and staff. 

12 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Education. 

14 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean15 ing given the term in section 103 of the Higher 

16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANT PROGRAM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated 

19 under section 4, the Secretary shall award grants, 

20 on a competitive basis, to community colleges eligible 

21 under subsection (d) to enable the community col22 leges— 

23 (A) to improve the accessibility of com24 puter labs; and 


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1 (B) to provide information technology 

2 training for students and members of the public 

3 seeking to improve their computer literacy and 

4 information technology skills. 

5 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

6 (A) MANDATORY.—A community college 

7 receiving a grant award under this Act shall use 

8 the grant funds for the maintenance, adminis9 tration, and improvement of computer labs, 

10 which shall include— 

11 (i) staffing facilities; 

12 (ii) purchasing computer equipment, 

13 including hardware and software; 

14 (iii) maintaining, repairing, and re15 placing technology equipment; 

16 (iv) maintaining and securing facili17 ties; or 

18 (v) providing utilities for the facilities 

19 and computer equipment. 

20 (B) ADDITIONAL USES WITH AUTHORIZA21 TION.—A community college receiving a grant 

22 award under this Act may use the grant funds 

23 to expand or build a computer lab by submit24 ting an application for such use to the SecVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:05 Aug 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1614.IS S1614

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1 retary and receiving authorization for such use 

2 from the Secretary. 

3 (c) APPLICATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A community college seeking 

5 a grant award under this Act shall submit an appli6 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such man7 ner, and containing such information and assurances 

8 as the Secretary may require. 

9 (2) PROPOSED USE.—A community college shall 

10 include in the application the community college’s 

11 proposed use of the grant funds. 

12 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—A community college is eligible for 

13 a grant award under this Act if the community college’s 

14 application under subsection (c) demonstrates that the 

15 community college will— 

16 (1) keep a computer lab open not less than 10 

17 hours on weekends to members of the public; 

18 (2) keep a computer lab open not less than 20 

19 hours on weekday evenings to members of the pub20 lic, except that if the computer lab is open more 

21 than 10 hours on weekends as required under para22 graph (1), then each additional hour above 10 hours 

23 on weekends shall reduce by 1 hour the 20 hours re24 quired under this paragraph; 


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1 (3) provide computer lab instruction (by an em2 ployee of the community college who is capable of 

3 providing basic computer instruction) to members of 

4 the public for hours that the computer lab is open 

5 under paragraphs (1) and (2); and 

6 (4) offer computer-related training at no charge 

7 to members of the public for hours that the com8 puter lab is open under paragraphs (1) and (2). 

9 (e) GRANT AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall deter10 mine the amount of a grant award under this Act based 

11 on the applications received under subsections (b)(2)(B) 

12 and (c). 

13 SEC. 3. REPORTS. 

14 (a) ANNUAL REPORT BY A COMMUNITY COLLEGE.— 

15 For each fiscal year that a community college receives a 

16 grant award under this Act, the community college shall 

17 submit to the Secretary, by a date determined by the Sec18 retary, a report that contains a review and evaluation of 

19 the computer lab, including the computer lab’s costs, 

20 hours of operation, and amount of users. 

21 (b) REPORT BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall 

22 submit annually to Congress a report on the grant pro23 gram assisted under this Act, including the number of 

24 grant awards made and the approximate number of perVerDate Nov 24 2008 22:05 Aug 07, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1614.IS S1614

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1 sons served by each computer lab receiving funds under 

2 this Act. 

3 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

5 this Act $125,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 

6 to 2014. 

Æ 


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