II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1059 

To provide Dreamer students with access to student financial aid. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide Dreamer students with access to student financial 

aid. 

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 ‘‘College Options for 

5 DREAMers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to invest in highly moti8 vated college students who came to the United States, 

9 grew up in our churches and schools, and want to con10 tribute to the Nation by earning a college degree, making 


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1 more money and paying higher taxes, starting businesses, 

2 hiring American workers, and spending more to strength3 en the Nation’s economy. 

4 SEC. 3. COLLEGE OPTIONS FOR DREAMER STUDENTS. 

5 Section 484 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

6 U.S.C. 1091) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting ‘‘or be a 

8 Dreamer student, as defined in subsection (u)’’ after 

9 ‘‘becoming a citizen or permanent resident’’; and 

10 (2) by inserting at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(u) DREAMER STUDENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

13 ‘Dreamer student’ means an individual who— 

14 ‘‘(A) was younger than 16 years of age on 

15 the date on which the individual initially en16 tered the United States; 

17 ‘‘(B) has provided a list of each secondary 

18 school (as that term is defined in section 9101 

19 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

20 Act of 1965) that the student attended in the 

21 United States; and 

22 ‘‘(C)(i) has earned a high school diploma, 

23 the recognized equivalent of such diploma from 

24 a secondary school, a high school equivalency 

25 diploma in the United States, or is scheduled to 


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1 complete the requirements for such a diploma 

2 or equivalent before the next academic year be3 gins; 

4 ‘‘(ii) has acquired a degree from an institu5 tion of higher education or has completed not 

6 less than 2 years in a program for a bacca7 laureate degree or higher degree at an institu8 tion of higher education in the United States 

9 and has made satisfactory academic progress, 

10 as defined in subsection (c), during such time 

11 period; 

12 ‘‘(iii) is a beneficiary of the Deferred Ac13 tion for Childhood Arrivals program pursuant 

14 to the Department of Homeland Security Sec15 retary’s memorandum on June 15, 2012, or 

16 November 20, 2014; or 

17 ‘‘(iv) has served in the uniformed services, 

18 as defined in section 101 of title 10, United 

19 States Code, for not less than 4 years and, if 

20 discharged, received an honorable discharge. 

21 ‘‘(2) HARDSHIP EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of 

22 Education shall issue regulations that direct when 

23 the Department shall waive the requirement of sub24 paragraph (A) or (B), or both, of paragraph (1) to 


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1 qualify as a Dreamer student under such paragraph, 

2 if the individual— 

3 ‘‘(A) demonstrates compelling cir4 cumstances for the inability to satisfy the re5 quirement of such subparagraph (A) or (B), or 

6 both; and 

7 ‘‘(B) satisfies the requirement under para8 graph (1)(C).’’. 

9 SEC. 4. RESTORATION OF STATE OPTION TO DETERMINE 

10 RESIDENCY FOR PURPOSES OF HIGHER EDU11 CATION. 

12 (a) REPEAL.—Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration 

13 Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 

14 U.S.C. 1623) is repealed. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal under subsection 

16 (a) shall take effect as if included in the original enact17 ment of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 

18 Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104– 

19 208). 

Æ 


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