I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2659 

To establish a grant program to issue grants to institutions of higher 

education to support student internships. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2013 

Ms. BONAMICI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to issue grants to institutions 

of higher education to support student internships. 

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 ‘‘Opportunities for Suc5 cess Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Internships are increasingly important to 

9 the ability of college students to gain skills, make 


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1 professional connections, and find jobs after gradua2 tion. 

3 (2) In 2011, according to the National Associa4 tion of Colleges and Employers, employers offered 

5 full-time positions to 61.2 percent of their interns 

6 with an acceptance rate of 86.5 percent. 

7 (3) Many students struggle to make ends meet; 

8 66 percent of young community college students 

9 dedicate more than 20 hours a week to an outside 

10 job, and the need of many students to maintain a 

11 part-time or full-time job reduces or eliminates the 

12 time available for an internship. 

13 (4) Internships often require significant time 

14 commitments or temporary relocation, which many 

15 students are unable to afford; these additional living 

16 expenses include housing, meals, and travel, and 

17 these costs make unpaid internships with employers 

18 like non-profit organizations and government even 

19 more inaccessible for those with low and middle in20 comes. 

21 (5) In 2011, 46 percent of students who had 

22 completed an internship were offered jobs, compared 

23 with 31 percent of students who did not complete an 

24 internship; more than 76 percent of employers rank 


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1 relevant experience as the most important quality 

2 when hiring. 

3 (6) Many university officials and employers ac4 knowledge that participating in an undergraduate 

5 internship is extremely helpful for finding meaning6 ful employment in today’s job market. 

7 SEC. 3. OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUCCESS PROGRAM. 

8 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts 

9 made available to carry out this Act, the Secretary of Edu10 cation shall establish a grant program to award grants to 

11 qualifying educational institutions in accordance with this 

12 section in order to support eligible students attending such 

13 institutions during internships. 

14 (b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this sec15 tion, a qualifying educational institution shall submit to 

16 the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 

17 and containing such information as the Secretary may re18 quire. 

19 (c) USE OF FUNDS BY QUALIFYING EDUCATIONAL

20 INSTITUTIONS.—A qualifying educational institution re21 ceiving a grant under this section shall use the grant funds 

22 in accordance with the following: 

23 (1) ACTIVITIES.—Such institution may only use 

24 the grant to fund internship awards in accordance 


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1 with this section to eligible students enrolled at the 

2 institution. 

3 (2) ADMINISTRATION OF INTERNSHIP

4 AWARDS.—Internship awards made from the 

5 grant— 

6 (A) shall be administered by the financial 

7 aid office of such institution; and 

8 (B) may be administered in conjunction 

9 with the career development office and career 

10 center of such institution. 

11 (3) PROHIBITION ON ALTERATION OF FINAN12 CIAL AID.—A student’s receipt of an internship 

13 award from a grant under this section shall not be 

14 taken into account in determining the need or eligi15 bility of the student for financial assistance under 

16 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

17 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 

18 (4) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds 

19 made available to carry out this section shall be used 

20 to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal and 

21 State funds available to carry out the activities de22 scribed in this section. 

23 (5) DEADLINE FOR SUMMER INTERNSHIPS.— 

24 Such institution shall make an award for a summer 

25 internship under this section by June 30 of a calVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2659.IH H2659

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1 endar year preceding the first day of the summer in2 ternship for that year. 

3 (d) CALCULATING AWARD AMOUNTS.— 

4 (1) AMOUNT TO QUALIFYING EDUCATIONAL IN5 STITUTIONS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—In determining a grant 

7 amount for a qualifying educational institution 

8 under this section, the Secretary shall ensure 

9 that the institution’s grant is equal to an 

10 amount that bears the same relationship to the 

11 total funds available to carry out this section 

12 for a fiscal year as the number of eligible stu13 dents enrolled at the institution (as determined 

14 by the Secretary on the basis of the most recent 

15 satisfactory data) bears to the total number of 

16 eligible students enrolled at all qualifying edu17 cational institutions, as so determined. 

18 (B) REALLOCATION.—If a qualifying edu19 cational institution does not receive funds under 

20 this paragraph, the Secretary shall reallocate 

21 such funds to other qualifying educational insti22 tutions in the same proportion funds are allo23 cated under subparagraph (A). 

24 (C) EXCEPTION.—In the case of a quali25 fying educational institution that does not 


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1 award all of the grant funds received under this 

2 section for a fiscal year to eligible students in 

3 accordance with this section, the Secretary, in 

4 awarding grants under this section for the suc5 ceeding fiscal year— 

6 (i) shall reallocate the unused funds 

7 to other qualifying educational institutions 

8 in the same proportion funds are allocated 

9 under subparagraph (A); and 

10 (ii) may award such institution a 

11 grant in an amount that is less than the 

12 full grant amount such institution would 

13 have otherwise received under subpara14 graph (A) for such year. 

15 (2) STUDENT AWARD PARAMETERS.— 

16 (A) MAXIMUM STUDENT AWARD.—A stu17 dent receiving an award of funds from a grant 

18 to a qualifying educational institution under 

19 this section may not receive— 

20 (i) more than $5,000 from such grant 

21 if the award is for a full-time internship; 

22 and 

23 (ii) more than $2,500 from such grant 

24 if the award is for a part-time internship. 

25 (B) CALCULATION OF STUDENT AWARD.— 


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1 (i) UNPAID INTERNSHIPS.— 

2 (I) AWARDS FOR IN-SCHOOL STU3 DENTS.—Subject to subparagraph 

4 (A), in the case of a student receiving 

5 an award for an unpaid internship 

6 that occurs during a period of enroll7 ment at the awarding qualifying edu8 cational institution, the amount of the 

9 award shall be, to the extent prac10 ticable, an amount based on the high11 er of— 

12 (aa) the applicable Federal 

13 minimum wage by each hour of 

14 the internship; or 

15 (bb) the applicable State 

16 minimum wage of the State in 

17 which the institution is located by 

18 each hour of the internship. 

19 (II) AWARDS FOR STUDENTS

20 DURING SUMMER AND WINTER

21 TERMS.— 

22 (aa) IN GENERAL.—Subject 

23 to subparagraph (A), in the case 

24 of a student receiving an award 

25 for an unpaid internship that ocVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2659.IH H2659

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1 curs during a period of non2 attendance at the awarding edu3 cational institution, the amount 

4 of the award shall, to the extent 

5 practicable, be an amount that 

6 covers reasonable cost of living 

7 expenses for the student. 

8 (bb) REASONABLE COST OF

9 LIVING EXPENSES.—For pur10 poses of item (aa), ‘‘reasonable 

11 cost of living expenses’’ shall in12 clude considerations of— 

13 (AA) the location of the 

14 internship; 

15 (BB) the length of the 

16 internship; 

17 (CC) travel costs asso18 ciated with the internship; 

19 (DD) housing costs 

20 during the duration of the 

21 internship; 

22 (EE) meal costs during 

23 the duration of the intern24 ship; and 


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1 (FF) whether the in2 ternship is full-time or part3 time. 

4 (ii) PAID INTERNSHIPS.—In the case 

5 of a student receiving an award for a paid 

6 internship, the amount of the award shall 

7 be determined by reducing the amount 

8 such student would receive for an unpaid 

9 internship as calculated under clause (i) by 

10 the amount of income that the internship 

11 will provide to the student. 

12 (e) AWARDS NON-TAXABLE.—An award received by 

13 a student under this section shall not be considered tax14 able income. 

15 (f) CARRY-BACK AUTHORIZED.—A qualifying edu16 cational institution receiving a grant under this section for 

17 a fiscal year may use such grant funds to make internship 

18 awards under this section prior to the beginning of the 

19 fiscal year, but after the end of the previous academic 

20 year. 

21 (g) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act and each succeeding year in 

23 which the Secretary makes grants under this section, the 

24 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report detailing, with 


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1 regard to grants made under this section for the previous 

2 academic year— 

3 (1) the percentage of students receiving intern4 ship funds from grants under this section who, not 

5 later than 2 years after graduating from a qualifying 

6 educational institution, are hired in a field related to 

7 the internship for which the students received such 

8 funds; 

9 (2) the number of qualifying educational insti10 tutions receiving grants under this section; 

11 (3) the categories of qualifying educational in12 stitutions (such as 4-year public institutions, 4-year 

13 private, nonprofit institutions, 2-year public institu14 tions, and 2-year private, nonprofit institutions) re15 ceiving grants under this section; 

16 (4) the number of students receiving internship 

17 funds from grants under this section, and the de18 grees such students are pursuing; 

19 (5) the number of paid internships, and the 

20 number of unpaid internships, funded by such 

21 grants; 

22 (6) the locations of internships funded by such 

23 grants; 

24 (7) the number of students who used internship 

25 funds awarded under this section to complete an inVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Jul 12, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2659.IH H2659

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1 ternship more than 60 miles from the qualifying 

2 educational institution that made such award or that 

3 required the students to temporarily relocate for the 

4 duration of the internship; and 

5 (8) the types of internships (such as full-time 

6 summer internships, part-time summer internship, 

7 or part-time semester internships) completed by stu8 dents receiving awards funded by such grants. 

9 (h) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

10 such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this 

11 section, including regulations that provide guidance to 

12 qualifying educational institutions on how to determine 

13 whether an internship meets the requirements of sub14 clauses (I) through (III) of subsection (i)(1)(F)(vi). 

15 (i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

16 (1) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

17 student’’ means a student who— 

18 (A) is a full-time or half-time student (as 

19 such terms are defined in section 668.2 of title 

20 34, Code of Federal Regulations (or a successor 

21 regulation)); 

22 (B) is eligible for a Federal Pell Grant 

23 under section 401 of the Higher Education Act 

24 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.); 


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1 (C) is enrolled at a qualifying educational 

2 institution in a program of study that leads to 

3 an associate’s or bachelor’s degree; 

4 (D) if the student has accepted an intern5 ship during a period of nonattendance at a 

6 qualifying educational institution— 

7 (i) demonstrates that the student is 

8 planning to re-enroll at such institution for 

9 the next period of enrollment at such insti10 tution by registering for such period of en11 rollment at the institution or accepting the 

12 institution’s offer of admittance for such 

13 period of enrollment; and 

14 (ii) will be eligible for a Federal Pell 

15 Grant under section 401 of such Act (20 

16 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.), for such period of 

17 enrollment; 

18 (E) has not, while pursuing the same de19 gree that such student is currently pursuing, 

20 previously received an award that included 

21 funds granted under subsection (a) to a quali22 fying educational institution; and 

23 (F) has received an official internship 

24 offer, as defined by the Secretary in regula25 tions, for an internship that— 


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1 (i) is located within the United States; 

2 (ii) in a case in which the internship 

3 employs (as defined under section 3(g) of 

4 the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 

5 203(g)) the student, meets the require6 ments of such Act (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 

7 (iii) is a full-time summer internship, 

8 a part-time summer internship, or a part9 time semester internship; 

10 (iv) is not less than 4 weeks in dura11 tion, and is not greater in duration than 

12 the shorter of— 

13 (I) the length of a standard aca14 demic period at the qualifying edu15 cational institution; or 

16 (II) in the case of an internship 

17 that occurs during a period of non18 attendance at the awarding qualifying 

19 educational institution, 10 weeks, or 

20 in the case of an internship that oc21 curs during a period of attendance at 

22 the awarding qualifying educational 

23 institution, 12 weeks; 

24 (v) is— 

25 (I) an unpaid internship; or 


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1 (II) a paid internship that, ac2 cording to the determination of the 

3 qualifying educational institution, 

4 without an award under this section 

5 such student would otherwise be un6 able to afford participating in such in7 ternship; and 

8 (vi) is determined by the qualifying 

9 educational institution to be an internship 

10 that— 

11 (I) is of good and reputable qual12 ity; 

13 (II) affords adequate educational 

14 or skill-building opportunities; and 

15 (III) is reasonably associated 

16 with the student’s course of study at 

17 a qualifying educational institution. 

18 (2) FULL-TIME.—The term ‘‘full-time’’, when 

19 used with respect to an internship, shall be defined 

20 by the Secretary in regulations. 

21 (3) QUALIFYING EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.— 

22 The term ‘‘qualifying educational institution’’ has 

23 the meaning given the term ‘‘institution of higher 

24 education’’ in section 101(a) of the Higher Edu25 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 


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1 (4) PART-TIME.—The term ‘‘part-time’’, when 

2 used with respect to an internship, shall be defined 

3 by the Secretary in regulations. 

4 (5) PERIOD OF NONATTENDENCE.—The term 

5 ‘‘period of nonattendence’’, when used with respect 

6 to a student, means a period during which the stu7 dent is not enrolled at a qualifying educational insti8 tution, including a summer or winter term. 

9 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of Education. 

Æ 


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