I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1560

To authorize an endowment grant to support the establishment of area

program centers to promote and organize locally based, volunteer-operated, private citizens’ scholarship programs, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 31, 1993

Mr. PENNY (for himself, Mr. GOODLING, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr.

FAWELL, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. HUGHES, Mr. ZELIFF, Mr. FIELDS of

Louisiana, Mr. WALSH, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. CLINGER,

Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. FROST, Mr. HAMILTON, and Mr. MURPHY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Education and Labor

A BILL

To authorize an endowment grant to support the establishment of area program centers to promote and organize

locally based, volunteer-operated, private citizens’ scholarship programs, 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 ‘‘Dollars for Scholars

5 Community Scholarship Foundation Development Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) the local community, when properly orga4 nized and challenged, is one of the best sources of

5 academic support, motivation toward achievement,

6 and financial resources for aspiring college students;

7 (2) local communities, working to complement

8 or augment services currently being offered by area

9 schools and colleges, can raise the educational expec10 tations and increase the rate of college attendance of

11 their youth by forming locally based organizations

12 that provide both academic support (including guid13 ance, counseling, mentoring, tutoring, encourage14 ment, and recognition) and tangible, locally raised,

15 effectively targeted, publicly recognized financial

16 assistance;

17 (3) proven methods of stimulating these com18 munity efforts can be promoted through Federal

19 support for the establishment of area program cen20 ters to organize and challenge community efforts to

21 develop educational incentives and support for local

22 students; and

23 (4) using Federal funds to leverage private con24 tributions to help students attain educational and

25 career goals is an efficient and effective investment

26 of scarce taxpayer-provided resources.
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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSE; ENDOWMENT GRANT AUTHORIZED.

2 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to estab3 lish and endow 25 area program centers to promote the

4 development of locally based, volunteer organizations

5 which promote higher education goals in students by (1)

6 providing academic support, including guidance, counsel7 ing, mentoring, tutoring, and recognition; and (2) provid8 ing financial assistance for the pursuit of post-secondary

9 education.

10 (b) AUTHORITY.—From the funds appropriated

11 under section 5, the Secretary shall make an endowment

12 grant to an eligible organization to support the establish13 ment, or ongoing work, or both, of 25 area program cen14 ters to foster the development of locally based, volunteer

15 organizations to improve high school graduation rates and

16 postsecondary attendance through the provision of aca17 demic support services and tangible financial assistance

18 for the pursuit of postsecondary education.

19 SEC. 4. ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION.

20 (a) NATIONAL ORGANIZATION.—An organization

21 shall be eligible for an endowment grant under section 3

22 if such organization—

23 (1) has extensive experience in creating, devel24 oping, and sustaining broadly based, volunteer-oper25 ated, community scholarship foundations;
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1 (2) has demonstrated the capacity to sustain

2 newly created community scholarship foundations in

3 towns, cities, and neighborhoods through ongoing

4 training and support programs;

5 (3) is exempt from income taxes under section

6 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;

7 (4) is a publicly supported organization within

8 the meaning of section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such

9 Code;

10 (5) is not a private foundation within the mean11 ing of section 509(a) of such Code;

12 (6) ensures that any of its local affiliated chap13 ters meet the criteria specified in paragraphs (3),

14 (4), and (5);

15 (7) has received a ruling that provides the op16 tion of each community scholarship foundation affili17 ated with the organization to file Form 990 under

18 the organization’s group roster; and

19 (8) has a program for or experience in cooper20 ating with secondary and postsecondary institutions

21 in carrying out its scholarship and academic support

22 activities.

23 (b) REGIONAL CENTERS.—The area program centers

24 established under this program shall—
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1 (1) be part of, responsible to, and overseen by

2 the eligible national organization; and

3 (2) be staffed by professionals trained to create,

4 develop, and sustain broadly based, volunteer-oper5 ated, community scholarship foundations in towns,

6 cities, and neighborhoods.

7 (c) LOCAL AFFILIATED CHAPTERS.—Each local affil8 iate of an eligible organization shall—

9 (1) be a nonprofit organization, recognized as

10 tax exempt under section 501(3)(C) of the Internal

11 Revenue Code of 1986 (or shall meet this criteria

12 through affiliation with the eligible implementing

13 parent organization in accordance with subsection

14 (a) of this section);

15 (2) be formed for the purpose of providing edu16 cational scholarships for local residents;

17 (3) solicit broad-based community support in its

18 fund-raising activities;

19 (4) be broadly representative of the local com20 munity in the structures of its volunteer-operated or21 ganization and have a board of directors that in22 cludes leaders from local neighborhood organizations

23 and neighborhood residents, such as school or college

24 personnel, parents, students, community agency rep-
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1 resentatives, and representatives of the business

2 community;

3 (5) agree to award scholarships without regard

4 to age, sex, marital status, race, creed, color, reli5 gion, national origin or the presence of any mental,

6 sensory, or physical disability; and

7 (6) agree to give priority in awarding scholar8 ships to needy students in its local community.

9 SEC. 5. CONDITIONS FOR GRANT.

10 The Secretary shall make the endowment grant under

11 this Act on the basis of an agreement with an eligible or12 ganization that—

13 (1) contains such terms and conditions as may

14 be necessary to ensure that the endowment funds

15 will be used to support an area director and area

16 program office that will work with local communities

17 to establish volunteer community scholarship foun18 dations and provide ongoing technical assistance,

19 training workshops, and other activities to help en20 sure the ongoing success of the local organizations;

21 (2) contains terms and conditions requiring the

22 organization to establish or support, or both, area

23 program centers serving each area of the United

24 States (including the territories and possessions of

25 the United States);
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1 (3) contains terms and conditions specifying

2 that, if appropriated funds are not sufficient to sup3 port 25 area program centers, the implementing or4 ganization will give preference to those areas of the

5 country with higher than average dropout rates and

6 lower than average postsecondary institutional en7 rollment;

8 (4) requires the eligible organization to submit,

9 for a period of up to five years following award of

10 the grant, an annual report to the Secretary that—

11 (A) contains a description of the programs

12 and activities supported by the endowment

13 fund;

14 (B) contains the audited financial state15 ments of eligible organization for the preceding

16 fiscal year;

17 (C) contains a plan for the programs and

18 activities to be supported by the endowment

19 during the 3 succeeding fiscal years; and

20 (D) contains or is accompanied by such

21 evaluations of the programs and activities sup22 ported by the endowment fund as the Secretary

23 may require; and
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1 (5) contains such assurances as the Secretary

2 may require with respect to the management and op3 eration of the endowment funds.

4 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 There are authorized to be appropriated $40,000,000

6 to carry out this Act.

7 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

8 For the purposes of this Act—

9 (1) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

10 of Education; and

11 (2) the term ‘‘community scholarship founda12 tion’’ means a tax-exempt, publicly supported, locally

13 organized, volunteer-operated, broadly representative

14 organization (formed in towns, rural communities, or

15 neighborhoods of large cities) whose purpose is to

16 raise funds for local scholarships, make scholarship

17 awards to local deserving students, and provide aca18 demic support activities to encourage educational

19 achievement.

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