II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2664 

To reform the GEAR UP program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 12, 2018 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. TILLIS, and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To reform the GEAR UP program. 

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 ‘‘GEAR UP for Success 

5 Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GAINING EARLY AWARENESS AND READINESS FOR 

7 UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS AMENDMENTS. 

8 Chapter 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–21 et seq.) is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in section 404A (20 U.S.C. 1070a–21)— 


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1 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

2 (A) of subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘for col3 lege readiness’’ after ‘‘academic support’’; and 

4 (B) in subsection (b)— 

5 (i) by striking paragraph (3) and in6 serting the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In making awards to eligible 

8 entities described in subsection (c), the Secretary— 

9 ‘‘(A) may give a competitive priority— 

10 ‘‘(i) to eligible entities that— 

11 ‘‘(I) on the day before the date of 

12 enactment of the GEAR UP for Suc13 cess Act of 2018, carried out success14 ful educational opportunity programs 

15 under this chapter (as this chapter 

16 was in effect on such day); and 

17 ‘‘(II) have a prior, demonstrated 

18 commitment to early intervention 

19 leading to college access and readiness 

20 through collaboration and replication 

21 of successful strategies; 

22 ‘‘(ii) to eligible entities that ensure 

23 that students served under this chapter on 

24 the day before the date of enactment of the 

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1 tinue to receive assistance through the 

2 completion of secondary school; or 

3 ‘‘(iii) to eligible entities that meet the 

4 requirements of clauses (i) and (ii); and 

5 ‘‘(B) shall not give a competitive priority 

6 on any other basis.’’; and 

7 (ii) by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(4) MULTIPLE AWARD PROHIBITION.—Any eli10 gible entity described in subsection (c)(1) that re11 ceives a grant under this chapter shall not be eligible 

12 to receive an additional grant under this chapter 

13 until after the date on which the initial grant period 

14 expires.’’; 

15 (2) in section 404B(d)(1) (20 U.S.C. 1070a– 

16 22(d)(1))— 

17 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting 

18 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

19 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘; 

20 and’’ and inserting a period; and 

21 (C) by striking subparagraph (C); 

22 (3) in section 404C (20 U.S.C. 1070a–23)— 

23 (A) in subsection (b)(1)(A)— 

24 (i) by inserting ‘‘matching funds’’ 

25 after ‘‘will provide’’; 


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1 (ii) by inserting ‘‘equaling’’ after ‘‘pri2 vate funds,’’; and 

3 (iii) by striking ‘‘the cost of the pro4 gram, which matching funds’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘total Federal grant award, which’’; 

6 and 

7 (B) by striking subsection (d) and insert8 ing the following: 

9 ‘‘(d) PEER REVIEW PANELS AND COMPETITIONS.— 

10 The Secretary— 

11 ‘‘(1) shall convene peer review panels to assist 

12 in making determinations regarding the awarding of 

13 grants under this chapter; and 

14 ‘‘(2) shall host a grant competition to make 

15 new awards under this chapter in any year in which 

16 there are funds available to make new awards.’’; 

17 (4) in section 404D (20 U.S.C. 1070a–24)— 

18 (A) in subsection (b)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or 

20 former participants of a program under 

21 this chapter’’ and inserting ‘‘, former par22 ticipants of a program under this chapter, 

23 or peers and near peers’’ after ‘‘adults’’; 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (3), by inserting 

2 ‘‘academic, social, and postsecondary plan3 ning’’ after ‘‘supportive’’; 

4 (iii) in paragraph (10)— 

5 (I) by redesignating subpara6 graphs (E) through (K) as subpara7 graphs (F) through (L), respectively; 

8 (II) by inserting after subpara9 graph (D) the following: 

10 ‘‘(E) counseling or referral services to ad11 dress the behavioral, social-emotional, and men12 tal health needs of at-risk students;’’; 

13 (III) in subparagraph (I), as re14 designated by subclause (I), by insert15 ing ‘‘, cognitive, non-cognitive, and 

16 credit-by-examination’’ after ‘‘skills’’; 

17 (IV) in subparagraph (K), as re18 designated by subclause (I), by strik19 ing ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

20 (V) in subparagraph (L), as re21 designated by subclause (I), by strik22 ing the period at the end and insert23 ing ‘‘; and’’; and 

24 (VI) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(M) capacity building activities that cre2 ate college-going cultures in participating 

3 schools and local educational agencies.’’; and 

4 (iv) by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(16) Creating or expanding secondary school 

7 drop-out recovery programs that allow students who 

8 have dropped out of secondary school to complete a 

9 regular secondary school diploma and begin college10 level work. 

11 ‘‘(17) Establishing data collection and data 

12 sharing agreements to obtain, analyze, and report 

13 postsecondary outcome data for eligible students for 

14 a period of not more than 72 months after the end 

15 of the grant award period, which may include post16 secondary enrollment, persistence, and completion 

17 data. 

18 ‘‘(18) Establishing or maintaining an agree19 ment with a consortium of eligible entities described 

20 in section 404A(c) to— 

21 ‘‘(A) foster collaborative approaches to re22 search and evaluation; 

23 ‘‘(B) improve the quality of data collection, 

24 data sharing, analysis and reporting; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) apply evidence to improve programs 

2 and evaluation under this chapter. 

3 ‘‘(19) Providing services under this chapter to 

4 students who have received services under a previous 

5 grant award under this chapter but have not yet 

6 completed grade 12.’’; 

7 (B) in subsection (c)— 

8 (i) in paragraph (3), by inserting 

9 ‘‘and technical assistance’’ after ‘‘support’’; 

10 and 

11 (ii) by striking paragraph (9); and 

12 (C) in subsection (d)— 

13 (i) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘or’’; 

14 (ii) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 

15 paragraph (5); and 

16 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) 

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(4) eligible for free or reduced-price lunch 

19 under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

20 Act; or’’; 

21 (5) in section 404E (20 U.S.C. 1070a–25)— 

22 (A) in subsection (a)— 

23 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

24 and (2) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respec25 tively; 


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1 (ii) by inserting before paragraph (2), 

2 as redesignated by clause (i), the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) PLAN FOR MAINTENANCE OF FINAN5 CIAL ASSISTANCE.—An eligible entity proposing 

6 to establish or maintain a financial assistance 

7 program providing scholarships for students as8 sisted by the program of the eligible entity 

9 under this chapter shall include a plan regard10 ing the financial application program with the 

11 application submitted under section 404C. 

12 ‘‘(B) SCHOLARSHIP DETAILS.—Under a 

13 plan described in subparagraph (A), an eligible 

14 entity— 

15 ‘‘(i) may elect to offer one or more 

16 types of scholarships; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) shall describe, for each type of 

18 scholarship— 

19 ‘‘(I) the minimum and maximum 

20 awards for the scholarships, consistent 

21 with section 404E(d), based on cri22 teria and disbursement priorities es23 tablished by the eligible entity; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the duration of the scholar2 ships, which may be single-year or 

3 multi-year awards; 

4 ‘‘(III) the enrollment require5 ments for participating students, 

6 which may include providing scholar7 ships for participating students who 

8 are enrolled in an institution of higher 

9 education on less than a full-time 

10 basis during any award year; and 

11 ‘‘(IV) notwithstanding subsection 

12 (g), any additional student eligibility 

13 criteria established by the eligible en14 tity for earning and maintaining 

15 scholarships under this section, in16 cluding— 

17 ‘‘(aa) financial need; 

18 ‘‘(bb) meeting participation 

19 milestones in the activities of20 fered by the eligible entity under 

21 section 404D; 

22 ‘‘(cc) meeting and maintain23 ing satisfactory academic mile24 stones; and 


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1 ‘‘(dd) other criteria aligned 

2 with State and local goals to 

3 incentivize postsecondary readi4 ness, access, and success.’’; and 

5 (iii) in paragraph (3), as redesignated 

6 by clause (i), by striking ‘‘may award’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘may use not less than 10 per8 cent and not more than 50 percent of 

9 funds made available under this chapter to 

10 award’’; 

11 (B) in subsection (b)— 

12 (i) in the subsection heading, by in13 serting ‘‘STATE’’ before ‘‘LIMITATION’’; 

14 and 

15 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘eli16 gible entity demonstrates’’ and all that fol17 lows through the period at the end and in18 serting the following: ‘‘eligible entity— 

19 ‘‘(I) demonstrates that the eligi20 ble entity has another means of pro21 viding the students with the financial 

22 assistance described in this section or 

23 eligible students have reasonable ac24 cess to State and local financial as25 sistance programs; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) describes such means or ac2 cess in the application submitted 

3 under section 404C.’’; 

4 (C) in subsection (e)— 

5 (i) by striking paragraph (1) and in6 serting the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

8 ‘‘(A) SCHOLARSHIP PLAN.—Each eligible 

9 entity described in section 404A(c)(1) that re10 ceives a grant under this chapter shall hold in 

11 reserve, for the students served by such grant 

12 as described in section 404B(d)(1)(A) or 

13 404D(d), an estimated amount that is based on 

14 the eligible entity’s scholarship plan described 

15 in subsection (a)(1). 

16 ‘‘(B) INTEREST USE.—Interest earned on 

17 funds held in reserve under subparagraph (A) 

18 may be used by the eligible entity to administer 

19 the scholarship program during the award pe20 riod and through the post-award period de21 scribed in paragraph (4).’’; 

22 (ii) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting 

23 ‘‘, or been accepted for enrollment,’’ after 

24 ‘‘enrolled’’; and 

25 (iii) in paragraph (3)— 


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1 (I) in subparagraph (A), by strik2 ing ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

3 (II) by redesignating subpara4 graph (B) as subparagraph (C); and 

5 (III) by inserting after subpara6 graph (A) the following: 

7 ‘‘(B) the costs associated with enrolling in 

8 an institution of higher education; and’’; and 

9 (D) in subsection (g)— 

10 (i) in paragraph (3)— 

11 (I) by inserting ‘‘ or, if the eligi12 ble entity chooses, in another program 

13 of study or credential program for 

14 which an individual could use funds 

15 received under a Federal Pell Grant 

16 to attend,’’ before ‘‘that is located’’; 

17 and 

18 (II) by striking ‘‘except that, at 

19 the State’s option’’ and inserting ‘‘ex20 cept that, at the eligible entity’s op21 tion’’; and 

22 (ii) in paragraph (4), by inserting 

23 ‘‘and qualifies for an award, consistent 

24 with the eligible entity’s scholarship plan 


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1 as described in subsection (a)(1)’’ after 

2 ‘‘404D(a)’’; 

3 (6) in section 404G (20 U.S.C. 1070a–27)— 

4 (A) in subsection (b)— 

5 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 

6 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

7 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking the 

8 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

9 and 

10 (iii) by inserting after paragraph (2) 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) include the following metrics: 

13 ‘‘(A) The number of students completing 

14 the Free Application for Federal Student Aid 

15 under section 483. 

16 ‘‘(B) If applicable, the number of students 

17 receiving a scholarship under section 404E. 

18 ‘‘(C) The graduation rate of participating 

19 students from high school. 

20 ‘‘(D) The enrollment of participating stu21 dents into postsecondary education. 

22 ‘‘(E) Such other metrics as the Secretary 

23 may require.’’; and 

24 (B) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (i) in the subsection heading, by in2 serting ‘‘AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE’’ 

3 after ‘‘FEDERAL EVALUATION’’; 

4 (ii) in the matter preceding paragraph 

5 (1)— 

6 (I) by inserting ‘‘after consulta7 tion with the community of eligible 

8 entities receiving grants under this 

9 chapter and’’ after ‘‘Secretary shall,’’; 

10 (II) by striking ‘‘0.75’’ and in11 serting ‘‘1’’; and 

12 (III) by striking ‘‘evaluate the ef13 fectiveness of the program and, as ap14 propriate, disseminate the results of 

15 the evaluation. Such evaluation shall 

16 include a separate analysis of’’; 

17 (iii) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

18 and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), re19 spectively, and indenting the margins ap20 propriately; and 

21 (iv) before subparagraph (A) (as re22 designated by clause (iii)), by inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(1) provide pre-application technical assistance 

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1 cants in any year in which new awards are expected 

2 to be made; 

3 ‘‘(2) support initiatives designed to improve the 

4 research, data collection and infrastructure, and 

5 evaluation capacity of eligible entities; and 

6 ‘‘(3) evaluate the effectiveness of the program 

7 and, as appropriate, disseminate the results of the 

8 evaluation. Such evaluation may include a separate 

9 analysis of—’’; and 

10 (7) in section 408H (20 U.S.C. 1070a–28), by 

11 striking ‘‘2009’’ and inserting ‘‘2019’’. 

Æ 


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