I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1485 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide students with 

increased flexibility in the use of Federal Pell Grants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2017 

Ms. STEFANIK (for herself, Mr. CURBELO of Florida, Mrs. BUSTOS, Mr. 

PETERS, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. KING

of New York, Mr. HURD, Mr. KILMER, Mr. MESSER, Mr. MOOLENAAR, 

Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. WELCH, Mr. FASO, Mr. DESAULNIER, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. 

MACARTHUR, Mr. PAULSEN, Mr. COLLINS of New York, Mr. YOUNG of 

Iowa, and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

students with increased flexibility in the use of Federal 

Pell Grants, 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 ‘‘Flexible Pell Grant 

5 for 21st Century Students Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FLEXIBLE PELL GRANTS. 

2 (a) PURPOSE AND AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Section 

3 401(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 1070a(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(8)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this 

6 subsection, an eligible student who has received a Federal 

7 Pell Grant during an award year, and is enrolled in an 

8 eligible program for one or more additional payment peri9 ods during the same award year, may receive an additional 

10 Federal Pell Grant for such additional period or periods. 

11 ‘‘(B) In the case of a student receiving more than 

12 one Federal Pell Grant during a single award year under 

13 subparagraph (A), the total amount of the Federal Pell 

14 Grants awarded to such student for the award year shall 

15 not exceed an amount equal to 150 percent of the amount 

16 of the Federal Pell Grant award determined under para17 graph (2)(A) for which such student is eligible during such 

18 award year. 

19 ‘‘(C) At or before the time of disbursement of a Fed20 eral Pell Grant under subparagraph (A) to a student, the 

21 institution in which the student is enrolled shall notify the 

22 student that any payment period for which the student 

23 receives a Federal Pell Grant shall count toward the stu24 dent’s duration limits under subsection (c)(5). 

25 ‘‘(D) In this paragraph, the term ‘eligible student’ 

26 means a student who— 


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1 ‘‘(i) continues to meet all eligibility require2 ments to receive a Federal Pell Grant under this 

3 section; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) is accelerating progress toward a degree or 

5 certificate. 

6 ‘‘(E)(i) In this paragraph, except as provided in 

7 clause (ii), a student shall be considered accelerating 

8 progress toward a degree or certificate during an award 

9 year if, during such award year— 

10 ‘‘(I) the student completes the credit hours (or 

11 credit hour equivalencies) of an academic year of the 

12 student’s eligible program that are necessary for the 

13 student to enroll, during such award year, in credit 

14 hours (or credit hour equivalencies) that are attrib15 utable to a second academic year for such program; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(II) during the payment period or periods for 

18 which the student desires to receive a Federal Pell 

19 Grant under subparagraph (A), the student enrolls 

20 in credit hours (or credit hour equivalencies) that 

21 are attributable to a second academic year for the 

22 student’s eligible program. 

23 ‘‘(ii) The financial aid administrator at an institution 

24 may waive the requirement of subparagraph (D)(ii), if the 

25 financial aid administrator— 


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1 ‘‘(I) determines that, due to circumstances be2 yond a student’s control, the student was unable to 

3 complete the credit hours described in clause (i)(I) 

4 of this subparagraph; and 

5 ‘‘(II) makes and documents such a determina6 tion on an individual basis. 

7 ‘‘(iii) In this subparagraph— 

8 ‘‘(I) circumstances beyond a student’s control— 

9 ‘‘(aa) may include the student withdrawing 

10 from classes due to illness or being unable to 

11 register for classes necessary to complete the 

12 credit hours described in clause (i)(I) because 

13 such classes were not offered during the appli14 cable period; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) shall not include withdrawing to 

16 avoid a particular grade or failing to register 

17 for a necessary class that was offered during 

18 such period to avoid a particular instructor; and 

19 ‘‘(II) the term ‘academic year’, when used with 

20 respect to an eligible program at an institution, has 

21 the meaning given such term by the institution. 

22 ‘‘(9) If a student is receiving a Federal Pell Grant 

23 for a payment period that spans 2 award years, the eligible 

24 institution in which the student is enrolled shall determine 


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1 the award year to which the additional period shall be as2 signed. 

3 ‘‘(10) A student may decline to receive any portion 

4 of a Federal Pell Grant for any payment period, except 

5 that the institution may establish a reasonable deadline 

6 by which the student may decline the Federal Pell 

7 Grant.’’. 

8 (b) PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.—Section 

9 401(c) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1070a(c)) is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(6)(A) The Secretary shall issue to each student re12 ceiving a Federal Pell Grant, an annual status report 

13 which shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) inform the student of the remaining period 

15 during which the student may receive Federal Pell 

16 Grants in accordance with paragraph (5), and pro17 vide access to a calculator to assist the student in 

18 making such determination; 

19 ‘‘(ii) include an estimate of the Federal Pell 

20 Grant amounts which may be awarded for such re21 maining period based on the student’s award 

22 amount determined under paragraph (2)(A) for the 

23 most recent award year; 

24 ‘‘(iii) explain how the estimate was calculated 

25 and any assumptions underlying the estimate; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) explain that the estimate may be affected 

2 if there is a change— 

3 ‘‘(I) in the student’s financial circum4 stances; or 

5 ‘‘(II) the availability of Federal funding; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(v) describe how the remaining period during 

8 which the student may receive Federal Pell Grants 

9 may be affected by whether the student is enrolled 

10 as a full-time student. 

11 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed 

12 to prohibit an institution from offering additional coun13 seling to a student with respect to Federal Pell Grants, 

14 but such counseling shall not delay or impede disburse15 ment of a Federal Pell Grant award to the student.’’. 

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 subsections (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to award 

18 years beginning on or after July 1, 2018. 

Æ 


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