I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 186 

To establish a program that enables college-bound residents of the United 

States Virgin Islands to have greater choices among institutions of higher 

education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2017 

Ms. PLASKETT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a program that enables college-bound residents 

of the United States Virgin Islands to have greater 

choices among institutions of higher education, 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 ‘‘United States Virgin 

5 Islands College Access Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 It is the purpose of this Act to establish a program 

8 that enables college-bound residents of the United States 


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1 Virgin Islands to have greater choices among institutions 

2 of higher education. 

3 SEC. 3. PUBLIC SCHOOL GRANTS. 

4 (a) GRANTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appropriated 

6 under subsection (i), the Governor shall award 

7 grants to eligible institutions that enroll eligible stu8 dents to pay the difference between the tuition and 

9 fees charged for in-State students and the tuition 

10 and fees charged for out-of-State students on behalf 

11 of each eligible student enrolled in the eligible insti12 tution. 

13 (2) MAXIMUM STUDENT AMOUNTS.—The 

14 amount paid on behalf of an eligible student under 

15 this section shall be— 

16 (A) not more than $10,000 for any one 

17 award year (as defined in section 481 of the 

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 1088)); and 

20 (B) not more than $50,000 in the aggre21 gate. 

22 (3) PRORATION.—The Governor shall prorate 

23 payments under this section for students who attend 

24 an eligible institution on less than a full-time basis. 


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1 (b) REDUCTION FOR INSUFFICIENT APPROPRIA2 TIONS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the funds appropriated 

4 pursuant to subsection (i) for any fiscal year are in5 sufficient to award a grant in the amount deter6 mined under subsection (a) on behalf of each eligible 

7 student enrolled in an eligible institution, then the 

8 Governor, in consultation with the Secretary of Edu9 cation, shall— 

10 (A) first, ratably reduce the amount of the 

11 tuition and fee payment made on behalf of each 

12 eligible student who has not received funds 

13 under this section for a preceding year; and 

14 (B) after making reductions under sub15 paragraph (A), ratably reduce the amount of 

16 the tuition and fee payments made on behalf of 

17 all other eligible students. 

18 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—The Governor, in con19 sultation with the Secretary of Education, may ad20 just the amount of tuition and fee payments made 

21 under paragraph (1) based on— 

22 (A) the financial need of the eligible stu23 dents to avoid undue hardship to the eligible 

24 students; or 


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1 (B) undue administrative burdens on the 

2 Governor. 

3 (3) FURTHER ADJUSTMENTS.—Notwith4 standing paragraphs (1) and (2), the Governor may 

5 prioritize the making or amount of tuition and fee 

6 payments under this subsection based on the income 

7 and need of eligible students. 

8 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘‘eligi10 ble institution’’ means an institution that— 

11 (A) is a public four-year institution of 

12 higher education located in one of the several 

13 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 

14 or Guam; 

15 (B) is eligible to participate in the student 

16 financial assistance programs under title IV of 

17 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1070 et seq.); and 

19 (C) enters into an agreement with the Gov20 ernor containing such terms and conditions as 

21 the Governor and institution may jointly speci22 fy, including a requirement that the institution 

23 use the funds made available under this section 

24 to supplement and not supplant assistance that 


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1 otherwise would be provided to eligible students 

2 from the United States Virgin Islands. 

3 (2) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

4 student’’ means an individual who— 

5 (A) was domiciled in the United States 

6 Virgin Islands for not less than the 12 consecu7 tive months preceding the commencement of the 

8 freshman year at an institution of higher edu9 cation; 

10 (B) graduated from a secondary school in 

11 the United States Virgin Islands, or received 

12 the recognized equivalent of a secondary school 

13 diploma while domiciled in the United States 

14 Virgin Islands, on or after January 1, 2013; 

15 (C) begins the individual’s undergraduate 

16 course of study within the three calendar years 

17 (excluding any period of service on active duty 

18 in the Armed Forces, or service under the 

19 Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.) or 

20 subtitle D of title I of the National and Com21 munity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 

22 et seq.)) of graduation from a secondary school, 

23 or obtaining the recognized equivalent of a sec24 ondary school diploma; 


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1 (D) is enrolled or accepted for enrollment, 

2 on at least a half-time basis, in a baccalaureate 

3 degree or other program (including a program 

4 of study abroad approved for credit by the insti5 tution at which such student is enrolled) lead6 ing to a recognized educational credential at an 

7 eligible institution; 

8 (E) if enrolled in an eligible institution, is 

9 maintaining satisfactory progress in the course 

10 of study the student is pursuing in accordance 

11 with section 484(c) of the Higher Education 

12 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(c)); 

13 (F) while enrolled in an eligible institution, 

14 maintains the United States Virgin Islands as 

15 the individual’s principal place of residence for 

16 purposes of the laws of the United States Vir17 gin Islands; and 

18 (G) has not completed the individual’s first 

19 undergraduate baccalaureate course of study. 

20 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

21 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

22 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

23 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

24 (4) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 

25 the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands. 


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1 (5) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec2 ondary school’’ has the meaning given the term in 

3 section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

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

6 the Secretary of Education. 

7 (d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act shall be 

8 construed to require an institution of higher education to 

9 alter the institution’s admissions policies or standards in 

10 any manner to enable an eligible student to enroll in the 

11 institution. 

12 (e) APPLICATIONS.—Each student desiring a tuition 

13 payment under this section shall submit an application to 

14 the eligible institution at such time, in such manner, and 

15 accompanied by such information as the eligible institution 

16 may require. 

17 (f) ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Governor shall carry 

19 out the program under this section in consultation 

20 with the Secretary. The Governor may enter into a 

21 grant, contract, or cooperative agreement with an22 other public or private entity to administer the pro23 gram under this section if the Governor determines 

24 that doing so is a more efficient way of carrying out 

25 the program. 


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1 (2) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The Gov2 ernor, in consultation with institutions of higher 

3 education eligible for participation in the program 

4 authorized under this section, shall develop policies 

5 and procedures for the administration of the pro6 gram. 

7 (3) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—The Gov8 ernor and the Secretary shall enter into a Memo9 randum of Agreement that describes— 

10 (A) the manner in which the Governor 

11 shall consult with the Secretary with respect to 

12 administering the program under this section; 

13 and 

14 (B) any technical or other assistance to be 

15 provided to the Governor by the Secretary for 

16 purposes of administering the program under 

17 this section (which may include access to the in18 formation in the common financial reporting 

19 form developed under section 483 of the Higher 

20 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090)). 

21 (g) GOVERNOR’S REPORT.—The Governor shall re22 port to Congress annually regarding— 

23 (1) the number of eligible students attending 

24 each eligible institution and the amount of the grant 


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1 awards paid to those institutions on behalf of the eli2 gible students; 

3 (2) the extent, if any, to which a ratable reduc4 tion was made in the amount of tuition and fee pay5 ments made on behalf of eligible students; and 

6 (3) the progress in obtaining recognized aca7 demic credentials of the cohort of eligible students 

8 for each year. 

9 (h) GAO REPORT.—Beginning on the date of the en10 actment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

11 States shall monitor the effect of the program assisted 

12 under this section on educational opportunities for eligible 

13 students. The Comptroller General shall analyze whether 

14 eligible students had difficulty gaining admission to eligi15 ble institutions because of any preference afforded in16 State residents by eligible institutions, and shall expedi17 tiously report any findings regarding such difficulty to 

18 Congress and the Governor. In addition, the Comptroller 

19 General shall— 

20 (1) analyze the extent to which there are an in21 sufficient number of eligible institutions to which 

22 United States Virgin Islands students can gain ad23 mission, including admission aided by assistance 

24 provided under this Act, due to— 


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1 (A) caps on the number of out-of-State 

2 students the institution will enroll; 

3 (B) significant barriers imposed by aca4 demic entrance requirements (such as grade 

5 point average and standardized scholastic ad6 missions tests); and 

7 (C) absence of admission programs bene8 fiting minority students; and 

9 (2) report the findings of the analysis described 

10 in paragraph (1) to Congress and the Governor. 

11 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—The 

12 United States Virgin Islands is authorized to appropriate 

13 to carry out this section, out of non-Federal funds of the 

14 United States Virgin Islands, $10,000,000 for each of the 

15 fiscal years 2017 through 2022, and such sums as may 

16 be necessary for each of the succeeding fiscal years. Such 

17 funds shall remain available until expended. 

18 (j) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

19 with respect to payments for periods of instruction that 

20 begin on or after January 1, 2017. 

21 SEC. 4. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS. 

22 (a) PERSONNEL.—The Secretary of Education shall 

23 arrange for the assignment of an individual, pursuant to 

24 subchapter VI of chapter 33 of title 5, United States Code, 


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1 to serve as an adviser to the Governor with respect to the 

2 programs assisted under this Act. 

3 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—The Governor 

4 may use not more than 5 percent of the funds made avail5 able for a program under section 3 for a fiscal year to 

6 pay the administrative expenses of a program under sec7 tion 3 for the fiscal year. 

8 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEW.—Each of the pro9 grams assisted under this Act shall be subject to audit 

10 and other review by the Inspector General of the Depart11 ment of Education in the same manner as programs are 

12 audited and reviewed under the Inspector General Act of 

13 1978 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

14 (d) GIFTS.—The Governor may accept, use, and dis15 pose of donations of services or property for purposes of 

16 carrying out this Act. 

17 (e) MAXIMUM STUDENT AMOUNT ADJUSTMENTS.— 

18 The Governor shall establish rules to adjust the maximum 

19 student amounts described in section 3(a)(2)(B) for eligi20 ble students described in section 3(c)(2) who transfer be21 tween the eligible institutions described in section 

22 3(c)(1)(A). 

Æ 


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