II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1128 

To establish an Early Federal Pell Grant Commitment Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 29, 2015 

Ms. STABENOW introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish an Early Federal Pell Grant Commitment 

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 ‘‘Early Pell Promise 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EARLY FEDERAL PELL GRANT COMMITMENT PRO7 GRAM. 

8 Subpart 1 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu9 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et seq.) is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following: 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1128 IS

1 ‘‘SEC. 401B. EARLY FEDERAL PELL GRANT COMMITMENT 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—The Secretary is au4 thorized to carry out an Early Federal Pell Grant Com5 mitment Program (referred to in this section as the ‘Pro6 gram’) under which the Secretary shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) award grants to State educational agencies 

8 to pay the administrative expenses incurred in par9 ticipating in the Program; and 

10 ‘‘(2) make a commitment to award Federal Pell 

11 Grants to eligible students in accordance with this 

12 section. 

13 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The Program shall 

14 meet the following requirements: 

15 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE STUDENTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A student shall be eli17 gible to receive a commitment from the Sec18 retary to receive a Federal Pell Grant early in 

19 the student’s academic career if the student— 

20 ‘‘(i) is in 8th grade; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) is eligible for a free or reduced 

22 price lunch under the Richard B. Russell 

23 National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 1751 et seq.). 

25 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PELL GRANT COMMITMENT.— 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1128 IS

1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

2 subparagraph (B), each eligible student who 

3 participates in the Program shall receive a com4 mitment from the Secretary to receive a Fed5 eral Pell Grant during the first 2 academic 

6 years that the student is in attendance at an in7 stitution of higher education as an under8 graduate student, if the student— 

9 ‘‘(i) applies for Federal financial aid 

10 (via the FAFSA) during the student’s sen11 ior year of secondary school and during the 

12 succeeding academic year; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) enrolls at such institution of 

14 higher education— 

15 ‘‘(I) not later than 3 years after 

16 such student receives a secondary 

17 school diploma or its recognized equiv18 alent; or 

19 ‘‘(II) if such student becomes a 

20 member of the Armed Forces, not 

21 later than 3 years after such student 

22 is discharged, separated, or released 

23 from the Armed Forces. 

24 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION TO COMMITMENT.—If an 

25 eligible student receives a commitment from the 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1128 IS

1 Secretary to receive a Federal Pell Grant dur2 ing the first 2 academic years that the student 

3 is in attendance at an institution of higher edu4 cation as an undergraduate student and the 

5 student applies for Federal financial aid (via 

6 the FAFSA) during the student’s senior year of 

7 secondary school or during the succeeding aca8 demic year, and the expected family contribu9 tion of the student for either of such years is 

10 more than 2 times the threshold amount for 

11 Federal Pell Grant eligibility for such year, 

12 then such student shall not receive a Federal 

13 Pell Grant under this section for the succeeding 

14 academic year. Such student shall continue to 

15 be eligible for any other Federal student finan16 cial aid for which the student is otherwise eligi17 ble. 

18 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL PELL GRANT

19 REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of section 401 

20 shall apply to Federal Pell Grants awarded pursuant 

21 to this section, except that with respect to each eligi22 ble student who participates in the Program and is 

23 not subject the exception under paragraph (2)(B), 

24 the amount of each such eligible student’s Federal 

25 Pell Grant only shall be calculated by deeming such 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1128 IS

1 student to have an expected family contribution 

2 equal to zero. 

3 ‘‘(c) STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY APPLICA4 TIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational 

6 agency desiring to participate in the Program shall 

7 submit an application to the Secretary at such time 

8 and in such manner as the Secretary may require. 

9 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application shall in10 clude— 

11 ‘‘(A) a description of the proposed targeted 

12 information campaign for the Program and a 

13 copy of the plan described in subsection (e)(2); 

14 ‘‘(B) an assurance that the State edu15 cational agency will fully cooperate with the on16 going evaluation of the Program; and 

17 ‘‘(C) such other information as the Sec18 retary may require. 

19 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appro21 priated under subsection (f) for a fiscal year, the 

22 Secretary shall reserve not more than $1,000,000 to 

23 award a grant or contract to an organization outside 

24 the Department for an independent evaluation of the 

25 impact of the Program. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1128 IS

1 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The grant or con2 tract shall be awarded on a competitive basis. 

3 ‘‘(3) MATTERS EVALUATED.—The evaluation 

4 described in this subsection shall consider metrics 

5 established by the Secretary that emphasize college 

6 access and success, encouraging low-income students 

7 to pursue higher education, and the cost effective8 ness of the program. 

9 ‘‘(4) DISSEMINATION.—The findings of the 

10 evaluation shall be widely disseminated to the public 

11 by the organization conducting the evaluation as well 

12 as by the Secretary. 

13 ‘‘(e) TARGETED INFORMATION CAMPAIGN.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State educational 

15 agency receiving a grant under this section shall, in 

16 cooperation with the participating local educational 

17 agencies within the State and the Secretary, develop 

18 a targeted information campaign for the Program. 

19 ‘‘(2) PLAN.—Each State educational agency re20 ceiving a grant under this section shall include in 

21 the application submitted under subsection (c) a 

22 written plan for their proposed targeted information 

23 campaign. The plan shall include the following: 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1128 IS

1 ‘‘(A) OUTREACH.—Outreach to students 

2 and their families, at a minimum, at the begin3 ning and end of each academic year. 

4 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—How the State edu5 cational agency plans to provide the outreach 

6 described in subparagraph (A) and to provide 

7 the information described in subparagraph (C). 

8 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION.—The annual provi9 sion by the State educational agency to all stu10 dents and families participating in the Program 

11 of information regarding— 

12 ‘‘(i) the estimated statewide average 

13 higher education institution cost data for 

14 each academic year, which cost data shall 

15 be disaggregated by— 

16 ‘‘(I) type of institution, includ17 ing— 

18 ‘‘(aa) 2-year public colleges; 

19 ‘‘(bb) 4-year public colleges; 

20 ‘‘(cc) 4-year private colleges; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(dd) private, for-profit col23 leges; and 

24 ‘‘(II) component, including— 

25 ‘‘(aa) tuition and fees; and 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1128 IS

1 ‘‘(bb) room and board; 

2 ‘‘(ii) Federal Pell Grants, including— 

3 ‘‘(I) the maximum Federal Pell 

4 Grant for each academic year; 

5 ‘‘(II) when and how to apply for 

6 a Federal Pell Grant; and 

7 ‘‘(III) what the application proc8 ess for a Federal Pell Grant requires; 

9 ‘‘(iii) State-specific college savings 

10 programs; 

11 ‘‘(iv) State-based financial aid, includ12 ing State-based merit aid; and 

13 ‘‘(v) Federal financial aid available to 

14 students, including eligibility criteria for 

15 the Federal financial aid and an expla16 nation of the Federal financial aid pro17 grams. 

18 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL INFORMATION.—The information 

19 described in paragraph (2)(C) shall be provided to 

20 eligible students annually for the duration of the 

21 students’ participation in the Program. 

22 ‘‘(4) RESERVATION.—Each State educational 

23 agency receiving a grant under this section shall re24 serve $200,000 of the grant funds received each fisVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 May 08, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1128.IS S1128

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1128 IS

1 cal year to carry out the targeted information cam2 paign described in this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

5 such sums as may be necessary.’’. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS