II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 161

To provide for an endowment grant program to support college access

programs nationwide, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 21 (legislative day, JANUARY 5), 1993

Mr. SARBANES introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To provide for an endowment grant program to support

college access programs nationwide, 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 ‘‘College Access Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

6 (a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—From amounts made

7 available to the Secretary pursuant to section 6(a), the

8 Secretary shall award grants to eligible organizations to

9 enable such organizations to conduct the authorized activi10 ties described in section 4.
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1 (b) AWARD BASIS.—

2 (1) MANDATORY.—The Secretary shall award a

3 grant under this Act in a fiscal year to an eligible

4 organization in an amount determined on the basis

5 of—

6 (A) the size of the budget of the eligible

7 organization in such year compared to the size

8 of the budgets of all eligible organizations re9 ceiving assistance under this Act in such year;

10 or

11 (B) the size of the endowment of the eligi12 ble organization in such year compared to the

13 size of the endowments of all eligible organiza14 tions receiving assistance under this Act in such

15 year.

16 (2) PERMISSIVE.—The Secretary may award a

17 grant under this Act in a fiscal year to an eligible

18 organization in an amount determined on the basis

19 of—

20 (A) the number of students served individ21 ually by the eligible organization in such year

22 compared to the number of students served in23 dividually by all eligible organizations receiving

24 assistance under this Act in such year; or
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1 (B) the eligible organization’s audited fi2 nancial statement for the preceding fiscal year.

3 (c) APPLICATION.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible organization

5 desiring a grant under this Act in any fiscal year

6 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such

7 time, in such manner, and containing or accom8 panied by such information as the Secretary may

9 reasonably require.

10 (2) CONTENTS.—Each application shall in11 clude—

12 (A) information documenting the provision

13 of authorized activities described in section 4 by

14 the eligible organization to students in the year

15 preceding the year for which assistance under

16 this Act is requested; and

17 (B) the eligible organization’s audited fi18 nancial statement for the preceding fiscal year.

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

20 For the purposes of this Act—

21 (1) the term ‘‘college’’ means an institution of

22 higher education (as such term is defined in section

23 1201(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965) that

24 awards an associate’s or bachelor’s degree;
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1 (2) the term ‘‘eligible organization’’ means an

2 organization that—

3 (A) provides a school-based advisor to stu4 dents attending public secondary schools and

5 offers assistance and incentives to encourage

6 such students to attend college;

7 (B) has been in existence for 2 years prior

8 to the date of enactment of this Act;

9 (C) awards last dollar, gap financing; and

10 (D) is an organization described in section

11 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of

12 1986;

13 (3) the term ‘‘Fund’’ means the College Access

14 Endowment Fund established in section 5(a);

15 (4) the term ‘‘last dollar, gap financing’’ means

16 the funds required to fill the gap between the cost

17 of college and the resources available to a student,

18 which resources shall include a family contribution

19 and any financial aid awarded to a student;

20 (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’, unless otherwise

21 specified, means the Secretary of Education; and

22 (6) the term ‘‘secondary school’’ has the same

23 meaning given to such term by section 1471(21) of

24 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of

25 1965.
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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.

2 Grant funds under this Act may be used by an eligi3 ble organization to provide students attending public sec4 ondary schools with—

5 (1) funds to enable such students to attend col6 lege;

7 (2) information about college and financial aid

8 for college;

9 (3) information about academic qualifications

10 and preparation for college;

11 (4) the costs of preparing for admission to col12 lege, including the costs of college entrance exams,

13 application fees, financial aid forms, and scholastic

14 aptitude test (SAT) and American College Test

15 (ACT) exam preparation courses;

16 (5) full and partial financial grants, especially

17 last dollar, gap financing;

18 (6) assistance in selecting and applying for ap19 propriate colleges and applying for available finan20 cial aid;

21 (7) the costs of entering college, including dor22 mitory reservation and college acceptance fees; or

23 (8) continuing college mentors, including paying

24 students to act as tutors and peer counselors at col25 lege.
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1 SEC. 5. COLLEGE ACCESS ENDOWMENT FUND.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the

3 Treasury of the United States an endowment fund to be

4 known as the College Access Endowment Fund. The Fund

5 shall consist of amounts appropriated to the Fund pursu6 ant to section 8 of this Act.

7 (b) INVESTMENT.—It shall be the duty of the Sec8 retary of the Treasury to invest in full amounts appro9 priated to the Fund. Such investments may be made only

10 in interest-bearing obligations of the United States or in

11 obligations guaranteed as to both principal and interest

12 by the United States. For such purpose, such obligations

13 may be acquired (1) on original issue at the issue price,

14 or (2) by purchase of outstanding obligations at the mar15 ket price. The purposes for which obligations of the United

16 States may be issued under the Second Liberty Bond Act,

17 as amended, are hereby extended to authorize the issuance

18 at par of special obligations exclusively to the Fund. Such

19 special obligation shall bear interest at a rate equal to the

20 average rate of interest, computed as to the end of the

21 calendar month next preceding the date of such issue,

22 borne by all marketable interest-bearing obligations of the

23 United States then forming a part of the public debt, ex24 cept that where such average rate is not a multiple of one25 eighth of 1 percent, the rate of interest of such special

26 obligations shall be the multiple of one-eighth of 1 percent
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1 next lower than such average rate. Such special obligations

2 shall be issued only if the Secretary of the Treasury deter3 mines that the purchase of other interest-bearing obliga4 tions of the United States, or of obligations guaranteed

5 as to both principal and interest by the United States on

6 original issue or at the market price, is not in the public

7 interest.

8 (c) SALE AND REDEMPTION.—Any obligation ac9 quired by the Fund (except special obligations issued ex10 clusively to the Fund) may be sold by the Secretary of

11 the Treasury at the market price, and such special obliga12 tions may be redeemed at par plus accrued interest.

13 (d) INTEREST AND PROCEEDS.—The interest on, and

14 the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any obliga15 tions held in the Fund shall be credited to and form a

16 part of the Fund.

17 SEC. 6. EXPENDITURES FROM THE FUND.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The interest and earnings of the

19 Fund shall be available to the Secretary to enable the Sec20 retary to award grants to eligible organizations in accord21 ance with this Act.

22 (b) AUDIT.—The activities of each eligible organiza23 tion receiving a grant under this Act may be audited by

24 the General Accounting Office under such rules and regu25 lations as may be prescribed by the Comptroller General
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1 of the United States. The representatives of the General

2 Accounting Office shall have access to all books, accounts,

3 records, reports, and files and all other papers, things, or

4 property belonging to or in use by the eligible organiza5 tion, pertaining to such activities and necessary to facili6 tate the audit.

7 SEC. 7. REPORT; TERMINATION OF GRANT PAYMENTS.

8 (a) REPORT.—Each eligible organization receiving a

9 grant under this Act shall annually prepare and submit

10 to the Secretary a report demonstrating such organiza11 tion’s compliance with the provisions of this Act.

12 (b) TERMINATION.—The Secretary shall terminate

13 grant payments under this Act for any eligible organiza14 tion which the Secretary determines is not in compliance

15 with the provisions of this Act.

16 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

17 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund

18 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1993 to carry out this Act.

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