II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 484 

To direct the Secretary of Education to pay to Fort Lewis College in the 

State of Colorado an amount equal to the tuition charges for Indian 

students who are not residents of the State of Colorado. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 3, 2011 

Mr. BENNET (for himself and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to pay to Fort Lewis 

College in the State of Colorado an amount equal to 

the tuition charges for Indian students who are not residents of the State of Colorado. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PURPOSE. 

4 It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that Federal 

5 funding is provided to support and sustain the long6 standing Federal mandate requiring Fort Lewis College 

7 in the State of Colorado to waive tuition charges for each 

8 Indian student it admits to an undergraduate program, 


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1 including the waiver of tuition charges for Indian students 

2 who are not residents of the State of Colorado. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds that— 

5 (1) Fort Lewis College in the State of Colorado 

6 is a signature school for Indian students from 

7 throughout the Nation and graduates more Indian 

8 students than any other baccalaureate institution of 

9 higher education; 

10 (2) in 2009, Fort Lewis College awarded 95 de11 grees in science, technology, engineering, and mathe12 matics to Indian students, representing 13.5 percent 

13 of degrees awarded by baccalaureate institutions of 

14 higher education to Indian students, more degrees 

15 than any other comparable baccalaureate institution 

16 in the Nation; 

17 (3) as of the 2010–11 academic year, Fort 

18 Lewis College provides federally mandated tuition19 free education to approximately 786 Indian students 

20 from 124 different Indian tribes and 34 different 

21 States, representing approximately 20 percent of the 

22 overall student population at this non-tribal institu23 tion of higher education that serves Indian students; 

24 (4) the Federal mandate to provide tuition-free 

25 education to Indian students was first placed upon 


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1 the State of Colorado under section 5 of the Act of 

2 April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 273, chapter 140), as a con3 dition of the transfer of the land, buildings, and fix4 tures comprising Fort Lewis School, which had been 

5 federally operated; 

6 (5) the amount of funds expended by the State 

7 of Colorado to meet the waiver of tuition obligations 

8 under section 5 of the Act of April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 

9 273, chapter 140), for all Indian students, both out10 of-State and in-State, far exceeds the value of the 

11 land, buildings, and fixtures that the State of Colo12 rado holds for the benefit of Fort Lewis College; 

13 (6) the State of Colorado has expended more 

14 than $110,000,000 in the past 25 years to meet the 

15 costs of the tuition waivers for Indian students at 

16 Fort Lewis College from 44 different States; and 

17 (7) the federally mandated tuition waiver pro18 gram for Indian students at Fort Lewis College is 

19 at risk of being reduced by the severe budget con20 straints of the State of Colorado, thereby jeopard21 izing the education of many talented Indian students 

22 from around the Nation, in present and future class23 es. 

24 SEC. 3. STATE RELIEF FROM FEDERAL MANDATE. 

25 (a) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

2 for fiscal year 2011 and each succeeding fiscal year, 

3 the Secretary of Education shall pay to Fort Lewis 

4 College in the State of Colorado an amount equal to 

5 the charges for tuition for all Indian students who 

6 are not residents of the State of Colorado and who 

7 are enrolled in Fort Lewis College for the academic 

8 year ending before the beginning of such fiscal year. 

9 (2) LIMITATION.—The amount paid to Fort 

10 Lewis College for each fiscal year under paragraph 

11 (1) may not exceed the amount equal to the charges 

12 for tuition for all Indian students who were not resi13 dents of the State of Colorado and who were en14 rolled in Fort Lewis College for academic year 

15 2010–2011. 

16 (b) TREATMENT OF PAYMENT.—Any amounts re17 ceived under this section shall be treated as a reimburse18 ment from the State of Colorado to Fort Lewis College 

19 for complying with the requirement of section 5 of the Act 

20 of April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 273, chapter 140), to admit 

21 Indian students free of charge of tuition. 

22 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

23 shall be construed to relieve the State of Colorado from 

24 reimbursing, for purposes of complying with the require25 ments of section 5 of the Act of April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 


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1 273, chapter 140), Fort Lewis College for each academic 

2 year— 

3 (1) with respect to Indian students who are not 

4 residents of the State of Colorado and who are en5 rolled in Fort Lewis College, any amount of charges 

6 for tuition for such students that exceeds the 

7 amount received under this section for such aca8 demic year; and 

9 (2) with respect to Indian students who are 

10 residents of the State of Colorado and who are en11 rolled in Fort Lewis College, an amount equal to the 

12 charges for tuition for such students for such aca13 demic year. 

14 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Indian 

15 students’’ refers to the term ‘‘Indian pupils’’ in section 

16 5 of the Act of April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 269, chapter 140). 

17 (e) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be appro18 priated, and there are appropriated (in addition to any 

19 other amounts appropriated to carry out this section and 

20 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro21 priated), such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

22 section. 

Æ 


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