I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1959 

To provide Dreamer students with access to student financial aid. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2015 

Mr. HINOJOSA (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ

of California, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. 

KIND, and Ms. FUDGE) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to 

the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide Dreamer students with access to student financial 

aid. 

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 Options for 

5 DREAMers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to invest in highly moti8 vated college students who came to the United States, 


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1 grew up in our churches and schools, and want to con2 tribute to the Nation by earning a college degree, making 

3 more money and paying higher taxes, starting businesses, 

4 hiring American workers, and spending more to strength5 en the Nation’s economy. 

6 SEC. 3. COLLEGE OPTIONS FOR DREAMER STUDENTS. 

7 Section 484 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1091) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)(5), by inserting ‘‘or be a 

10 Dreamer student, as defined in subsection (u)’’ after 

11 ‘‘becoming a citizen or permanent resident’’; and 

12 (2) by inserting at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(u) DREAMER STUDENTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

15 ‘Dreamer student’ means an individual who— 

16 ‘‘(A) was younger than 16 years of age on 

17 the date on which the individual initially en18 tered the United States; 

19 ‘‘(B) has provided a list of each secondary 

20 school (as that term is defined in section 9101 

21 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

22 Act of 1965) that the student attended in the 

23 United States; and 

24 ‘‘(C)(i) has earned a high school diploma, 

25 the recognized equivalent of such diploma from 


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1 a secondary school, a high school equivalency 

2 diploma in the United States, or is scheduled to 

3 complete the requirements for such a diploma 

4 or equivalent before the next academic year be5 gins; 

6 ‘‘(ii) has acquired a degree from an institu7 tion of higher education or has completed not 

8 less than 2 years in a program for a bacca9 laureate degree or higher degree at an institu10 tion of higher education in the United States 

11 and has made satisfactory academic progress, 

12 as defined in subsection (c), during such time 

13 period; 

14 ‘‘(iii) is a beneficiary of the Deferred Ac15 tion for Childhood Arrivals program pursuant 

16 to the Department of Homeland Security Sec17 retary’s memorandum on June 15, 2012, or 

18 November 20, 2014; or 

19 ‘‘(iv) has served in the uniformed services, 

20 as defined in section 101 of title 10, United 

21 States Code, for not less than 4 years and, if 

22 discharged, received an honorable discharge. 

23 ‘‘(2) HARDSHIP EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of 

24 Education shall issue regulations that direct when 

25 the Department shall waive the requirement of subVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:23 May 02, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1959.IH H1959

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1 paragraph (A) or (B), or both, of paragraph (1) to 

2 qualify as a Dreamer student under such paragraph, 

3 if the individual— 

4 ‘‘(A) demonstrates compelling cir5 cumstances for the inability to satisfy the re6 quirement of such subparagraph (A) or (B), or 

7 both; and 

8 ‘‘(B) satisfies the requirement under para9 graph (1)(C).’’. 

10 SEC. 4. RESTORATION OF STATE OPTION TO DETERMINE 

11 RESIDENCY FOR PURPOSES OF HIGHER EDU12 CATION. 

13 (a) REPEAL.—Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration 

14 Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 

15 U.S.C. 1623) is repealed. 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The repeal under subsection 

17 (a) shall take effect as if included in the original enact18 ment of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant 

19 Responsibility Act of 1996 (division C of Public Law 104– 

20 208). 

Æ 


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