II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1364 

To establish an Early Federal Pell Grant Commitment Program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2019 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. JONES) 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: 


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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 States to pay the adminis8 trative expenses incurred in participating in the Pro9 gram; 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 any of grades 8 through 12; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(ii) is a member of a household re23 ceiving assistance under the supplemental 

24 nutrition assistance program established 

25 under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 

26 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 


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

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

3 subparagraph (B), each eligible student who 

4 participates in the Program shall receive a com5 mitment from the Secretary to receive a Fed6 eral Pell Grant during the first 2 academic 

7 years that the student is in attendance at an in8 stitution of higher education as an under9 graduate student, if the student— 

10 ‘‘(i) applies for Federal financial aid 

11 (via the FAFSA) for the award year that 

12 the student will be in attendance at an in13 stitution of higher education; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) enrolls at such institution of 

15 higher education— 

16 ‘‘(I) not later than 1 year after 

17 such student receives a secondary 

18 school diploma or its recognized equiv19 alent; or 

20 ‘‘(II) if such student becomes a 

21 member of the Armed Forces, not 

22 later than 3 years after such student 

23 is discharged, separated, or released 

24 from the Armed Forces. 

25 ‘‘(B) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible stu2 dent receives a commitment from the Sec3 retary to receive a Federal Pell Grant dur4 ing the first 2 academic years that the stu5 dent is in attendance at an institution of 

6 higher education as an undergraduate stu7 dent and the student is not a member of 

8 a household receiving assistance under the 

9 supplemental nutrition assistance program 

10 established under the Food and Nutrition 

11 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) at the 

12 time of the FAFSA application described 

13 in subparagraph (A)(i), then such student 

14 shall not receive a Federal Pell Grant pur15 suant to the commitment under this sec16 tion for the academic year, unless the stu17 dent, at the time of such FAFSA applica18 tion, is a member of a household that is el19 igible for benefits under— 

20 ‘‘(I) the supplemental security in21 come program under title XVI of the 

22 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 

23 et seq.); 

24 ‘‘(II) a State program funded 

25 under the temporary assistance for 


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1 needy families program under part A 

2 of title IV of the Social Security Act 

3 (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

4 ‘‘(III) the Medicaid program 

5 under title XIX of the Social Security 

6 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.); or 

7 ‘‘(IV) a means-tested Federal 

8 benefit program, not described in sub9 clause (I), (II), or (III), that is deter10 mined appropriate by the Secretary. 

11 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBILITY FOR OTHER AID.— 

12 A student who does not receive a Federal 

13 Pell Grant pursuant to the commitment 

14 under this section because such student is 

15 not a member of a household receiving as16 sistance under the supplemental nutrition 

17 assistance program established under the 

18 Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 

19 2011 et seq.) at the time such student ap20 plies for Federal financial aid (via the 

21 FAFSA) and the student is not eligible for 

22 benefits under a program described in 

23 clause (i), shall continue to be eligible for 

24 any other Federal student financial aid for 

25 which the student is otherwise eligible. 


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1 ‘‘(C) IDENTIFICATION.—The Secretary 

2 shall identify for each eligible institution, each 

3 eligible student who attends that institution and 

4 participates in the Program, including students 

5 participating in accordance with subparagraph 

6 (B). 

7 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL PELL GRANT

8 REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements of section 401 

9 shall apply to Federal Pell Grants awarded pursuant 

10 to this section, except that with respect to each eligi11 ble student who participates in the Program, the 

12 amount of each such eligible student’s Federal Pell 

13 Grant only shall be calculated by deeming such stu14 dent to have an expected family contribution equal 

15 to zero. 

16 ‘‘(c) STATE APPLICATIONS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State desiring to par18 ticipate in the Program shall submit an application 

19 to the Secretary at such time and in such manner 

20 as the Secretary may require. 

21 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Each application shall in22 clude— 

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

24 information campaign for the Program and a 

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


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1 ‘‘(B) an assurance that the State will fully 

2 cooperate with the ongoing evaluation of the 

3 Program; 

4 ‘‘(C) a description of how the State will— 

5 ‘‘(i) encourage participating students 

6 to enroll in rigorous and challenging cur7 ricula and coursework, in order to reduce 

8 the need for remedial coursework at the 

9 postsecondary level; 

10 ‘‘(ii) increase the number of partici11 pating students who— 

12 ‘‘(I) obtain a secondary school di13 ploma; and 

14 ‘‘(II) complete applications for 

15 and enroll in a program of postsec16 ondary education; 

17 ‘‘(iii) introduce participating students 

18 to institutions of higher education, through 

19 trips and school-based sessions; 

20 ‘‘(iv) provide participating students 

21 with assistance in the admissions and ap22 plication process for institutions of higher 

23 education or other postsecondary education 

24 programs; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) ensure that each participating 

2 student has an educational development 

3 plan; and 

4 ‘‘(D) such other information as the Sec5 retary may require. 

6 ‘‘(3) EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—In 

7 this subsection, the term ‘educational development 

8 plan’ means an individualized plan for a student 

9 that— 

10 ‘‘(A) contains a series of steps to help pro11 mote the student’s career awareness and explo12 ration; and 

13 ‘‘(B) assists students in identifying— 

14 ‘‘(i) career and technical education 

15 programs or programs of study (as those 

16 terms are defined in section 3 of the Carl 

17 D. Perkins Career and Technical Edu18 cation Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302), as in 

19 effect on July 1, 2019); or 

20 ‘‘(ii) other postsecondary options, in21 cluding baccalaureate and subbacca22 laureate degree programs. 

23 ‘‘(d) EVALUATION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appro25 priated under subsection (f) for a fiscal year, the 


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1 Secretary shall reserve not less than 2 percent and 

2 not more than 5 percent to award a grant or con3 tract to an organization outside the Department for 

4 an independent evaluation of the impact of the Pro5 gram. 

6 ‘‘(2) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—The grant or con7 tract shall be awarded on a competitive basis. 

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

9 described in this subsection shall consider metrics 

10 established by the Secretary that emphasize college 

11 access and success, encouraging low-income students 

12 to pursue higher education, and the cost effective13 ness of the program. 

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

15 evaluation shall be widely disseminated to the public 

16 by the organization conducting the evaluation as well 

17 as by the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(e) TARGETED INFORMATION CAMPAIGN.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State receiving a 

20 grant under this section shall, in cooperation with 

21 the participating local educational agencies within 

22 the State and the Secretary, develop a targeted in23 formation campaign for the Program. 

24 ‘‘(2) PLAN.—Each State receiving a grant 

25 under this section shall include in the application 


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1 submitted under subsection (c) a written plan for 

2 their proposed targeted information campaign. The 

3 plan shall include the following: 

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

5 and their families, at a minimum, at the begin6 ning and end of each academic year. 

7 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—How the State 

8 plans to provide the outreach described in sub9 paragraph (A) and to provide the information 

10 described in subparagraph (C). 

11 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION.—The annual provi12 sion by the State to all students and families 

13 participating in the Program of information re14 garding— 

15 ‘‘(i) the estimated national and state16 wide average higher education institution 

17 cost data for each academic year, which 

18 cost data shall be disaggregated by— 

19 ‘‘(I) type of institution, includ20 ing— 

21 ‘‘(aa) 2-year public colleges; 

22 ‘‘(bb) 4-year public colleges; 

23 ‘‘(cc) 4-year private colleges; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(dd) private, for-profit col2 leges; and 

3 ‘‘(II) component, including— 

4 ‘‘(aa) tuition and fees; and 

5 ‘‘(bb) room and board; 

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

7 ‘‘(I) the maximum Federal Pell 

8 Grant for each academic year; 

9 ‘‘(II) when and how to apply for 

10 a Federal Pell Grant; and 

11 ‘‘(III) what the application proc12 ess for a Federal Pell Grant requires; 

13 ‘‘(iii) State-specific college savings 

14 programs; 

15 ‘‘(iv) State-based financial aid, includ16 ing State-based merit aid; 

17 ‘‘(v) Federal financial aid available to 

18 students, including eligibility criteria for 

19 the Federal financial aid and an expla20 nation of the Federal financial aid pro21 grams; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) financial aid that may be avail23 able from non-governmental sources. 

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

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


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1 eligible students annually for the duration of the 

2 students’ participation in the Program. 

3 ‘‘(4) RESERVATION.—Each State receiving a 

4 grant under this section shall reserve not less than 

5 10 percent of the grant funds received each fiscal 

6 year to carry out the targeted information campaign 

7 described in this subsection. 

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

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 such sums as may be necessary.’’. 

Æ 


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