I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6934 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary 

of Education to make grants to institutions of higher education to 

provide free meals to low-income students through existing on-campus 

meal programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2022 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. PORTER, Mr. NADLER, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. LEE of California, 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize 

the Secretary of Education to make grants to institutions 

of higher education to provide free meals to low-income 

students through existing on-campus meal programs, 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 ‘‘Food for Thought Act 

5 of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FREE MEALS FOR LOW-INCOME COLLEGE STU2 DENTS. 

3 Part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

5 after subpart 7 the following: 

6 ‘‘Subpart 8—Meals for Low-Income Students 

7 ‘‘SEC. 420A. FREE MEALS FOR LOW-INCOME STUDENTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—From amounts made avail9 able under subsection (j), the Secretary is authorized to 

10 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 

11 to provide free meals to low-income students through on12 campus meal programs. 

13 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring 

15 to receive an award under subsection (a) shall sub16 mit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

17 such manner, and containing such information as 

18 the Secretary may require. Such application shall in19 clude— 

20 ‘‘(A) a plan for identifying eligible students 

21 and conducting outreach; and 

22 ‘‘(B) an assurance that the eligible entity 

23 will— 

24 ‘‘(i) conduct outreach to students with 

25 respect to the grant program under this 


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1 section, encourage student participation in 

2 such program, and inform students of— 

3 ‘‘(I) their potential eligibility for 

4 participation in other Federal, State, 

5 and local benefit and support pro6 grams, including means-tested Fed7 eral benefits programs such as SNAP; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(II) the processes for obtaining 

10 more information, confirming eligi11 bility, and accessing benefits under 

12 such programs; 

13 ‘‘(ii) evaluate institutional policies re14 lating to the purchase of on-campus meal 

15 plans and whether such policies create bar16 riers to enrollment and persistence for low17 income students; 

18 ‘‘(iii) identify ways to mitigate any in19 stitutional policies that are found, through 

20 the evaluation described in clause (ii), to 

21 create barriers described in such clause; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(iv) in the case of an eligible entity 

24 that is a consortia of eligible institutions of 

25 higher education that includes eligible inVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 Mar 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6934.IH H6934

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1 stitutions that do not have on-campus meal 

2 programs, provide an explanation with re3 spect to how the eligible entity will ensure 

4 that low-income students attending such 

5 institutions will be able to easily access 

6 free meals provided under this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

8 section, the Secretary shall give priority to— 

9 ‘‘(A) an eligible entity that is an eligible 

10 institution of higher education that is— 

11 ‘‘(i) a community college; 

12 ‘‘(ii) a minority-serving institution de13 scribed in section 371(a); or 

14 ‘‘(iii) located in an area served by a 

15 local educational agency that is eligible for 

16 special assistance payments under section 

17 11(a)(1) of the Richard B. Russell Na18 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 1759a(a)(1)); and 

20 ‘‘(B) an eligible entity that is a consortia 

21 of eligible institutions of higher education, in 

22 which at least 50 percent of such institutions 

23 meet at least 1 of the requirements under 

24 clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (A). 

25 ‘‘(c) MANDATORY ACTIVITIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re2 ceives a grant under this section shall use such 

3 grant funds to provide, through on-campus meal 

4 programs, not fewer than 1, and not more than 10, 

5 free meals per week to each low-income student se6 lected by such entity to participate in the program 

7 under this section. 

8 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—In selecting low-income stu9 dents to participate in the program under this sec10 tion, an eligible entity shall give priority to— 

11 ‘‘(A) students with the greatest financial 

12 need; and 

13 ‘‘(B) students who indicate that they are 

14 experiencing food insecurity, housing insecurity, 

15 homelessness, or other insecurity with respect 

16 to basic needs. 

17 ‘‘(d) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—In addition to the 

18 mandatory activities in subsection (c), an eligible entity 

19 that receives a grant under this section may use not more 

20 than 10 percent of such grant funds to— 

21 ‘‘(1) facilitate the enrollment of on-campus ven22 dors as authorized retailers in SNAP; 

23 ‘‘(2) support the operation of an on-campus 

24 food pantry; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) purchase food infrastructure equipment, 

2 including microwaves, refrigerators, and other such 

3 equipment determined by the Secretary to be nec4 essary. 

5 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 5 per6 cent of the grant funds provided to an eligible entity under 

7 this section for any fiscal year may be used for administra8 tive purposes. 

9 ‘‘(f) GRANT PERIOD.—Grants awarded to eligible en10 tities under this section shall be for a period of 5 years. 

11 ‘‘(g) CAMPUS MEAL PROGRAM.—Eligible entities re12 ceiving grants under this section may contract with third13 party food service vendors to provide on-campus meals. 

14 ‘‘(h) REPORTS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) RECIPIENT REPORTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the end of the 5- 

17 year grant period, an eligible entity that re18 ceives a grant under this section shall submit to 

19 the Secretary a report on— 

20 ‘‘(i) how such entity used the grant 

21 funds, including the shares of such funds 

22 used for each of the activities described in 

23 subsections (c), (d)(1), and (d)(2); and 

24 ‘‘(ii) the success rates of students who 

25 participated in the grant program under 


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1 this section (using benchmarks such as 

2 persistence, coursework completion, trans3 fer, and completion rates). 

4 ‘‘(B) DISAGGREGATION.—The information 

5 reported in subparagraph (A)(ii) shall be 

6 disaggregated, where possible, by— 

7 ‘‘(i) race; 

8 ‘‘(ii) ethnicity; 

9 ‘‘(iii) Pell recipient status; 

10 ‘‘(iv) income; 

11 ‘‘(v) gender; and 

12 ‘‘(vi) age. 

13 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY REPORT.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the Secretary receives the reports required 

16 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit 

17 a report to Congress on the overall impact of 

18 the program under this section. 

19 ‘‘(B) DISAGGREGATION.—The information 

20 described in subparagraph (A) shall be 

21 disaggregated, where possible, by— 

22 ‘‘(i) sectors and types of institutions; 

23 ‘‘(ii) whether an institution is a mi24 nority-serving institution described in sec25 tion 371(a); and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) whether an institution has an 

2 open admissions policy. 

3 ‘‘(i) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that an eligible entity awarded a grant under this 

5 section should, to the extent practicable— 

6 ‘‘(1) ensure meals served pursuant to a grant 

7 under this section are consistent with the nutritional 

8 requirements and goals of the most recent Dietary 

9 Guidelines for Americans published under section 

10 301 of the National Nutrition Monitoring and Re11 lated Research Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341); 

12 ‘‘(2) ensure access to vegetarian meals, vegan 

13 meals, culturally and religiously appropriate meals, 

14 and meals that accommodate common food allergies; 

15 ‘‘(3) build and encourage the use of on-campus 

16 food pantries; 

17 ‘‘(4) encourage on-campus vendors to increase 

18 the use of climate-friendly options; and 

19 ‘‘(5) buy products to reduce the greenhouse gas 

20 emissions associated with providing free meals to 

21 students and purchasing food infrastructure equip22 ment. 

23 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022 and 

2 each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years. 

3 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com5 munity college’ means a public institution of higher 

6 education at which the highest degree that is pre7 dominantly awarded to students is an associate’s de8 gree, including 2-year Tribal Colleges or Universities 

9 under section 316 and public 2-year institutions of 

10 higher education operated by a State. 

11 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en12 tity’ means— 

13 ‘‘(A) an eligible institution of higher edu14 cation that has an on-campus meal program 

15 that is provided through an institutionally 

16 owned or operated food service or one or more 

17 third-party food service vendors; or 

18 ‘‘(B) a consortia of eligible institutions of 

19 higher education, of which at least one has an 

20 on-campus meal program that is provided 

21 through an institutionally owned or operated 

22 food service or one or more third-party food 

23 service vendors, provided that such an eligible 

24 institution with an on-campus meal program is 

25 geographically accessible to the students of the 


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1 eligible institutions that do not have on-campus 

2 meal programs. 

3 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU4 CATION.—The term ‘eligible institution of higher 

5 education’ means an institution of higher education 

6 under section 101 or 102(a)(1)(B) in which at least 

7 30 percent of the undergraduate students enrolled at 

8 such institution are eligible to receive a Federal Pell 

9 Grant. 

10 ‘‘(4) SNAP.—The term ‘SNAP’ means the sup11 plemental nutrition assistance program (as defined 

12 in section 3(t) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 

13 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(t))).’’. 

Æ 


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