II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 174

To put a college education within reach, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 15, 2003

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

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL

To put a college education within reach, 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 ‘‘Tuition Assistance for 

5 Families Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF TUITION TAX DEDUCTION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

8 section 222(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

9 (relating to dollar limitation) are amended to read as fol10 lows: 
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The applicable dollar 

2 limit shall be equal to—

3 ‘‘(i) in the case of a taxpayer whose 

4 adjusted gross income for the taxable year 

5 does not exceed $65,000 ($130,000 in the 

6 case of a joint return), $12,000, 

7 ‘‘(ii) with respect to any taxable year 

8 beginning in 2004 or 2005, in the case of 

9 a taxpayer not described in clause (i) 

10 whose adjusted gross income for the tax11 able year does not exceed $80,000 

12 ($160,000 in the case of a joint return), 

13 $2,000, and 

14 ‘‘(iii) in the case of any other tax15 payer, zero. 

16 ‘‘(B) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 

18 taxable year beginning after 2003, each 

19 dollar amount referred to in subparagraph 

20 (A)(i) shall be increased by an amount 

21 equal to—

22 ‘‘(I) such dollar amount, multi23 plied by 

24 ‘‘(II) the cost-of-living adjust25 ment determined under section 
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1 (1)(f)(3) for the calendar year in 

2 which the taxable year begins, by sub3 stituting ‘2002’ for ‘1992’. 

4 ‘‘(ii) ROUNDING.—If any amount as 

5 adjusted under clause (i) is not a multiple 

6 of $100, such amount shall be rounded to 

7 the next lowest multiple of $100.’’. 

8 (b) PERMANENT DEDUCTION.—Section 222 of the 

9 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to qualified tui10 tion and related expenses) is amended by striking sub11 section (e). 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to payments made in taxable years 

14 beginning after December 31, 2002. 

15 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF LIFETIME LEARNING CREDIT. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 25A(c)(1) of the Internal 

17 Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to per taxpayer credit) 

18 is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘20 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘25 

20 percent’’, and 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘$10,000 ($5,000 in the case of 

22 taxable years beginning before January 1, 2003)’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘$12,000’’. 

24 (b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Section 25A(h) of 

25 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to inflation 
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1 adjustments) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(3) DOLLAR LIMITATION ON AMOUNT OF LIFE4 TIME LEARNING CREDIT.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 

6 taxable year beginning after 2003, the dollar 

7 amount referred to in subsection (c)(1) shall be 

8 increased by an amount equal to—

9 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

10 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de11 termined under section (1)(f)(3) for the 

12 calendar year in which the taxable year be13 gins, by substituting ‘2002’ for ‘1992’. 

14 ‘‘(B) ROUNDING.—If any amount as ad15 justed under subparagraph (A) is not a multiple 

16 of $100, such amount shall be rounded to the 

17 next lowest multiple of $100.’’. 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply to payments made in taxable years 

20 beginning after December 31, 2002. 

21 SEC. 4. INCREASE IN INCOME LIMITS FOR HOPE AND LIFE22 TIME LEARNING CREDITS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 25A(d)(2)(A)(ii) of the 

24 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to limitation 

25 based on modified adjusted gross income) is amended by 
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1 striking ‘‘$40,000 ($80,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$55,000 

2 ($110,000’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

4 25A(h)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

5 amended—

6 (1) by striking ‘‘2001’’ in the matter preceding 

7 clause (i) and inserting ‘‘2003’’, 

8 (2) by striking ‘‘the $40,000 and $80,000 

9 amounts’’ in such matter and inserting ‘‘the 

10 $55,000 and $110,000 amounts’’, and 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘2000’’ in clause (ii) and insert12 ing ‘‘2002’’.. 

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

14 this section shall apply to payments made in taxable years 

15 beginning after December 31, 2002. 

16 SEC. 5. MAXIMUM PELL GRANT AWARDS. 

17 The Department of Education Appropriations Act, 

18 2002 (Public Law 107–116) is amended under the head19 ing ‘‘Student Financial Assistance’’ by striking ‘‘$4,000’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘$4,500’’. 

21 SEC. 6. ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT SCHOLARSHIPS. 

22 (a) SCHOLARSHIPS.—The Secretary of Education is 

23 authorized to award a scholarship for academic year 

24 2003–2004 and succeeding academic years to each stu25 dent in a State who graduated in the top 5 percent of 
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1 such student’s graduating class from an accredited sec2 ondary school in academic year 2002-2003 or a succeeding 

3 academic year to enable such student to pay the cost of 

4 attendance at an institution of higher education. 

5 (b) AMOUNT.—Each scholarship awarded under this 

6 section shall be in the amount of $1,000. 

7 (c) USE.—Each student awarded a scholarship under 

8 this section shall use the funds to pay the cost of attend9 ance at an institution of higher education. 

10 (d) CONSTRUCTION OF NEEDS PROVISION.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (2), nothing in this section, or any other Act, 

13 shall be construed to permit the receipt of a scholar14 ship under this section to be counted for any needs 

15 test in connection with the awarding of any grant or 

16 the making of any loan under the Higher Education 

17 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) or any other 

18 provision of Federal law relating to educational as19 sistance. 

20 (2) EXCEPTION.—In determining the need of a 

21 student for Federal financial assistance, an institu22 tion of higher education may take into consideration 

23 the amount of scholarship assistance received under 

24 this section if the total amount of scholarship assist25 ance received under this section plus the amount of 
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1 other financial assistance available to a student ex2 ceeds the student’s cost of attendance at the institu3 tion. 

4 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Education 

5 shall promulgate regulations regarding how scholarships 

6 awarded under this section will be allocated to both public 

7 and private school students. 

8 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) COST OF ATTENDANCE.—The term ‘cost of 

10 attendance’ has the meaning given the term in sec11 tion 472 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 1087ll). 

13 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

14 term ‘institution of higher education’ has the mean15 ing given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

16 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001).

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