II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2206

To provide enhanced Pell Grants for State Scholars. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12 (legislative day, MARCH 11), 2004

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

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL

To provide enhanced Pell Grants for State Scholars.

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 ‘‘Pell Grants Plus Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. PELL GRANTS PLUS: ACHIEVEMENT GRANTS FOR 

6 STATE SCHOLARS PROGRAM. 

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subpart 1 of part A of title IV 

8 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is amended by in9 serting after section 401 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) the following 

10 new section: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 401A. PELL GRANTS PLUS: ACHIEVEMENT GRANTS 

2 FOR STATE SCHOLARS. 

3 ‘‘(a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From sums appro4 priated under subsection (e), the Secretary shall establish 

5 a program to award Pell Grants Plus grants to students 

6 who—

7 ‘‘(1) have successfully completed a rigorous sec8 ondary school program of study established by a 

9 State or local educational agency in consultation 

10 with a State coalition assisted with funds from the 

11 Center for State Scholars; 

12 ‘‘(2) are enrolled full-time in the first academic 

13 year of undergraduate education, and have not been 

14 previously enrolled in a program of undergraduate 

15 education; and 

16 ‘‘(3) are eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants 

17 for the year in which the grant is awarded. 

18 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para20 graph (2), the amount of the grant awarded under 

21 this section shall be $1,000. 

22 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE NOT TO EXCEED COST OF AT23 TENDANCE.—A grant awarded under this section to 

24 any student, in combination with the Federal Pell 

25 Grant assistance and other student financial assist-
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1 ance available to such student, may not exceed the 

2 student’s cost of attendance. 

3 ‘‘(c) SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS.—

4 ‘‘(1) PROCEDURES ESTABLISHED BY REGULA5 TION.—The Secretary shall establish by regulation 

6 procedures for the determination of eligibility of stu7 dents for the grants awarded under this section. 

8 Such procedures shall include measures to ensure 

9 that eligibility is determined in a timely and accu10 rate manner consistent with the requirements of sec11 tion 482 and the submission of the financial aid 

12 form required by section 483. 

13 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—Each eligible student de14 siring a grant under this section shall submit at 

15 such time and in such manner such information as 

16 the Secretary may reasonably require. 

17 ‘‘(3) CONTINUATION OF GRANT REQUIRE18 MENTS.—In order for a student to continue to be el19 igible to receive a grant under this section for the 

20 second year of undergraduate education, the eligible 

21 student shall—

22 ‘‘(A) maintain eligibility to receive a Fed23 eral Pell Grant for that year; 

24 ‘‘(B) obtain a grade point average of at 

25 least 3.0 (or the equivalent as determined under 
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1 regulations prescribed by the Secretary) for the 

2 first year of undergraduate education; and 

3 ‘‘(C) be enrolled full-time and fulfill the re4 quirements for satisfactory progress described 

5 in section 484(c). 

6 ‘‘(d) SUNSET, EVALUATION, AND REPORTS.—

7 ‘‘(1) SUNSET.—The provisions of this section 

8 shall cease to be effective on October 1, 2011, except 

9 as the Congress may hereafter provide by law if 

10 Congress determines, after analysis of the evaluation 

11 and reports provided for in paragraph (2), that ex12 tension or expansion of the program is warranted. 

13 ‘‘(2) EVALUATION AND REPORTS.—The Sec14 retary shall monitor the progress, retention, and 

15 completion rates of the students to whom grants are 

16 awarded under this section. In doing so, the Sec17 retary shall evaluate the impact of the Pell Grants 

18 Plus Program and report, not less than biennially, 

19 to the authorizing committees of the House of Rep20 resentatives and the Senate. 

21 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 $33,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and each of the 5 suc24 ceeding fiscal years.’’. 
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•S 2206 IS 

1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Chapter 3 of sub2 part 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act 

3 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a–31 et seq.) is repealed.

Æ