I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3968

To provide access and assistance to increase college attendance and completion 

by part-time students. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2004

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. 

WOOLSEY, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. FROST, Mr. BOUCHER, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. DELAHUNT, 

Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. MCDERMOTT, and Mr. 

BROWN of Ohio) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To provide access and assistance to increase college 

attendance and completion by part-time students.

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; REFERENCES. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Part-time Student Assistance Act’’. 

6 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 

7 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 

8 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 
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1 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid2 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the 

3 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

4 SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR WORKING STUDENTS: INCREASES IN 

5 INCOME PROTECTION ALLOWANCES. 

6 (a) DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—Section 475(g)(2) (20 

7 U.S.C. 1087oo(g)(2)) is amended by striking subpara8 graph (D) and inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(D) an income protection allowance of 

10 $9,000;’’. 

11 (b) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITHOUT DEPEND12 ENTS OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 476(b)(1)(A) 

13 (20 U.S.C. 1087pp(b)(1)(A)) is amended by striking 

14 clause (iv) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(iv) an income protection allowance 

16 of $12,000;’’. 

17 (c) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITH DEPENDENTS

18 OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 477(b) (20 U.S.C. 

19 1087qq(b)) is amended—

20 (1) in paragraph (1)—

21 (A) by striking subparagraph (D) and in22 serting the following: 

23 ‘‘(D) an income protection allowance of 

24 $12,000;’’; and 
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1 (B) in subparagraph (E), by striking 

2 ‘‘paragraph (5)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

3 (4)’’; 

4 (2) by striking paragraph (4); and 

5 (3) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para6 graph (4). 

7 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 478 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1087rr) is amended—

9 (1) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(b) INCOME PROTECTION ALLOWANCE.—For each 

12 academic year after academic year 1993–1994, the Sec13 retary shall publish in the Federal Register a revised table 

14 of income protection allowances for the purpose of section 

15 475(c)(4). Such revised table shall be developed by in16 creasing each of the dollar amounts contained in the table 

17 in such section by a percentage equal to the estimated per18 centage increase in the Consumer Price Index (as deter19 mined by the Secretary) between December 1992 and the 

20 December next preceding the beginning of such academic 

21 year, and rounding the result to the nearest $10.’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (h)—

23 (A) in the first sentence, by striking 

24 ‘‘477(b)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘477(b)(4)’’; and 

25 (B) in the second sentence—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘477(b)(5)(A)’’ and in2 serting ‘‘477(b)(4)(A)’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘477(b)(5)(B)’’ and 

4 inserting ‘‘477(b)(4)(B)’’. 

5 SEC. 3. EXEMPTING EARNED INCOME CREDITS FROM THE 

6 CALCULATION OF INCOME. 

7 Section 480(a)(2) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(a)(2)) is 

8 amended by inserting ‘‘or section 32’’ after ‘‘section 25A’’. 

9 SEC. 4. CHILD CARE MEANS PARENTS IN SCHOOL. 

10 (a) MINIMUM GRANT.—Section 419N(b)(2)(B) (20 

11 U.S.C. 1070e(b)(2)(B)) is amended by striking ‘‘$10,000’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘$30,000’’. 

13 (b) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS.—Section 419N(b)(4) is 

14 amended by striking ‘‘$350,000’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘$250,000’’. 

16 (c) INCOME ELIGIBILITY.—Section 419N(b)(7) is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘who is eligible to receive’’ and in18 serting ‘‘whose income qualifies for eligibility for’’. 

19 (d) PUBLICITY.—Section 419N(b) is further amend20 ed by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(8) PUBLICITY.—The Secretary shall publicize 

22 the availability of grants under this section in appro23 priate periodicals in addition to publication in the 

24 Federal Register, and shall inform appropriate edu25 cational organizations of such availability.’’. 
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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

2 419N(g) is amended by striking ‘‘$45,000,000 for fiscal 

3 year 1999’’ and inserting ‘‘$75,000,000 for fiscal year 

4 2005’’. 

5 SEC. 5. YEAR-ROUND PELL GRANTS. 

6 Section 401 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(k) YEAR-ROUND PELL GRANTS.—

9 ‘‘(1) PILOT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—The Sec10 retary shall establish in accordance with this sub11 section a year-round Pell grant pilot program. Any 

12 institution of higher education that desires to par13 ticipate in the program under this subsection shall 

14 submit an application the Secretary at such time 

15 and containing or accompanied by such information 

16 and assurances as the Secretary may require. The 

17 Secretary may select not more than 200 institutions 

18 of higher education for participation in the program. 

19 The Secretary shall give preference in such selection 

20 to those associate’s and bachelor’s degree-granting 

21 institutions that, as determined under paragraph 

22 (3), have the highest completion and graduation 

23 rates, respectively. 

24 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—With respect to 

25 students enrolled in institutions participating in the 
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1 program under this subsection, the Secretary is au2 thorized—

3 ‘‘(A) to award such students two Pell 

4 grants in one calendar year to permit such stu5 dents to accelerating progress towards their de6 gree or certificate objectives by enrolling in aca7 demic programs for 12 rather than 9 months of 

8 the year at participating institutions; and 

9 ‘‘(B) to award such two Pell grants to 

10 such students in a total amount up to 133 per11 cent of the maximum Pell under subsection 

12 (b)(2)(A) that is applicable for the academic 

13 year. 

14 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall limit 

15 the awarding of additional Pell grants under this 

16 subsection in a single calendar year to students who 

17 attend associate’s and bachelor’s degree-granting in18 stitutions with the following characteristics: 

19 ‘‘(A) In the case of an associate’s degree20 granting institution, the completion rate for the 

21 institution of higher education reported by the 

22 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Sys23 tem for the preceding 3 academic years has im24 proved by a total of at least 10 percent. 
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1 ‘‘(B) In the case of a bachelor’s degree2 granting institution—

3 ‘‘(i) the graduation rate for the insti4 tution of higher education reported by the 

5 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

6 System for the preceding 5 academic years 

7 is at least 50 percent; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the average time of enrollment 

9 required to complete a degree at the insti10 tution among students who enter as fresh11 man and earn bachelor’s degrees is 14 or 

12 fewer quarters, or 9 or fewer semesters or 

13 the equivalent. 

14 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION; EVALUATION.—The author15 ity of the Secretary under this subsection shall cease 

16 to be effective on October 1, 2009. Not later than 

17 October 1, 2008, the Secretary shall conduct an 

18 evaluation of the program under this subsection and 

19 submit to the Congress a report on the results of 

20 such evaluation.’’. 

21 SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL FIPSE PROGRAM. 

22 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section—

23 (1) to allow a demonstration program that is 

24 strictly monitored by the Department of Education 
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1 to test creative measure for improving the avail2 ability of higher education for part-time students; 

3 (2) to provide for increased access for part-time 

4 students; and 

5 (3) to help determine the most effective assist6 ance for part-time students. 

7 (b) NEW PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Section 741(a) 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1138(a)) is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

10 (7); 

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of para12 graph (8); and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

14 paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(9) creating a program to create a holistic ap16 proach to addressing the needs of part-time students 

17 at not more than 150 associates and bachelors de18 gree-granting institutions that would include grants, 

19 leveraging funds from non-Federal sources, com20 prehensive child care, and better tailored remedial 

21 course programs.’’. 

22 (c) NOTIFICATION AND REPORTS.—Section 743 (20 

23 U.S.C. 1138b) is amended by adding at the end the fol24 lowing new subsections: 
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1 ‘‘(c) PROCEDURES AND AUTHORIZATION FOR PART2 TIME STUDENT PROGRAM.—

3 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that de4 sires to receive a grant under subsection (b)(9) shall 

5 submit an application to the Secretary in such man6 ner and form, containing such information and as7 surances, as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

8 ‘‘(2) SELECTION PROCEDURES.—The Secretary 

9 shall by regulation develop a formal procedure for 

10 the submissions of applications for grants under 

11 subsection (b)(9) and shall publish in the Federal 

12 Register an announcement of that procedure and the 

13 availability of funds under such part. 

14 ‘‘(3) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall evalu15 ate the program authorized under subsection (b)(9) 

16 on an annual basis. Such evaluations specifically 

17 shall review —

18 ‘‘(A) the extent to which the institution 

19 has met the goals set forth in its application to 

20 the Secretary; 

21 ‘‘(B) the number of students participating 

22 in the programs offered, including the progress 

23 of such students toward recognized certificates 

24 or degrees; and 
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1 ‘‘(C) what changes, if any, in law would fa2 cilitate both the participation of part-time stu3 dents in higher education and increased gradua4 tion rates amongst these students. 

5 ‘‘(4) SEPARATE AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPRO6 PRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be appro7 priated to carry out the program authorized by sub8 section (b)(9), $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 

9 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 

10 five succeeding fiscal years.’’.

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