I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 221 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand eligibility for 

participation in the Federal Pell Grant program to certain trade schools. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2023 

Mr. WITTMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand 

eligibility for participation in the Federal Pell Grant 

program to certain trade schools. 

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 ‘‘Professional Pell Edu5 cation Learning Act’’ or the ‘‘PROPEL Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL PELL GRANTS. 

7 (a) CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS.— 

8 (1) AWARD YEAR 2023–2024.—Section 401(a) of 

9 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 


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1 1070a(a)) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 

4 for purposes of this section, the terms ‘eligible institution’, 

5 ‘institution of higher education’, ‘eligible program’, and 

6 ‘institution’ include a program of education that— 

7 ‘‘(A) consists of vocational or technical training, 

8 flight training, or apprenticeship or other on-job 

9 training; 

10 ‘‘(B) an individual may pursue using edu11 cational assistance pursuant to section 3313(g) of 

12 title 38, United States Code; 

13 ‘‘(C) is less than 600 clock hours of instruction, 

14 16 semester hours, or 24 quarter hours, offered dur15 ing a period of less than 15 weeks; 

16 ‘‘(D) is not required to be accredited by a na17 tionally recognized accrediting agency or association 

18 recognized by the Secretary pursuant to part H; 

19 ‘‘(E) is not required to lead to a recognized 

20 educational credential; 

21 ‘‘(F) for purposes of the reporting requirements 

22 under section 132(i), reports on all enrolled students 

23 without regard to whether a student is a first-time, 

24 full-time, degree- or certificate-seeking student; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) except as otherwise provided in subpara2 graphs (A) through (F) of this paragraph, meets the 

3 requirements of this title for an institution to par4 ticipate in the program under this section.’’. 

5 (2) AWARD YEAR 2024–2025 AND EACH SUC6 CEEDING AWARD YEAR.—Section 401(a) of the 

7 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 1070a(a)), as amended by the FAFSA Simplifica9 tion Act (section 703 of division FF of Public Law 

10 116–260), is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 

13 for purposes of this section, the terms ‘eligible institution’, 

14 ‘institution of higher education’, ‘eligible program’, and 

15 ‘institution’ include a program of education that— 

16 ‘‘(A) consists of vocational or technical training, 

17 flight training, or apprenticeship or other on-job 

18 training; 

19 ‘‘(B) an individual may pursue using edu20 cational assistance pursuant to section 3313(g) of 

21 title 38, United States Code; 

22 ‘‘(C) is less than 600 clock hours of instruction, 

23 16 semester hours, or 24 quarter hours, offered dur24 ing a period of less than 15 weeks; 


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•HR 221 IH

1 ‘‘(D) is not required to be accredited by a na2 tionally recognized accrediting agency or association 

3 recognized by the Secretary pursuant to part H; 

4 ‘‘(E) is not required to lead to a recognized 

5 educational credential; 

6 ‘‘(F) for purposes of the reporting requirements 

7 under section 132(i), reports on all enrolled students 

8 without regard to whether a student is a first-time, 

9 full-time, degree- or certificate-seeking student; and 

10 ‘‘(G) except as otherwise provided in subpara11 graphs (A) through (F) of this paragraph, meets the 

12 requirements of this title for an institution to par13 ticipate in the program under this section.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 484(a)(1) 

15 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

16 1091(a)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘or, for purposes of 

17 the Federal Pell Grant program under section 401, a pro18 gram of education described in section 401(a)(3) for 

19 award year 2023–2024, or section 401(a)(4) for award 

20 year 2024–2025 or any succeeding award year’’ after 

21 ‘‘section 487’’. 

Æ 


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