II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3995 

To provide education opportunity grants to low-income secondary school 

students. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2006 

Mr. DEMINT (for himself and Mr. OBAMA) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide education opportunity grants to low-income 

secondary school 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Education Opportunity 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The academic intensity of a student’s sec9 ondary school curriculum counts more than any 


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1 other precollegiate factor in providing momentum to2 ward eventual completion of a college degree. 

3 (2) By failing to provide challenging course 

4 work, some secondary schools do not present ade5 quate opportunities for all students to learn. Some 

6 groups of students are excluded from such opportu7 nities more than others. For example, students from 

8 the lowest socioeconomic status are much more likely 

9 than their wealthier peers to attend secondary 

10 schools that do not offer any mathematics beyond 

11 Algebra 2. 

12 (3) To close gaps in the preparation for college, 

13 and in the eventual attainment of a college degree, 

14 the provision of challenging curriculum for all stu15 dents is necessary. 

16 (4) Colleges and community colleges have re17 cently begun to provide challenging courses to sec18 ondary school students, and distance learning pro19 vides additional options if students have access to 

20 distance learning technology. 

21 (5) The cost of enrolling in a college-level 

22 course is a barrier to learning opportunities for 

23 those students most in need of such opportunities. 

24 Providing grants to capable students from low-in25 come families will provide these students with inVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:54 Oct 04, 2006 Jkt 049196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3995.IS S3995

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1 creased access to the challenging coursework that 

2 leads to success in college or the workplace. 

3 SEC. 3. EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY GRANTS FOR ELIGIBLE 

4 LOW-INCOME SECONDARY SCHOOL STU5 DENTS. 

6 (a) EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY GRANTS FOR ELIGI7 BLE LOW-INCOME SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS.— 

8 Part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

9 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘Subpart 9—Education Opportunity Grants for 

12 Eligible Low-Income Secondary School Students 

13 ‘‘SEC. 420L. EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY GRANTS. 

14 ‘‘(a) EDUCATION OPPORTUNITY GRANTS AUTHOR15 IZED.—The Secretary is authorized to award grants to eli16 gible low-income secondary school students to enable the 

17 students to pay the cost of taking eligible courses while 

18 enrolled in secondary school. 

19 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE COURSE.—The term ‘eligible 

21 course’ means a course— 

22 ‘‘(A) that is offered by an institution of 

23 higher education eligible to participate in a pro24 gram under this title; 


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1 ‘‘(B) for which the institution of higher 

2 education awards postsecondary academic credit 

3 that is transferrable; 

4 ‘‘(C) that is held at the institution of high5 er education, held at a secondary school, or of6 fered in whole or in part through telecommuni7 cations; and 

8 ‘‘(D) that is not remedial in nature. 

9 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE LOW-INCOME SECONDARY

10 SCHOOL STUDENT.—The term ‘eligible low-income 

11 secondary school student’ means a student who— 

12 ‘‘(A) is enrolled in a secondary school; 

13 ‘‘(B) has a family income that is less than 

14 185 percent of the poverty line (as defined by 

15 the Office of Management and Budget, and re16 vised annually in accordance with section 

17 673(2) of the Community Services Block Grant 

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2)) applicable to a family 

19 of the size involved; and 

20 ‘‘(C) is a junior or senior in secondary 

21 school and is making satisfactory progress to22 ward on-time graduation from secondary school. 

23 ‘‘(c) AMOUNT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

25 a grant under this section to an eligible low-income 


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1 secondary school student in an amount equal to the 

2 cost of tuition for each eligible course the student 

3 takes while the student is enrolled in secondary 

4 school, except that the total amount of grant assist5 ance awarded under this section to an eligible low6 income secondary school student for any academic 

7 year shall not exceed $4,050. 

8 ‘‘(2) COST OF TUITION.—The cost of tuition for 

9 an eligible course shall be the lesser of— 

10 ‘‘(A) the cost of tuition and any necessary 

11 fees or supplies that the institution of higher 

12 education charges students of the secondary 

13 school that the eligible low-income secondary 

14 school student attends for the eligible course; or 

15 ‘‘(B) $1,200. 

16 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec17 tion shall be construed to affect any policy or agreement, 

18 under which an institution of higher education offers dis19 counted tuition, fees, or supply costs to secondary school 

20 students, that was in existence on the day before that date 

21 of enactment of the Education Opportunity Act. 

22 ‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

23 provided under this section shall supplement, not sup24 plant, other non-Federal funds that are available to assist 

25 an eligible low-income secondary school student pay for 


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1 an eligible course while the student is enrolled in sec2 ondary school. 

3 ‘‘(f) INTERACTION WITH FEDERAL PELL GRANTS.— 

4 An eligible low-income secondary school student’s receipt 

5 of an award under this section shall not in any way affect 

6 the student’s future eligibility for a Federal Pell Grant 

7 under section 401 or the amount of such Federal Pell 

8 Grant. 

9 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

11 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2007 and each of the 4 suc12 ceeding fiscal years.’’. 

13 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the 

14 Senate that— 

15 (1) any funds appropriated to carry out the 

16 grant program under section 420L of the Higher 

17 Education Act of 1965 (as added by subsection (a)) 

18 should be in addition to the funds appropriated for 

19 Federal Pell Grants under section 401 of such Act; 

20 and 

21 (2) the funding of the grant program under sec22 tion 420L of such Act should not in any way affect 

23 the amount that is appropriated for Federal Pell 

24 Grants. 

Æ 


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