I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4373 
To improve the Federal Pell Grant program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 2, 2014 
Mr. HINOJOSA (for himself, Mr. VARGAS, Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, Ms. 
HAHN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 
GENE GREEN of Texas, Ms. CHU, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. CLARKE of 
New York, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. RICHMOND, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. BISHOP of New 
York, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. VELA, Mr. O’ROURKE, 
Mr. CUELLAR, and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To improve the Federal Pell Grant program, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pell Grant Protection 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to restore the role of Fed-
eral Pell Grants as the foundational Federal investment 
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in higher education, in order to strengthen the economy 
of the United States by improving opportunities for low- 
income students to complete higher education and join the 
middle class. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Federal Pell Grants provided under section 
401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1070a) (referred to in this Act as ‘‘Federal 
Pell Grants’’) have historically been the fundamental 
Federal investment in helping low-income students 
pay for college and enter the middle class. In the 
1979–1980 academic year, the maximum Federal 
Pell Grant paid for 77 percent of the average cost 
of attendance at an in-State, 4-year institution of 
higher education. However, in the 2012–2013 aca-
demic year, the maximum Federal Pell Grant cov-
ered only about 30 percent of that average cost of 
attendance. 
(2) The program providing Federal Pell Grants 
already acts as a quasi-entitlement, in which both 
mandatory funding and discretionary funding com-
bine to maintain a maximum Federal Pell Grant 
amount. 
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(3) The Congressional Budget Office reports on 
any overall financial surplus or shortfall in the fund-
ing provided for the Federal Pell Grant program. 
However, in recent years, in order to meet the max-
imum Federal Pell Grant level with the provided 
level of funding, Congress has made cuts to the pro-
gram through imposing additional eligibility require-
ments for Federal Pell Grants and limiting the avail-
ability of year-round Federal Pell Grants, causing 
significant uncertainty and reducing access to higher 
education for millions of hardworking college stu-
dents. 
(4) Removing the Federal Pell Grant program 
from the uncertainty of the congressional discre-
tionary appropriations process will improve student 
access to, and the affordability of, higher education. 
(5) The ‘‘traditional student’’ who attends col-
lege for 4 years immediately after high school is now 
a minority of college students today. Ambitious stu-
dents now need more flexibility to attend school 
year-round while juggling work schedules. 
(6) Section 1860 of the Department of Defense 
and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 
(Public Law 112–10, 125 Stat. 169) eliminated the 
provision of the Federal Pell Grant program of the 
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Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a et 
seq.) that allowed 2 Federal Pell Grant awards per 
year, creating significant hardship for many stu-
dents trying to take courses over the summer or out-
side the traditional school calendar. Allowing stu-
dents to continue to receive Federal Pell Grants in 
successive semesters, without a gap, would reduce 
the time needed to complete their degrees. 
SEC. 4. CONVERTING THE TRADITIONAL FEDERAL PELL 
GRANT PROGRAM TO A MANDATORY SPEND-
ING PROGRAM. 
(a) LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS.—Section 401(b) of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)) 
is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by striking clauses (i) and (ii) and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(i)(I) for award year 2014–2015, 
$5,730; or 
‘‘(II) for award year 2015–2016 and 
each subsequent award year, the amount 
of the maximum Federal Pell Grant deter-
mined under this clause for the imme-
diately preceding award year, increased by 
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a percentage equal to the estimated per-
centage increase, if any, in the Consumer 
Price Index (as determined by the Sec-
retary, using the definition in section 
478(f)) for the most recent calendar year 
ending prior to the beginning of that 
award year; plus 
‘‘(ii) any additional amount specified 
for the maximum Federal Pell Grant in 
the last enacted appropriation Act applica-
ble to that award year, less’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C)(i) For fiscal year 2015 and each succeeding fis-
cal year, there are appropriated, out of any money in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may 
be necessary to provide, in combination with any amounts 
separately appropriated under subparagraph (A)(ii), Fed-
eral Pell Grants under this section in the amount specified 
in subparagraph (A) to all eligible students. 
‘‘(ii) The amounts made available by clause (i) for 
any fiscal year shall be available beginning on October 1 
of that fiscal year, and shall remain available through Sep-
tember 30 of the succeeding fiscal year.’’; and 
(2) by striking paragraph (7). 
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(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a) shall apply with respect to Federal Pell 
Grants awarded under section 401 of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) for award year 
2015–2016 and each succeeding award year. 
SEC. 5. YEAR-ROUND FEDERAL PELL GRANT STUDENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401(b) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)), as amended 
by section 4, is further amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(7) YEAR-ROUND FEDERAL PELL GRANT STU-
DENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this subsection, the Secretary shall 
award, to an eligible student who has received a 
Federal Pell Grant for an award year and is enrolled 
in a program of study for 1 or more additional pay-
ment periods during the same award year that are 
not otherwise covered by the student’s Federal Pell 
Grant, an additional Federal Pell Grant for the ad-
ditional payment periods. 
‘‘(B) AMOUNTS.—In the case of a student re-
ceiving more than one Federal Pell Grant in a single 
award year under subparagraph (A), the total 
amount of the Federal Pell Grants awarded to such 
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