I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1688 
To help provide relief to State education budgets during a recovering economy, 
to help fulfill the Federal mandate to provide higher educational opportu-
nities for Native American Indians, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 12, 2019 
Ms. DEGETTE (for herself, Mr. TIPTON, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 
York, Ms. MOORE, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. YOUNG, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. 
CROW, Mr. COLE, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. KIND, Ms. GABBARD, and Mr. 
LUJA´N) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To help provide relief to State education budgets during 
a recovering economy, to help fulfill the Federal mandate 
to provide higher educational opportunities for Native 
American Indians, 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 ‘‘Native American In-
dian Education Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Nontribal colleges that serve Native Amer-
ican Indian students have a valuable supplemental 
role to that provided by tribally controlled commu-
nity colleges in making available educational oppor-
tunities to Native American Indian students. 
(2) Some 4-year colleges serve Native American 
Indian students by providing tuition-free education, 
with the support of the State in which the institu-
tions are located, as mandated by Federal statute, to 
hundreds of Native American Indian students in ful-
fillment of a condition under which the United 
States provided land and facilities for colleges to a 
State or college. 
(3) The value of the Native American Indian 
student tuition waiver benefits contributed by these 
colleges and the States that support them today far 
exceeds the value of the original grant of land and 
facilities. 
(4) The ongoing financial burden of meeting 
this Federal mandate to provide tuition-free edu-
cation to Native American Indian students is no 
longer equitably shared among the States and col-
leges because it does not distinguish between Native 
American Indian students who are residents of the 
State or of another State. 
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(5) Native American Indian student tuition 
waiver benefits are now at risk of being terminated 
by severe budget constraints being experienced by 
these colleges and the States which support them. 
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to ensure 
that Federal funding is provided in order to relieve con-
strained State education budgets and to support and sus-
tain the longstanding Federal mandate requiring colleges 
and States to waive, in certain circumstances, tuition 
charges for Native American Indian students admitted to 
an undergraduate college program, including the waiver 
of tuition charges for Native American Indian students 
who are not residents of the State in which the college 
is located. 
SEC. 3. STATE RELIEF FROM FEDERAL MANDATE. 
Part A of title III of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1057 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 319 the following: 
‘‘SEC. 319A. STATE RELIEF FROM FEDERAL HIGHER EDU-
CATION MANDATE. 
‘‘(a) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 
and (3), for fiscal year 2020 and each succeeding 
fiscal year, the Secretary shall pay to any eligible 
college an amount equal to the charges for tuition 
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for such year for all Native American Indian stu-
dents who— 
‘‘(A) are not residents of the State in 
which the college is located; and 
‘‘(B) are enrolled in the college for the aca-
demic year ending before the beginning of such 
fiscal year. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE
COLLEGES.—For purposes of 
this section, an eligible college is any institution of 
higher education serving Native American Indian 
students that provides tuition-free education as man-
dated by Federal statute, with the support of the 
State in which it is located, to Native American In-
dian students in fulfillment of a condition under 
which the college or State received its original grant 
of land and facilities from the United States. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—The amount paid to any eli-
gible college for each fiscal year under paragraph (1) 
may not exceed the amount equal to the charges for 
tuition for all Native American Indian students of 
that college who were not residents of the State in 
which the college is located and who were enrolled 
in the college for academic year 2019–2020. 
‘‘(b) TREATMENT OF PAYMENT.—Any amounts re-
ceived by an eligible college under this section shall be 
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treated as a reimbursement from the State in which the 
college is located, and shall be considered as provided in 
fulfillment of any Federal mandate upon the State to 
admit Native American Indian students free of charge of 
tuition. 
‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall be construed to relieve any State from any man-
date the State may have under Federal law to reimburse 
a college for each academic year— 
‘‘(1) with respect to Native American Indian 
students enrolled in the college who are not residents 
of the State in which the college is located, any 
amount of charges for tuition for such students for 
such academic year that exceeds the amount re-
ceived under this section for such academic year; 
and 
‘‘(2) with respect to Native American Indian 
students enrolled in the college who are residents of 
the State in which the college is located, an amount 
equal to the charges for tuition for such students for 
such academic year. 
‘‘(d) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds under 
this section shall be used to supplement, not supplant, any 
Federal or non-Federal funds that would otherwise be 
used for Native American Indian students. 
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‘‘(e) DEFINITION
OF NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN 
STUDENTS.—In this section, the term ‘Native American 
Indian students’ includes reference to the term ‘Indian pu-
pils’ as that term has been utilized in Federal statutes 
imposing a mandate upon any college or State to provide 
tuition-free education to Native American Indian students 
in fulfillment of a condition under which the college or 
State received its original grant of land and facilities from 
the United States. 
‘‘(f) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated, and there are appropriated, out of any 
money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated— 
‘‘(1) $19,700,000 to carry out subsection (a) 
for fiscal year 2020; and 
‘‘(2) such sums as are necessary to carry out 
such subsection for each subsequent fiscal year.’’. 
Æ 
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