H. R. 83—375 
no such appropriation shall be increased by more than 3 percent 
by any such transfer: Provided, That the transfer authority granted 
by this section shall not be used to create any new program or 
to fund any project or activity for which no funds are provided 
in this Act: Provided further, That the Committees on Appropria-
tions of the House of Representatives and the Senate are notified 
at least 15 days in advance of any transfer. 
SEC. 305. The Outlying Areas may consolidate funds received 
under this Act, pursuant to 48 U.S.C. 1469a, under part A of 
title V of the ESEA. 
SEC. 306. Section 105(f)(1)(B)(ix) of the Compact of Free 
Association Amendments Act of 2003 (48 U.S.C. 1921d(f)(1)(B)(ix)) 
shall be applied by substituting ‘‘2015’’ for ‘‘2009’’. 
SEC. 307. The Secretary, in consultation with the Director 
of the Institute of Education Sciences, may reserve funds under 
section 9601 of the ESEA (subject to the limitations in subsections 
(b) and (c) of that section) in order to carry out activities authorized 
under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of that section with 
respect to any ESEA program funded in this Act and without 
respect to the source of funds for those activities: Provided, That 
high-quality evaluations of ESEA programs shall be prioritized, 
before using funds for any other evaluation activities: Provided 
further, That any funds reserved under this section shall be avail-
able from July 1, 2015 through September 30, 2016: Provided 
further, That not later than 10 days prior to the initial obligation 
of funds reserved under this section, the Secretary, in consultation 
with the Director, shall submit an evaluation plan to the Senate 
Committees on Appropriations and Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions and the House Committees on Appropriations and Edu-
cation and the Workforce which identifies the source and amount 
of funds reserved under this section, the impact on program 
grantees if funds are withheld, the programs to be evaluated with 
such funds, how ESEA programs will be regularly evaluated, and 
how findings from evaluations completed under this section will 
be widely disseminated. 
SEC. 308. The Secretary of Education shall— 
(1) modify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid 
described in section 483 of the HEA so that the Free Application 
for Federal Student Aid contains an individual box for the 
purpose of identifying students who are foster youth or were 
in the foster care system; and 
(2) utilize such identification as a tool to notify students 
who are foster youth or were in the foster care system of 
their potential eligibility for Federal student aid, including 
postsecondary education programs through the John H. Chafee 
Foster Care Independence Program and any other Federal pro-
grams under which such students may be eligible to receive 
assistance. 
SEC. 309. (a) STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.— 
(1) Subsection (d) of section 484 of the HEA is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES.— 
‘‘(1) STUDENT ELIGIBILITY.—In order for a student who does 
not have a certificate of graduation from a school providing 
secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of such cer-
tificate, to be eligible for any assistance under subparts 1, 
3, and 4 of part A and parts B, C, D, and E of this title,
H. R. 83—376 
the student shall meet the requirements of one of the following 
subparagraphs: 
‘‘(A) The student is enrolled in an eligible career path-
way program and meets one of the following standards: 
‘‘(i) The student shall take an independently 
administered examination and shall achieve a score, 
specified by the Secretary, demonstrating that such 
student can benefit from the education or training 
being offered. Such examination shall be approved by 
the Secretary on the basis of compliance with such 
standards for development, administration, and scoring 
as the Secretary may prescribe in regulations. 
‘‘(ii) The student shall be determined as having 
the ability to benefit from the education or training 
in accordance with such process as the State shall 
prescribe. Any such process described or approved by 
a State for the purposes of this section shall be effective 
6 months after the date of submission to the Secretary 
unless the Secretary disapproves such process. In 
determining whether to approve or disapprove such 
process, the Secretary shall take into account the 
effectiveness of such process in enabling students with-
out secondary school diplomas or the equivalent thereof 
to benefit from the instruction offered by institutions 
utilizing such process, and shall also take into account 
the cultural diversity, economic circumstances, and 
educational preparation of the populations served by 
the institutions. 
‘‘(iii) The student shall be determined by the 
institution of higher education as having the ability 
to benefit from the education or training offered by 
the institution of higher education upon satisfactory 
completion of 6 credit hours or the equivalent 
coursework that are applicable toward a degree or 
certificate offered by the institution of higher edu-
cation. 
‘‘(B) The student has completed a secondary school 
education in a home school setting that is treated as a 
home school or private school under State law. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE
CAREER
PATHWAY
PROGRAM.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘eligible career pathway program’ means a 
program that— 
‘‘(A) concurrently enrolls participants in connected 
adult education and eligible postsecondary programs; 
‘‘(B) provides counseling and supportive services to 
identify and attain academic and career goals; 
‘‘(C) provides structured course sequences that— 
‘‘(i) are articulated and contextualized; and 
‘‘(ii) allow students to advance to higher levels 
of education and employment; 
‘‘(D) provides opportunities for acceleration to attain 
recognized postsecondary credentials, including degrees, 
industry relevant certifications, and certificates of comple-
tion of apprenticeship programs; 
‘‘(E) is organized to meet the needs of adults; 
‘‘(F) is aligned with the education and skill needs of 
the regional economy; and
H. R. 83—377 
‘‘(G) has been developed and implemented in collabora-
tion with partners in business, workforce development, and 
economic development.’’. 
(2) The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall take effect 
as if such amendment was enacted on June 30, 2014, and 
shall apply to students who are enrolled or who first enroll 
in an eligible program of study on or after July 1, 2014. 
(b) Section 401 (b)(2)(A)(ii) of the HEA is amended by inserting 
after ‘‘year’’ and before the comma ‘‘except that a student eligible 
only under 484(d)(1)(A) who first enrolls in an eligible program 
of study on or after July 1, 2015 shall not be eligible for the 
amount of the increase calculated under paragraph (7)(B)’’. 
SEC. 310. (a) An institution of higher education that maintains 
an endowment fund supported with funds appropriated for title 
III or V of the HEA for fiscal year 2015 may use the income 
from that fund to award scholarships to students, subject to the 
limitation in section 331(c)(3)(B)(i) of the HEA. The use of such 
income for such purposes, prior to the enactment of this Act, shall 
be considered to have been an allowable use of that income, subject 
to that limitation. 
(b) Subsection (a) shall be in effect until titles III and V of 
the HEA are reauthorized. 
SEC. 311. In making awards under section 402D of the HEA 
with funds appropriated by this Act, the Secretary shall— 
(1) notwithstanding any other provision of law, publish 
a notice inviting applications for new awards no later than 
December 18, 2014; and 
(2) make all awards by August 10, 2015. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Education Appro-
priations Act, 2015’’. 
TITLE IV 
RELATED AGENCIES 
COMMITTEE FOR PURCHASE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND OR 
SEVERELY DISABLED 
SALARIES AND EXPENSES 
For expenses necessary for the Committee for Purchase From 
People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled established by Public 
Law 92–28, $5,362,000. 
CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE 
OPERATING EXPENSES 
For necessary expenses for the Corporation for National and 
Community Service (referred to in this title as ‘‘CNCS’’) to carry 
out the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (referred to in 
this title as ‘‘1973 Act’’) and the National and Community Service 
Act of 1990 (referred to in this title as ‘‘1990 Act’’), $758,349,000, 
notwithstanding sections 198B(b)(3), 198S(g), 501(a)(6), 501(a)(4)(C), 
and 501(a)(4)(F) of the 1990 Act: Provided, That of the amounts 
provided under this heading: (1) up to 1 percent of program grant
H. R. 83—378 
funds may be used to defray the costs of conducting grant applica-
tion reviews, including the use of outside peer reviewers and elec-
tronic management of the grants cycle; (2) $70,000,000 shall be 
available for expenses authorized under section 501(a)(4)(E) of the 
1990 Act; (3) $16,038,000 shall be available to provide assistance 
to State commissions on national and community service, under 
section 126(a) of the 1990 Act and notwithstanding section 
501(a)(5)(B) of the 1990 Act; (4) $30,000,000 shall be available 
to carry out subtitle E of the 1990 Act; and (5) $3,800,000 shall 
be available for expenses authorized under section 501(a)(4)(F) of 
the 1990 Act, which, notwithstanding the provisions of section 198P 
shall be awarded by CNCS on a competitive basis: Provided further, 
That for the purposes of carrying out the 1990 Act, satisfying 
the requirements in section 122(c)(1)(D) may include a determina-
tion of need by the local community: Provided further, That not 
to exceed 20 percent of funds made available under section 
501(a)(4)(E) of the 1990 Act may be used for Social Innovation 
Fund Pilot Program-related performance-based awards for Pay for 
Success projects and shall remain available through September 
30, 2016: Provided further, That, with respect to the previous pro-
viso, any funds obligated for such projects shall remain available 
for disbursement until expended, notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 
1552(a): Provided further, That any funds deobligated from projects 
under section 501(a)(4)(E) of the 1990 Act shall immediately be 
available for activities authorized under 198K of such Act. 
PAYMENT TO THE NATIONAL SERVICE TRUST 
(INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS) 
For payment to the National Service Trust established under 
subtitle D of title I of the 1990 Act, $209,618,000, to remain avail-
able until expended: Provided, That CNCS may transfer additional 
funds from the amount provided within ‘‘Operating Expenses’’ allo-
cated to grants under subtitle C of title I of the 1990 Act to 
the National Service Trust upon determination that such transfer 
is necessary to support the activities of national service participants 
and after notice is transmitted to the Committees on Appropriations 
of the House of Representatives and the Senate: Provided further, 
That amounts appropriated for or transferred to the National 
Service Trust may be invested under section 145(b) of the 1990 
Act without regard to the requirement to apportion funds under 
31 U.S.C. 1513(b). 
SALARIES AND EXPENSES 
For necessary expenses of administration as provided under 
section 501(a)(5) of the 1990 Act and under section 504(a) of the 
1973 Act, including payment of salaries, authorized travel, hire 
of passenger motor vehicles, the rental of conference rooms in 
the District of Columbia, the employment of experts and consultants 
authorized under 5 U.S.C. 3109, and not to exceed $2,500 for 
official reception and representation expenses, $81,737,000. 
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 
For necessary expenses of the Office of Inspector General in 
carrying out the Inspector General Act of 1978, $5,250,000.