I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1956 
To improve the Federal Pell Grant program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2015 
Mr. HINOJOSA (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ 
of California, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. 
KIND, and Ms. FUDGE) 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 
in higher education, in order to strengthen the economy 
of the United States by improving opportunities for low- 
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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. 
(2) In the 1979–1980 academic year, the max-
imum Federal Pell Grant paid for 77 percent of the 
average cost of attendance at an in-State, 4-year in-
stitution of higher education. However, in the 2014– 
2015 academic year, the maximum Federal Pell 
Grant covered less than one-third of that average 
cost of attendance. 
(3) 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. 
(4) The Congressional Budget Office reports on 
any overall financial surplus or shortfall in the fund-
ing provided for the Federal Pell Grant program. 
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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. 
(5) 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. 
SEC. 4. FUNDING THE FEDERAL PELL GRANT PROGRAM 
THROUGH MANDATORY APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 401(b) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(C)(i) For fiscal year 2016 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-
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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). 
(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 
2016–2017 and each succeeding award year. 
Æ 
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