I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3327 
To prohibit the awarding of Federal Pell Grants to incarcerated individuals, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 29, 2015 
Mr. COLLINS of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To prohibit the awarding of Federal Pell Grants to 
incarcerated individuals, 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 ‘‘Kids Before Cons 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON WAIVERS FOR EXPERIMENTAL 
SITES. 
Section 487A(b)(3) (20 U.S.C. 1094a(b)(3)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(C) LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in subpara-
graph (B) or any other provision of this Act 
shall be construed to— 
‘‘(i) authorize the Secretary to waive 
the prohibition under section 401(b)(6) on 
awarding a Federal Pell Grant to an incar-
cerated individual or any other individual 
described in such section 401(b)(6); 
‘‘(ii) authorize the Secretary to waive 
the prohibition under 484(b)(5) on award-
ing a loan under this title to an incarcer-
ated individual; or 
‘‘(iii) authorize the Secretary to award 
funds to institutions of higher education 
for providing postsecondary education to 
incarcerated individuals.’’. 
SEC. 3. STUDY ON INCARCERATION RATES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education 
shall— 
(1) carry out a study to determine whether the 
incarceration rates of students enrolled in a charter 
school or private school as a result of participation 
in a voucher program is lower than the incarceration 
rates of students enrolled in a traditional public 
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school in the same geographic area with similar par-
ent income levels; and 
(2) publish the results of such study on its pub-
lically available website. 
(b) INCARCERATION RATES.—In comparing incarcer-
ation rates for purposes of subsection (a), the Secretary 
of Education— 
(1) may use incarceration rate data available 
from prior years; and 
(2) shall include a comparison of post-gradua-
tion incarceration rates of students described in sub-
section (a). 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) CHARTER
SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘charter 
school’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
5210 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221i). 
(2) OTHER ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘elemen-
tary school’’, ‘‘parent’’, ‘‘secondary school’’, and 
‘‘State’’ have the meanings given the terms in sec-
tion 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(3) PRIVATE
SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘private 
school’’ means a private elementary school or sec-
ondary school. 
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(4) VOUCHER PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘voucher 
program’’ means a program that allows participating 
parents to use State funds to enroll their children in 
a private school. 
Æ 
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