Nontraditional Student Success Act

Bill: 108-s-2360
Sponsor: Sen. Clinton, Hillary Rodham [D-NY]
Introduced: 2004-04-29 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Agriculture and Food
Authorization
College administration
College costs
Compensatory education
Congress
Congressional reporting requirements
Continuing education
Day care
Department of Education
Earned income tax credit
Economics and Public Finance
Education of the disadvantaged
Educational accountability
Educational counseling
Electronic government information
Elementary and secondary education
English language
Equipment and supplies
Families
Federal aid to education
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publications
Government publicity
Higher education
Hispanic Americans
Housing and Community Development
Income tax
Internet
Labor and Employment
Mathematics
Mentoring
Migrant education
Minorities
Minority education
Reading
Scholarships
Science, Technology, Communications
Secondary education
Social Welfare
Student aid
Student employment
Student housing
Tax administration
Tax credits
Tax penalties
Tax refunds
Tax returns
Taxation
Teacher education
Textbooks
Transportation and Public Works
Web sites

Summary:
action_date: 2004-04-29
text: 
Nontraditional Student Success Act - Authorizes and appropriates specified funds for Federal Pell grants under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), including increasing maximum grant amounts for academic years 2005-2006 through 2009-2010, after a specified reduction from the academic year 2003-2004 level for academic year 2004-2005.
 
 
Amends the HEA to revise the requirements for the allowance of two Pell grants during a single award year to allow the student to be enrolled full-time in a certificate (or, as currently, a degree) program.
 
Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register each academic year a revised table of income protection allowances.
 
Excludes the earned income tax credit (EITC) from financial aid determinations.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to select institutionsof higher education, or systems or consortia of such institutions, for voluntary participation in a Nontraditional Students Demonstration Program, strictly monitored by the Department of Education, to test the effectiveness of providing expanded financial assistance to: (1) less than half-time students for not more than three terms over the duration of the students' course of study; and (2) students in compressed, modular, or other alternative schedules.
 
 
Directs the Secretary to award competitive grants to eligible institutions for the purposes of improving remedial education.
 
Increases minimum grant amounts for the Federal TRIO programs.
 
Permits student support services and educational opportunity centers to include career and academic (as well as personal) counseling provided by assigned counselors.
 
Makes awards under the Early Intervention and College Awareness Program for six years. Requires services under the Program provided in a cohort approach to be provided through the first year of attendance at a postsecondary education institution to students in the participating grade level. Requires the continuing system of mentoring and advising under an early intervention program to be provided to eligible students through the first year of attendance at a postsecondary education institution. Authorizes appropriations for the Program through FY 2010.
 
Authorizes FY 2005 appropriations for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program of campus-based child care services for low-income parents in postsecondary education.
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a website and brochures for providing outreach about financial aid and education tax credits that targets employers, one-stop centers, Head Start centers, and other appropriate locations.
 
Includes among the activities for which grants to Hispanic-serving institutions, as well as grants from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, may be used the introduction of reforms to customize remedial education, including English language instruction, to help students move rapidly from remedial courses into core courses and through program completion.
 
Revises requirements for Special Programs for Students Whose Families Are Engaged in Migrant and Seasonal Farmwork to: (1) specify childcare and transportation among the essential supportive services which may be provided by the high school equivalency program; and (2) authorize appropriations through FY 2010 for both the high school equivalency program and the college assistance migrant program.
 
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 20 to 50 percent the Lifetime Learning income tax credit, specify that it is for qualified higher education expenses, but reduce the credit limit from $10,000 to $4,000 per year. Makes a portion of the credit refundable. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a program for making advance payments to eligible educational institutions of such credits on behalf of certified individuals in an amount equal to such a credit for the year.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2004-04-29
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2004-04-29
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4694-4695)
action_date: 2004-04-29
text: Introduced in Senate