College Quality, Affordability, and Diversity Improvement Act of 2003

Bill: 108-s-1793
Sponsor: Sen. Kennedy, Edward M. [D-MA]
Introduced: 2003-10-28 in the Senate
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance
Accreditation (Education)
Administrative procedure
Affordable housing
Bilingualism
Black colleges
Block grants
Child development
College costs
Colleges
Community and school
Community colleges
Curricula
Data banks
Department of Education
Disability evaluation
Disabled
Distance education
Economics and Public Finance
Educational accountability
Educational research
Elementary and secondary education
Equipment and supplies
Excess profits tax
Families
Federal aid to education
Federal-state relations
Federally-assisted loans
Federally-guaranteed loans
Fees
Fines (Penalties)
Government Operations and Politics
Government lending
Government paperwork
Higher education
Hispanic Americans
Home schooling
Honoraria
Housing and Community Development
Income tax
Indian education
Interest
Labor and Employment
Law
Learning
Learning disabilities
Licenses
Mathematics
Mentoring
Migrant education
Minorities
Poverty
Preschool education
Price indexes
Private schools
Public schools
Religious education
Scholarships
School administration
School districts
Science, Technology, Communications
Special education
Standards
Student employment
Student loan funds
Students
Tax credits
Tax exemption
Tax-exempt securities
Taxation
Teacher education
Teacher salaries
Teacher supply and demand
Teachers
Teachers' tenure
Technological innovations
Textbooks
Tuition tax credits

Summary:
action_date: 2003-10-28
text: 
College Quality, Affordability, and Diversity Improvement Act of 2003 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) and Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to set forth provisions relating to: (1) access to college for all; (2) teacher quality enhancement; (3) diversity, retention, and enriched academics for matriculating students; (4) opportunities at Hispanic-serving institutions; (5) historically Black colleges and universities; and (6) recruitment of teachers to teach at tribal colleges or universities.
 
Makes appropriations in a specified amount to carry out the HEA Pell Grant program. Increases the maximum amount of an individual Pell Grant to: $4,500 for academic year 2004-5; $7,600 for 2005-6; $8,600 for 2006-7; $9,600 for 2007-8; $10,600 for 2008-9; and $11,600 for 2009-10.
 
 Revises the IRC Hope Scholarship program to: (1) make it a refundable tax credit; (2) increase the maximum amount; and (3) make it available for four years.
 
Eliminates origination fees under HEA student loan programs. 
 
Directs the Secretary of Education to adjust fees and terms for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans to equal those for Unsubsidized Stafford Loans for middle-income borrowers.
 
Direct Loan Reward Act - Amends HEA to require the Secretary to carry out a Direct Loan Reward Program to encourage institutions of higher education (IHEs) to participate in the Federal Direct Loan Program for student loans.
 
Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants under HEA to university consortia to engage in endeavors to reduce college costs. Directs the Secretary to convene a college cost summit with representatives of competing peer IHEs to negotiate voluntarily agreed upon limits on future college tuition and fee increases (which require the Secretary's approval, and to which antitrust laws shall not apply).
 
Requires a certain maintenance of effort by States in supporting public IHEs, upon penalty of lowering of Federal assistance levels for Pell Grant and student loan programs at such IHEs.
 
Requires IHEs that receive Federal funds and are eligible for assistance under HEA title IV (Student Assistance) to include certain truth-in-tuition disclosures in their admissions applications. Directs the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop a higher education cost index that tracks inflation changes in the necessary costs associated with higher education.
 
Amends IRC to provide a nonrefundable tax credit for interest on higher education loans.
 
Amends HEA to provide refinancing authority for Federal Direct Consolidation Loans.
 
Repeals a HEA provision regarding a rate of special allowance for certain holders of student loans. Sets a quarterly rate of special allowance for holders of loans funded through tax-exempt securities.
 
Requires windfall profit offset payments from eligible lenders of student loans.
 
Exempts from student aid need formula determinations earnings up to: (1) $9,000 by dependent students; (2) $13,000 by independent students with no dependents (other than spouse); and (3) $18,000 by independent students with dependents (other than spouse).
 
Repeals provisions suspending individual eligibility for HEA student assistance on the basis of convictions for drug-related offenses.
 
Increases levels of authorizations of appropriations for FY 2004 through 2009 for the following Federal campus-based aid programs: (1) Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants; (2) Work-Study; and (3) Perkins Loans.
 
Increases and extends through FY 2009 the authorization of appropriations for special programs for students whose families are engaged in migrant and seasonal farmwork.
 
Provides for increased amounts of forgiveness and cancellation under HEA student loan programs for certain teachers. Provides such additional amounts for highly qualified teachers in mathematics, science, special education, or bilingual education. Establishes new programs of forgiveness or cancellation of Federal Family Education Loans or of Direct Loans for early education teachers in Head Start, Early Head Start, or comparable pre-kindergarten programs.
 
Directs the Secretary to revise a certain tax table involved in student aid calculations only after consultation with appropriate congressional committees.
 
Provides student loan forgiveness after certain public sector employees have made 120 payments under an income contingent repayment plan. Allows borrowers to return to a standard repayment plan from an income contingent one.
 
Revises provisions and reauthorizes appropriations for HEA title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement): (1) teacher quality enhancement grants for States and partnerships; and (2) preparing tomorrow's teachers to use technology. Establishes a new program for innovative strategies to recruit, train, and retain high quality teachers and principals.
 
Establishes a HEA program for college admissions test preparation for low-income students. 
 
Revises HEA title IV to require IHEs to: (1) include in student aid applications certain information on admissions and retention for prospective students; and (2) provide certain support services to increase student retention. Directs the Secretary to make: (1) competitive grants, to IHEs where at least 40 percent of students are eligible for Pell Grants, to increase student retention and promote articulation agreements; and (2) supplemental grants, to States in partnership with IHEs and other entities, for certain access and persistence activities relating to low-income students.
 
Revises provisions and extends authorizations of appropriations for the following HEA title IV programs of support services for low-income students: (1) Federal Trio; (2) GEAR UP; and (3) LEAP.
 
Revises provisions for Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs) under HEA title V (Developing Institutions). Establishes a program of competitive grants to eligible HSIs that offer postbaccalaureate certifications or degrees (part B grants). Limits a part B grant award's duration to five years. Prohibits the Secretary of Education from awarding more than one part B grant to an HSI in any one fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2005 through FY 2009 for: (1) the current program of part A grants to HSIs that offer baccalaureate degrees or are junior or community colleges; and (2) the new part B grants to HSIs that offer postbaccalaureate certifications or degrees. Eliminates the requirement that an eligible HSI provide assurances that at least 50 percent of its Hispanic students be low-income students. Includes, among authorized activities under part A grants, articulation agreements and student support programs to help transfers from two-year to four-year institutions. Eliminates the two-year wait-out period between any two five-year part A grants to an HSI.
 
Extends and increases authorization of appropriations for HEA title V part B programs for strengthening historically Black Colleges and universities (HBCUs). Revises HBCU requirements for professional or graduate institutions to: (1) include business administration, computer or information science, and nursing and allied health among types of study; (2) add specified institutions; and (3) revise funding rules. Establishes an HBCU graduate and professional degree development grants program. 
 
Establishes the Patsy T. Mink graduate fellowship program for eligible institutions that serve various minorities. 
 
Tribal Colleges and Universities Teacher Loan Forgiveness Act - Amends HEA title IV to provide for the cancellation of a specified percentage of the total amount of any Federal Perkins loan, Federal Family Education loan, or direct student loan for each year of employment (up to five) as a full-time teacher at a tribal college or university if the borrower is not in default on such loan. Prohibits a borrower from receiving, for the same service, both a benefit from this Act and a benefit from the National Community Service Act of 1990. Provides that the amount of any loan forgiven under this Act shall not be treated as gross income for Federal tax purposes.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2003-10-28
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S13386-13406)
action_date: 2003-10-28
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S13383-13386)
action_date: 2003-10-28
text: Introduced in Senate