College for All Act of 2021

Bill: 117-hr-2730
Sponsor: Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7]
Introduced: 2021-04-21 in the House
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Academic performance and assessments
Appropriations
Education of the disadvantaged
Education programs funding
Educational guidance
Federal-Indian relations
Government information and archives
Higher education
Immigration status and procedures
Income tax exclusion
Indian social and development programs
Intergovernmental relations
Mental health
Minority education
State and local government operations
Student aid and college costs

Summary:
action_date: 2021-04-21
text: 

College for All Act of 

2021

 
This bill establishes measures to expand access to higher education, including by eliminating tuition and required fees for eligible students, revising the Federal Pell Grant program, and reauthorizing certain programs to assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
 
Specifically, the bill provides funding to eliminate tuition and required fees for (1) all students at community colleges and two-year tribal colleges and universities; (2) working- and middle-class students at four-year public institutions of higher education (IHEs) and tribal colleges and universities; and (3) eligible students at private, nonprofit historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority-serving institutions.
 
The bill permanently reauthorizes and otherwise revises the Federal Pell Grant program by
 
 
providing funding to increase the maximum award for each eligible student,
 
increasing the duration limit for the use of Pell Grants, and
 
allowing students to use their awards to cover living and non-tuition expenses. 
 
 
Next, the bill makes Dreamer students (i.e., students who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status) who entered the United States before the age of 16 and who meet certain educational criteria eligible for federal financial aid.
 
Further, the bill requires the Department of Education to award grants to underfunded IHEs, HBCUs, and minority-serving institutions for investing in support programs to improve student outcomes (e.g., graduation rates).
 
The bill also reauthorizes through FY2031 the Federal TRIO Programs and reauthorizes through FY2025 the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2021-04-21
text: Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on the Budget, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2021-04-21
text: Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on the Budget, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2021-04-21
text: Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on the Budget, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
action_date: 2021-04-21
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2021-04-21
text: Introduced in House