jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-10-20 00:00:00

Investing in Student Success Act of 2015

This bill authorizes an individual (i.e., a student) and another person (i.e., an investor) to enter an income-share agreement (ISA) in which the student agrees to pay a percentage of future income, for a specified period of time, in exchange for funds to pay for postsecondary education, workforce development, or other purposes.

An ISA that complies with specified terms and conditions and meets certain disclosure requirements is a valid, binding, and enforceable contract and is not subject to state laws that limit interest rates or regulate assignments of future income.

The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to include an ISA as a qualified education loan (a qualified education loan is not dischargeable in bankruptcy), but it prohibits a tax deduction for interest paid on an ISA (interest paid on a qualified education loan is tax deductible).

Payments to a student under an ISA are not includible as: (1) gross income for tax purposes, or (2) income or assets for federal financial aid eligibility purposes under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

The bill amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to exclude as an investment company any person whose business substantially consists of making ISAs.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-10-21 00:00:00

Rural Educator Support and Training Act or the REST Act

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965 to: (1) establish several new grant programs for students training to become educators in rural schools, and (2) enhance federal student loan forgiveness for rural educators.

The Department of Education (ED) shall award undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships to students who are studying to become educators in rural schools. To be eligible, a recipient must maintain acceptable academic standing and shall agree to fulfill a service obligation of three or more years, depending on the number of years for which funding is provided.

ED may also award grants to eligible educational agencies for the purpose of: (1) reimbursing eligible rural educators for out-of-pocket costs associated with obtaining national board certification, and (2) increasing annual compensation for eligible rural educators who have become certified.

Rural educators shall also be eligible for additional student loan forgiveness. Specifically, a teacher who is employed for five consecutive years in a rural school shall be eligible for up to $17,500 in federal student loan forgiveness. (Under current law, a highly qualified teacher who is employed for five consecutive years in a high-poverty school is eligible for up to $5,000 in federal student loan forgiveness; such a teacher who teaches mathematics, science, or special education is eligible for up to $17,500.)
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-10-21 00:00:00

Promoting Access and Retention Through New Efforts to Require Shared Higher Investments in Postsecondary Success Act or the PARTNERSHIPS Act

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a state-federal partnership to promote state investment in public higher education. The bill directs the Department of Education to award annual block grants to states that increase public higher education operating support on a per student basis, using a specified formula. As a condition of receiving grants, states must use grant funds to reduce tuition costs and support the enrollment of low-income students in state public educational institutions.

The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) expand and make permanent the American Opportunity Tax Credit; (2) increase the amount of the tax exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance programs and make such exclusion available to the spouses and dependents of employees; (3) allow tax exclusions for the discharge of certain public interest student loans, repayments of student loans by tax-exempt organizations, and student loans subject to an income-based or income contingent repayment plan; (4) allow a full exclusion from gross income of Federal Pell Grants; and (5) repeal the requirement that distributions from a qualified tuition plan (529 plan) be aggregated for purposes of determining the amount includible in taxpayer income.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-11-05 00:00:00

Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Education Relief and Restoration Act of 2015

This bill declares that, if a veteran is forced to discontinue a course as a result of an educational institution's permanent closure and did not receive credit or lost training time toward completion of the education program, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) educational assistance payments shall not, for a specified period of time, be:

 charged against the individual's entitlement to educational assistance, or counted against the aggregate period for which such assistance may be provided. The bill applies to school closures beginning with FY2015.

The VA may continue to pay educational assistance and subsistence allowances to eligible veterans and eligible persons enrolled in specified courses for up to 4 weeks in any 12-month period when schools are temporarily closed under an established policy based on an executive order of the President or due to an emergency situation.

The VA may also continue to pay a monthly housing stipend following a permanent school closure, but only until the earlier of: (1) the date of the end of the term, quarter, or semester during which the school closure occurred; and (2) the date that is four months after the school closure.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-11-10 00:00:00

Higher Education Access and Success for Homeless and Foster Youth Act

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise provisions related to financial aid and educational programs for children and youths who are homeless or in foster care.

With respect to a student's independence for purposes of financial aid, a financial aid administrator must: (1) in the absence of conflicting information, accept a homelessness determination made by an authorized individual; and (2) make such a determination if the student cannot get documentation from a designated authority. A student who is determined to be independent on this basis shall generally be presumed to be independent for a subsequent award year at the same institution.

The bill expands the duties of the Student Loan Ombudsman to include the review and resolution of complaints regarding such determinations.

To be eligible for certain federal funds, an institution must meet specified requirements related to student housing, coordination, and notice of financial assistance eligibility with respect to children and youths who are homeless or in foster care.

In approving applications for entities to carry out specified programs related to higher education, the Department of Education shall require an entity to make specified assurances with respect to the participation of children and youths who are homeless or in foster care. A federal work-study agreement must prioritize employment for such students.

For purposes of income-based financial aid determinations, the bill excludes from income: (1) the value of specified vouchers for education and training, and (2) direct payments made through an extended foster care program.

With respect to children or youths who are homeless or in foster care, a state may not charge a tuition rate that is higher than the in-state tuition rate.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-11-10 00:00:00

Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers Act of 2015 or the POST Act of 2015

 This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to modify requirements for a proprietary (i.e., for-profit) institution of higher education (IHE) to participate in title IV (Student Assistance) federal student aid programs.

Current law requires a proprietary IHE to derive at least 10% of its revenue from sources other than title IV federal student aid. This legislation requires a proprietary IHE to derive at least 15% of its revenue from sources other than federal funds (i.e., it replaces the so-called 90/10 rule with an 85/15 rule). It defines federal funds to mean title IV federal student aid, as well as education benefits for military personnel and veterans.

Additionally, the bill limits what a proprietary institution may treat as revenue to the school in calculating whether it derives at least 15% of its revenue from sources other than federal funds.

Finally, the bill moves the 85/15 rule from title IV to title I (General Provisions) of the HEA, making compliance a condition of institutional eligibility to participate in title IV federal student aid programs (i.e., failure to comply results in immediate loss of institutional eligibility). Currently, a proprietary IHE must violate the rule for two consecutive years before losing eligibility for title IV programs.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Transportation and public works
Date: 2015-12-18 00:00:00

University Transit Rider Innovation Program Act of 2015 or the UTRIP Act

This bill authorizes the Department of Transportation (DOT) to make grants to designated recipients, local or state governmental authorities, private nonprofit organizations, or operators of public transportation services (recipients) to increase the use of public transportation by undergraduate or graduate students attending an institution of higher education (covered students).

A recipient may use amounts provided under a grant to:

 offset decreased revenue resulting from providing discounted fares to covered students, provide general operating assistance to public transportation services and routes designed to better serve institutions of higher education, or pay for capital costs associated with expanding and maintaining public transportation services and routes designed to serve such institutions. To be eligible for a grant, a recipient must provide to covered students a discounted fare for public transportation that is: (1) not more than 75% of the fare, and (2) applicable to both monthly and single-ride fares.

DOT shall apportion amounts made available to carry out this Act to large urbanized areas, small urbanized areas, and rural areas based on the relative numbers of full-time equivalent covered students in such areas, according to a specified formula, with specified exceptions.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-01-20 00:00:00

Dynamic Repayment Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to replace several existing federal student loan programs with a single repayment plan that caps annual debt repayments based on income and forgives remaining balances after 20 or 30 years of payments.

The bill terminates the authority of the Department of Education (ED) to make federal Direct Stafford Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, and Direct PLUS loans, subject to exceptions for existing student borrowers, PLUS loans made to parents of undergraduates, and Direct Consolidation Loans.

To replace the programs, the bill establishes the Income Dependent Education Assistance (IDEA) Loan Program and the IDEA Loan Repayment Program, which:

 limit annual repayments based on the borrower's income; forgive remaining balances after either 20 or 30 years of payments, depending on the amount of the loan; and prohibit the accrual of interest on loans for active duty service members. The bill amends the Social Security Act (SSAct) to require ED and the Department of Health and Human Services to exchange information necessary to use the National Directory of New Hires to assist in the collection of student loans.

The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require the Department of the Treasury to disclose to ED tax return information necessary to carry out the IDEA Loan Repayment Program, and (2) to exclude loan forgiveness under the program from gross income.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2016-01-20 00:00:00

Employer Participation in Repayment Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the tax exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance to include payments of qualified education loans paid to either an employee or a lender.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2016-01-21 00:00:00

Make Student Grants Truly Tax-Free Act

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the tax exclusion for scholarships to include amounts received: (1) through a scholarship or fellowship grant program administered by the Secretary of Education that is based on financial need, including a Federal Pell Grant; (2) as an Iraq and Afghanistan Service grant under the Higher Education Act of 1965; or (3) as a TEACH Grant under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-01-21 00:00:00

Strengthening Forgiveness for Public Servants Act

 This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Department of Education (ED) to cancel 15%, 15%, 20%, 20%, and 30% of the amount a borrower owes after 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 years of public service employment, respectively, on a William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan made after this bill's enactment. (Currently, the balance of a borrower's Direct Loan is canceled if the borrower is not in default and has made 120 monthly payments on such loan while employed as a public service employee.)

The bill: (1) requires borrowers availing themselves of such loan cancellation to submit an employment certification form that includes self-certification of employment and employer certification of employment dates, and (2) places the borrower's loan in deferment during the period in which the borrower is employed in an eligible public service job if the borrower submits such form to ED.

If a portion of a loan is canceled for any year, the interest on such loan for such year shall be canceled.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2016-01-28 00:00:00

401(Kids) Education Savings Account Modernization Act of 2016

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) limit the requirement for an income-based reduction in allowable contributions to a Coverdell education savings account to an individual who is the custodial parent of an account beneficiary (thus exempting non-custodians of the beneficiary from such reduction), (2) increase the annual contribution limit for such accounts, (3) allow the use of such an account to pay home school expenses, and (4) allow tax-free rollovers of amounts in a Coverdell education savings account to a Roth individual retirement account.

The Department of Education shall establish a website (to be known as 401Kids.gov) to provide free information on tax-favored education savings accounts.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-02-11 00:00:00

Stopping Unfair Collateral Consequences from Ending Student Success Act or the SUCCESS Act 

This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modify federal student aid eligibility criteria.

Specifically, the legislation repeals a provision that suspends a student's federal student aid eligibility for a one-year, two-year, or indefinite period following that student's first, second, or third drug offense.

Additionally, it prohibits the Department of Education from including on any federal financial aid form (e.g., the Free Application for Federal Student Aid) a question about an applicant's prior drug offense convictions.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-02-22 00:00:00

Making College Affordable and Accessible Act of 2016

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to: (1) extend the authorization of appropriations for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education through FY2022, and (2) authorize the Department of Education (ED) to award grants to institutions of higher education to carry out credit-based academic transition programs established through partnerships between high schools and such institutions that utilize dual or concurrent enrollment programs or early college high school programs that enable students to earn college credits while in high school.

ED shall give priority in awarding grants to institutions that serve students from low-income families, students from rural communities, or students who are the first in their family to receive postsecondary education.

Institutions shall use grant funds to:

 provide teachers, principals, and other school leaders with professional development activities that enhance or enable the provision of the appropriate coursework through such programs; and support activities including curriculum design, establishment of a course articulation process, outreach programs to provide elementary school and secondary school students information about and academic preparation for the transition programs, helping students meet eligibility criteria for the postsecondary courses, and coordinating secondary and postsecondary support services and academic calendars. Institutions may use grant funds for costs associated with carrying out such transition programs, including the costs of: (1) tuition and fees, books, and required instructional materials; and (2) transportation to and from such programs.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Native Americans
Date: 2016-02-23 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Dine College Act of 2016

(Sec. 5) This bill requires the Department of the Interior to conduct a survey and study of all capital projects and facility needs of Dine College, a tribal community college in the Navajo Nation in Arizona. Interior must report the results and include views or recommendations submitted by the college or the Navajo Nation and Interior's recommendations.

Prior to the survey and study, Dine College must identify for Interior renovations and repairs necessary to meet health and safety standards and other requirements.

(Sec. 6) Interior must make grants to Dine College for activities including construction, operation and maintenance, education, summer programs, student services, and college expansion.

(Sec. 7) Amounts made available to Dine College under this bill are treated as non-federal, private funds for the purposes of any federal law that requires the use of non-federal or private funds.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2016-03-10 00:00:00

Military Spouses Achieving College Education for Survivors Act of 2016 or ACES Act of 2016

This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to deem any member of the Armed Forces who died between September 11, 2001, and December 31, 2005, to have died on January 1, 2006, in order to make that member's surviving spouse eligible for the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry scholarship. (Surviving spouses of service members who die in the line of duty after September 11, 2001, are eligible for such assistance until the earlier of the date they remarry or the date that is 15 years after the military spouse's death.)

 A surviving spouse of a member of the Armed Forces who died between September 11, 2001, and December 31, 2005, who elected before enactment of this Act to receive educational benefits under the Survivors and Dependents Educational Assistance program or the Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Frye program may revoke such choice. (Such an election is currently irrevocable.)
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-03-15 00:00:00

In the Red Act of 2016

This bill authorizes and appropriates specified funds to the Department of Education (ED) for FY2016-FY2025 and each succeeding year for grants: (1) to waive tuition and fees for eligible students at community colleges, and (2) to waive or reduce tuition and fees for low-income students at four-year historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions.

It amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct ED to establish a program to refinance outstanding federal student loans for borrowers of Direct Loan program loans disbursed before July 1, 2016, and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program loans. (FFELs were not disbursed after June 30, 2010.)

The bill modifies, for academic year 2018-2019 and succeeding years, the calculation of the mandatory add-on amount used to determine the total maximum Federal Pell Grant award.

It also amends various provisions of the Internal Revenue Code to, among other things: (1) expand the expenses eligible for the American Opportunity Tax Credit to include the amount of a Federal Pell Grant used to pay for living expenses; and (2) include, as a qualified scholarship excludible from gross income, any amount received as a Federal Pell Grant.

Finally, the bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to repeal royalty relief for: (1) deep gas wells in shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and (2) deep water oil and gas leases in the central and western Gulf of Mexico.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-03-17 00:00:00

Perkins Fund for Equity and Excellence

This bill amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to replace the existing Tech Prep program with a new competitive grant program to support career and technical education. Under the program, local educational agencies and their partners may apply for grant funding to support:

 career and technical education programs that are aligned with postsecondary education programs, dual or concurrent enrollment programs and early college programs, certain evidence-based strategies and delivery models related to career and technical education, teacher and leader experiential and informational-gathering site visits, professional development of educators and business partners, structured interdisciplinary collaboration and common planning time, teacher and leader externship programs, cross-credentialing for teachers, paid student internships or other paid work-based learning experiences, and guidance counseling. Unless granted a waiver, a grant recipient must provide specified matching funds in the fourth and fifth years of the five-year grant.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2016-04-06 00:00:00

Elevating Educator Preparation Through Innovation Act of 2016

This bill amends title II (Teacher Quality Enhancement) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise provisions related to the Teacher Quality Partnership grant program. Specifically, the bill:

 modifies requirements regarding which types of entities must, or may, be included in a grant-eligible partnership; eliminates the requirement that a teaching residency program must culminate in the attainment of a master's degree; and expands the purposes for which grant funds may be used.