jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2013-11-06 00:00:00

Protecting Our Students and Taxpayers Act of 2013 or the POST Act of 2013 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require proprietary institutions of higher education to derive at least 15% of their revenue from sources other than federal funds or become ineligible for title IV funding. (Currently, the 90/10 rule requires these schools to derive at least 10% of their revenue from sources other than title IV or become ineligible for title IV funding.)

Defines "federal funds" as federal financial assistance provided through a grant, contract, subsidy, loan, guarantee, insurance, or other means to a proprietary institution, including federal financial assistance that is provided to an institution on behalf of a student or to a student to attend the institution. Excludes monthly housing stipends provided under the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance program from consideration as federal funds.

Limits what a proprietary institution may treat as revenue to the school in calculating whether it derives at least 15% of its revenue from non-federal funds.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2013-11-14 00:00:00

Affordable College Textbook Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to institutions of higher education (IHEs) to support pilot programs that expand the use of open textbooks in order to achieve savings for students.

Requires the grants to be used for:

 professional development for IHE faculty and staff, including the search for and review of open textbooks; the creation or adaptation of open educational resources, especially open textbooks; the development or improvement of tools and informational resources that support the use of open textbooks; research evaluating the efficacy of using open textbooks to achieve savings for students; and partnerships with other entities to carry out the preceding activities. Requires the full and complete digital content of the educational resources created or adopted using such grant funds to be made available free of charge to the public: (1) on an easily accessible and interoperable website; and (2) in a machine readable, digital format that anyone can directly download, edit, and redistribute.

Directs the Secretary to give special consideration to grant applicants that demonstrate the greatest potential to:

 achieve the highest level of savings for students; expand the use of open textbooks at other IHEs; and produce open textbooks that are of the highest quality, that can be most easily utilized and adapted by faculty members, that correspond to the highest enrollment courses, and that are created or adopted in partnership with entities that will assist in their marketing and distribution. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include any educational material developed to accompany a college textbook as supplemental material that is subject to college textbook information disclosure requirements.

Expresses the sense of Congress that IHEs should encourage the consideration of open textbooks by faculty within the generally accepted principles of academic freedom that establish the right and responsibility of faculty members to select the most appropriate course materials for their classes.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Finance and financial sector
Date: 2013-11-21 00:00:00

Andrew Prior Act or Andrew's Law - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to discharge the repayment obligations of the estate of a borrower and any cosigner of a private educational loan if the borrower dies or is totally and permanently disabled.

Requires the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to develop necessary and appropriate safeguards to prevent fraud and abuse in the discharge of those obligations.

Authorizes the Director to promulgate regulations to reinstate those obligations in any case in which the Director determines that doing so is necessary to protect the public interest.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2013-11-21 00:00:00

Innovate America Act - Directs the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), to award grants, on a competitive basis, to state educational agencies to establish or expand the number of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, including computer science (STEM) secondary schools in the United States from approximately 100 to approximately 200.

Requires the Secretary, in coordination with the NSF Director, to:

 develop a database identifying existing STEM secondary schools, and study how to improve retention rates of students in STEM programs at institutions of higher education. Directs the President to ensure that at least 15% of all federal funds available each fiscal year for undergraduate research opportunities at 2-year and 4-year degree granting institutions of higher education are used to fund research opportunities for postsecondary students.

Requires the NSF Director to administer a Technology Commercialization Awards Pilot Program through which promising technology advances derived from NSF research grants shall be eligible for funding.

Amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 to extend the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program to cover specifically informatics and computer science.

Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a manufacturing assistance program for small and medium-sized domestic manufacturers to promote the manufacturing of goods in the United States and enable them to be competitive in global markets.

Requires the Under Secretary for International Trade of the Department of Commerce to report to Congress on the global competitiveness of 20 U.S. industries that export the most goods or services and the domestic and foreign regulatory and policy barriers to increasing their exports.

Requires: (1) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), beginning in FY2015, to devise a strategy to reduce overall government printing costs over a 10-year period; and (2) each federal department and agency to issue guidance on the appropriate use of award and incentive fees in their programs.

Requires return to the Treasury of any funds intended to be awarded as incentive fees to contractors that are not paid owing to contractor inability to meet established criteria in this Act.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2013-12-10 00:00:00

STEM Gateways Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to award competitive grants to eligible entities for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) elementary and secondary school programs for women and girls, underrepresented minorities, and individuals from all economic backgrounds.

Requires those programs to be directed toward at least one of the following goals:

 encouraging the interest of elementary and secondary school students in the STEM fields; motivating the engagement of those students in the STEM fields by providing them with relevant hands-on learning opportunities; supporting classroom success in the STEM disciplines by elementary and secondary school students; supporting STEM workforce training and career preparation for secondary school students; and improving the access of secondary school students to STEM career and continuing education opportunities. Defines an "eligible entity" as: (1) a local educational agency (LEA); (2) an educational service agency serving more than one LEA; (3) a consortium of LEAs; (4) a nonprofit organization that works with elementary schools, secondary schools, or institutions of higher education and has shown a commitment to achieving the goals listed above; or (5) a community college working in partnership with secondary schools to create dual enrollment, credit transfer, or accelerated postsecondary credentialing opportunities.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2013-12-12 00:00:00

Foreign Medical School Accountability Fairness Act of 2013 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to eliminate the exemption of certain foreign medical schools from the prohibition on foreign medical schools participating in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program, unless:

 at least 60% of those enrolled in, and at least 60% of the graduates of, the foreign medical school during the preceding year were not citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the United States or were not in the United States with the intention of becoming citizens or permanent residents; and at least 75% of students or graduates of the medical school located outside the United States or Canada who took the examinations administered by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates in the preceding year received a passing score. Preserves the Direct Loan eligibility of students who were enrolled at schools excepted from that prohibition on or before the date of this Act's enactment.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2013-12-19 00:00:00

Protect Student Borrowers Act of 2013 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education (IHEs) participating in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program to accept specified risk-sharing requirements.

Requires an IHE, for any fiscal year in which at least 25% of the IHE's student body is participating in the Direct Loan program, to remit, at such times as the Secretary of Education specifies, a risk-sharing payment set at:

 20% of the total amount of its defaulted Direct loans if its cohort default rate is 30% or higher, 15% of the total amount of its defaulted Direct loans if its cohort default rate is lower than 30% but not lower than 25%, 10% of the total amount of its defaulted Direct loans if its cohort default rate is lower than 25% but not lower than 20%, and 5% of the total amount of its defaulted Direct loans if its cohort default rate is lower than 20% but not lower than 15%. Directs the Secretary to make specified modifications to such risk-sharing requirements if an IHE develops and implements a student loan management plan that is approved by the Secretary. Requires that plan to include individualized financial aid counseling for students and strategies to minimize student loan default and delinquency.

Allows the Secretary to waive or reduce an IHE's risk-sharing payments in certain other instances.

Prohibits IHEs from denying admission or financial aid to a student based on a perception that the student may be at risk for defaulting on a Direct loan.

Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts or cooperative agreements for: (1) statewide or institutionally-based programs for the prevention of federal student loan delinquency and default at IHEs that have a high cohort default rate or serve large numbers or percentages of students who have a higher risk of defaulting on student loans under title IV, and (2) increasing the number of borrowers who successfully rehabilitate defaulted loans

Establishes a separate account in the Treasury for the deposit of the risk-sharing payments, of which: (1) up to 50% are to be used by the Secretary to enter into the contracts or cooperative agreements for delinquency and default prevention or rehabilitation, and (2) the remainder are to be used to offset any future shortfalls in funding under the Federal Pell Grant program.

Makes an IHE's ability to meet its obligation to make risk-sharing payments part of the determination of its eligibility to participate in title IV programs.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2013-12-19 00:00:00

Partnerships for Affordability and Student Success Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require states, for academic year 2013 and each of the succeeding four academic years, to maintain their support for: (1) institutions of higher education (IHEs) (excluding support for capital projects, research and development, or tuition and fees paid by students) at least at the level of such support for academic year 2012, and (2) student postsecondary financial aid at least at the level of such support for academic year 2012.

Directs the Secretary of Education to waive those requirements if such a waiver would be appropriate due to exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances.

Replaces the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership program with a program that allots matching incentive grants to states, based on each state's share of students eligible for Federal Pell Grants, to assist states in:

 providing need-based grants to students attending IHEs or participating in study abroad programs approved for credit by the IHEs, providing subgrants to IHEs or consortia of IHEs to improve student outcomes and to develop and implement practices that reduce costs for students, and providing public accountability and consumer information on the performance of IHEs in the state. Requires each state grantee to have a comprehensive plan for public postsecondary education that:

 has measurable goals for student outcomes, including enrollment and completion; has measurable college affordability goals; is aligned with the state's workforce and economic development plan; is aligned with the state's elementary and secondary education plan; and addresses the postsecondary education needs of unserved and underserved individuals, including those who are beyond the traditional college age. Requires each state grantee to report annually to the public on its progress in meeting its public postsecondary education goals and comprehensive plan for public higher education.

Allows private, nonprofit IHEs to participate on a voluntary basis in a state's comprehensive plan for postsecondary education.

Requires at least 70% of the funds allocated to a state to be reserved for need-based grants to students.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2014-01-09 00:00:00

Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act of 2013 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make the following entities, programs, and courses eligible for funding under title IV if they are accredited by an authorized accreditation authority in a state that has an alternative accreditation agreement with the Secretary of Education:

 institutions that provide postsecondary courses; postsecondary apprenticeship programs; and postsecondary education courses or programs provided by institutions of postsecondary education, nonprofit organizations, or for-profit organizations or businesses. Lists the items to be included in a state's alternative accreditation agreement with the Secretary, including the standards those entities, programs, and courses must meet to receive and maintain their accreditation.

Requires that agreement to include the state's assurance that only entities, programs, and courses that provide credits toward a postsecondary certification, credential, or degree (as defined by the state in the agreement) will be accredited.

Establishes the formula for determining the administrative cost allowance for: (1) the entities, programs, and courses that are accredited through the alternative accreditation system and that administer the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant programs in accordance with the agreement; and (2) states that will administer those programs for such entities, programs, and courses in accordance with the agreement.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Immigration
Date: 2014-01-16 00:00:00

Investing in States to Achieve Tuition Equality for Dreamers Act of 2014 or the IN-STATE Act of 2014 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to allot grants to states to offer Dreamer students in-state tuition and expand their access to in-state financial aid.

Defines a "Dreamer student" as an individual who:

 was under age 16 upon entering this country; has provided a list of each secondary school the individual attended in this country; and has earned a high school diploma or certain similar credentials, or is scheduled to complete the requirements for such a credential before the next academic year begins; has acquired a degree from an institution of higher education (IHE) or has successfully completed at least 2 years of a program for a bachelor's or higher degree in this country; or has served honorably in the uniformed services for at least 4 years. Directs the Secretary to provide for a hardship exception to either or both of the first two of such requirements.

Requires grant applicants to assure the Secretary that they: (1) have made significant progress in establishing a preschool through postsecondary education (P-16) longitudinal data system; (2) will not discriminate against Dreamer students in awarding student aid or determining who is eligible for in-state tuition, if the student would otherwise be eligible for in-state financial aid as a state resident; and (3) will maintain, through FY 2023, at least their FY2013 level of support for their public IHEs.

Allots grants to each state based on its proportion of resident Dreamer students who are enrolled at least half-time in postsecondary education.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to collect a specified fee from recipients of F-1 visas, provided to nonimmigrant full-time students.

Eliminates the prohibition on states offering unlawful aliens postsecondary benefits on the basis of their residence in the state that are more generous than those offered citizens or naturals of this country, without regard to their state residence.

Allows individuals who have served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces to be naturalized without having been lawfully admitted to this country for permanent residence.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2014-02-11 00:00:00

GI Education Benefit Fairness Act of 2014 - Expands the definition of "children," for purposes of provisions allowing members or former members of the uniformed services who served on active duty for specified periods beginning on or after September 11, 2001, to transfer their entitlement to educational assistance, to mean an unmarried person who: (1) is placed in the legal custody of a member or former member by court order for at least 12 consecutive months, (2) has not attained the age of 21, (3) has not attained the age of 23 and is enrolled in a full-time course of study at an institution of higher learning, (4) is incapable of self support due to a mental or physical incapacity that occurred while such person was a dependent of the member or former member, (5) is dependent on the member or former member for over one-half of his or her support, (6) resides with the member or former member unless separated due to military service or institutionalization for a disability or incapacitation, and (7) is not a dependent of a member or former member under any other provision defining dependent.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Public lands and natural resources
Date: 2014-02-12 00:00:00

National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2014 - Reauthorizes the National Sea Grant College Program Act through FY2020.

(Sec. 3) Removes a requirement that Department of Commerce report annually on efforts and progress made by colleges, universities, institutions, associations, and alliances to become designated as sea grant colleges or institutes.

(Sec. 4) Changes from discretionary to mandatory the authority of Commerce to award Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships to support the placement of individuals at the graduate level of education (in fields related to ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources) in positions with the executive and legislative branches of the federal government.

Grants first priority to placement of those legislative fellows in offices or committees of Congress that have jurisdiction over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and second priority to placement in offices of Members of Congress that have a demonstrated interest in ocean, coastal, or Great Lakes resources. Requires Commerce to ensure that placements are equitably distributed among political parties.

Urges the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to encourage participating federal agencies to consider opportunities for fellowship awardees at the conclusion of their fellowship for workforce positions appropriate for their education and experience.

(Sec. 5) Requires Commerce to establish priorities for the use of donations of money and voluntary, uncompensated services for the National Sea Grant Program. Directs the National Sea Grant Office to recommend the optimal use of the donations.

(Sec. 6) Repeals a reporting requirement under the National Sea Grant College Program Act Amendments of 2002 regarding the coordination of research activities by NOAA and the National Science Foundation.

(Sec. 7) Requires the National Sea Grant Advisory Board to report to Congress every three years (currently, every two years) on the progress made toward meeting priorities under the Secretary's strategic plan.

(Sec. 9) Authorizes additional FY2015-FY2020 appropriations designated specifically for competitive grants relating to: (1) university research on aquatic non-native species, oyster diseases, oyster restoration, oyster-related human health risks, harmful algal blooms, coastal resilience and U.S. working waterfronts and other specified regional or national priority issues, and sustainable aquaculture techniques and technologies; and (2) fishery extension activities conducted by sea grant colleges or institutes to enhance existing core program funding.

Requires the Program to use authority available for the temporary assignment of personnel between federal, state, and local governments and other organizations to meet any critical staffing requirement while implementing authorized activities. Exempts costs associated with the exercise of such authority from limitations on the amount that may be used for administration of programs in a fiscal year.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2014-02-12 00:00:00

Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students Act of 2014 or the JOBS Act of 2014 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education, for the award years beginning on July 1, 2014, and ending on June 30, 2020, to award job training Federal Pell Grants to students in job training programs.

Makes students eligible for such Grants if they: (1) have not attained a baccalaureate or postbaccalaureate degree; (2) are attending an institution of higher education (IHE) that is eligible to participate in title IV programs; (3) are enrolled in, or accepted for enrollment in, a job training program at that IHE that does not lead to a baccalaureate degree; and (4) meet all the other eligibility requirements for a Federal Pell Grant.

Establishes a maximum amount, but no minimum amount, for such a Grant.

Defines an eligible "job training program" as a career and technical education program at an IHE that:

 provides at least 150 clock hours of instructional time over a period of at least 8 weeks, provides training that meets the needs of the local or regional workforce, provides students who complete the program with a recognized educational credential, and the IHE has determined is sufficient to meet the hiring requirements of multiple employers and allow students to apply for any licenses or certifications that may be required for employment in the field for which the job training is offered.