[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2487 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2487
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a scholarship
program to encourage and support students who have contributed
substantial public services.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 12, 2001
Mr. Gutierrez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a scholarship
program to encourage and support students who have contributed
substantial public services.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Youth Service Scholarship Act of
2001''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) young people under 18 years of age are now our most
impoverished age group with 1 of every 5 living in poverty, a
higher proportion than in 1968, with the percentage for
minority children being about twice as high;
(2) more than 1 of 4 families is headed by a single parent
and the percentage of such families headed by such single
parents has risen steadily over the past few decades, rising 13
percent since 1990;
(3) there is a need to engage youth as active participants
in decision-making that affects their lives, including design,
development, implementation, and evaluation of youth
development programs at the Federal, State, and community
levels;
(4) existing outcome driven youth development strategies,
pioneered by community-based organizations, hold real promise
for promoting positive behaviors and preventing youth problems;
(5) formal evaluations of youth development programs have
documented significant reductions in drug and alcohol use,
school misbehavior, aggressive behavior, violence, truancy,
high-risk sexual behavior, and smoking;
(6) compared to American youth generally, youth
participating in community-based organizations are more than 26
percent more likely to report having received recognition for
good grades than American youth generally and nearly 20 percent
more likely to rate the likelihood of their going to college as
``very high''; and
(7) the availability and use of Federal resources can be an
effective incentive to leverage broader community support to
enable local programs, activities and services to provide the
full array of developmental core resources, remove barriers to
access, promote program effectiveness, and facilitate
coordination and collaboration within the community.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.
Subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965
is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 407E (20 U.S.C. 1070a-35) as
section 406E; and
(2) by inserting after such section the following new
chapter:
``Chapter 4--Public Service Incentives
``SEC. 407A. PURPOSES.
``The purposes of this chapter are to establish a scholarship
program to reward low-income and moderate-income students who have,
during high school, and who continue, during college, to make
significant public service contributions to their communities.
``SEC. 407B. SCHOLARSHIPS AUTHORIZED.
``(a) Qualifications for Scholarships.--The Secretary is authorized
to award scholarships to enable a student to pay the cost of attendance
at an institution of higher education during the student's first 4
academic years of undergraduate education, if the student--
``(1) in order to be eligible for the first year of such
scholarship, performed not less than 300 hours of qualifying
public service during each of 2 academic years of the student's
secondary school enrollment;
``(2) in order to be eligible for the second or any
subsequent year of such scholarship, performed not less than
300 hours of qualifying public service during the academic year
of postsecondary school attendance preceding the academic year
for which the student seeks such scholarship;
``(3) was eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1721 et seq.);
``(4) is eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants for the
year in which the scholarships are awarded, except that a
student shall not be required to comply or verify compliance
with section 485(a)(5) for purposes of receiving a scholarship
under this chapter; and
``(5) otherwise demonstrates compliance with regulations
prescribed by the Secretary under section 407F.
``(b) Definition of Qualifying Public Service.--For purposes of
subsection (a), the term `qualifying public service' means service that
would be eligible for treatment as community service under the National
and Community Service Act of 1990 or under the Federal work-study
program under part C of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.
``SEC. 407C. AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIP.
``(a) Amount of Award.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2) and
subsection (b), the amount of a scholarship awarded under this
chapter for any academic year shall be equal to $5,000.
``(2) Adjustment for insufficient appropriations.--If,
after the Secretary determines the total number of students
selected under section 407D for an academic year, funds
available to carry out this chapter for the academic year are
insufficient to fully fund all awards under this chapter for
the academic year, the amount of the scholarship paid to each
student under this chapter shall be reduced proportionately.
``(b) Assistance Not To Exceed Cost of Attendance.--A scholarship
awarded under this chapter to any student, in combination with the
Federal Pell Grant assistance and other student financial assistance
available to such student, may not exceed the student's cost of
attendance.
``SEC. 407D. SELECTION OF SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS.
``The Secretary shall designate a panel to select students for the
award of scholarships under this chapter. Such panel shall be composed
of 9 individuals who are selected by the Secretary and shall be
composed of equal numbers of youths, community representatives, and
teachers. The Secretary shall ensure that no individual assigned under
this section to review any application has any conflict of interest
with regard to the application that might impair the impartiality with
which the individual conducts the review under this section.
``SEC. 407E. APPLICATIONS.
``Any eligible student desiring to obtain a scholarship under this
section shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information or assurances as the
Secretary may require. Such application shall--
``(1) demonstrate that the eligible student is maintaining
satisfactory academic progress and is achieving at least an
grade point average of at least 2.0 (on a scale of 4), or its
equivalent;
``(2) include a recommendation from (A) the supervisor of
the community service of the applicant, and (B) a teacher,
pastor, employer, or other individual familiar with the
character of the applicant; and
``(3) include an essay by the applicant on the nature of
the community service performed by the applicant.
``SEC. 407F. REGULATIONS.
``The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be
necessary to carry out this chapter.
``SEC. 407G. EVALUATION.
``Not less than 2 years after the first fiscal year for which funds
are made available under this chapter, the Secretary shall prepare and
submit to the Congress an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
program under this chapter. Such evaluation shall include--
``(1) an evaluation of the demand, by grade level and types
of community service sites, for the scholarships provided under
this chapter;
``(2) general data on the background of program
participants and the types of service performed; and
``(3) an itemization of the costs of administering the
program under this chapter.
``SEC. 407H. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this chapter
$2,000,000 for fiscal year 2002 and each of the 3 succeeding fiscal
years.''.
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