[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2206 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2206

          To provide enhanced Pell Grants for State Scholars.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               March 12 (legislative day, March 11), 2004

  Mr. Bunning introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
          To provide enhanced Pell Grants for State Scholars.

    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 ``Pell Grants Plus Act''.

SEC. 2. PELL GRANTS PLUS: ACHIEVEMENT GRANTS FOR STATE SCHOLARS 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Amendment.--Subpart 1 of part A of title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after section 401 (20 
U.S.C. 1070a) the following new section:

``SEC. 401A. PELL GRANTS PLUS: ACHIEVEMENT GRANTS FOR STATE SCHOLARS.

    ``(a) Grants Authorized.--From sums appropriated under subsection 
(e), the Secretary shall establish a program to award Pell Grants Plus 
grants to students who--
            ``(1) have successfully completed a rigorous secondary 
        school program of study established by a State or local 
        educational agency in consultation with a State coalition 
        assisted with funds from the Center for State Scholars;
            ``(2) are enrolled full-time in the first academic year of 
        undergraduate education, and have not been previously enrolled 
        in a program of undergraduate education; and
            ``(3) are eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants for the 
        year in which the grant is awarded.
    ``(b) Amount of Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        amount of the grant awarded under this section shall be $1,000.
            ``(2) Assistance not to exceed cost of attendance.--A grant 
        awarded under this section 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.
    ``(c) Selection of Recipients.--
            ``(1) Procedures established by regulation.--The Secretary 
        shall establish by regulation procedures for the determination 
        of eligibility of students for the grants awarded under this 
        section. Such procedures shall include measures to ensure that 
        eligibility is determined in a timely and accurate manner 
        consistent with the requirements of section 482 and the 
        submission of the financial aid form required by section 483.
            ``(2) Applications.--Each eligible student desiring a grant 
        under this section shall submit at such time and in such manner 
        such information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
            ``(3) Continuation of grant requirements.--In order for a 
        student to continue to be eligible to receive a grant under 
        this section for the second year of undergraduate education, 
        the eligible student shall--
                    ``(A) maintain eligibility to receive a Federal 
                Pell Grant for that year;
                    ``(B) obtain a grade point average of at least 3.0 
                (or the equivalent as determined under regulations 
                prescribed by the Secretary) for the first year of 
                undergraduate education; and
                    ``(C) be enrolled full-time and fulfill the 
                requirements for satisfactory progress described in 
                section 484(c).
    ``(d) Sunset, Evaluation, and Reports.--
            ``(1) Sunset.--The provisions of this section shall cease 
        to be effective on October 1, 2011, except as the Congress may 
        hereafter provide by law if Congress determines, after analysis 
        of the evaluation and reports provided for in paragraph (2), 
        that extension or expansion of the program is warranted.
            ``(2) Evaluation and reports.--The Secretary shall monitor 
        the progress, retention, and completion rates of the students 
        to whom grants are awarded under this section. In doing so, the 
        Secretary shall evaluate the impact of the Pell Grants Plus 
        Program and report, not less than biennially, to the 
        authorizing committees of the House of Representatives and the 
        Senate.
    ``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $33,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 
and each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Chapter 3 of subpart 2 of part A of 
title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a-31 et 
seq.) is repealed.
                                 <all>