1.This Act may be cited as
the National Science and Mathematics
Access to Retain Talent Act
.
2.Subpart 1 of part A of
title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by
adding after section 401 the following:
401A.
(a)The
purpose of this section is to increase the number of postsecondary students
from low-income backgrounds who are enrolled in studies leading to
baccalaureate degrees in physical, life, and computer sciences, mathematics,
technology, engineering, and foreign languages critical to national
security.
(b)The Secretary shall award grants, in the amount
specified in
subsection (e), to eligible students to
assist the eligible students in paying their college education expenses.
(c)A
grant under this section shall be known as a National Science and
Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant
or a National SMART
Grant
.
(d)Definition of
eligible studentIn this section, the term eligible
student
means a full-time student who, for the academic year for which
the determination of eligibility is made—
(1)is a citizen of
the United States;
(2)is eligible for a
Federal Pell Grant;
(3)is enrolled or
accepted for enrollment in the third or fourth academic year of a program of
undergraduate education at a 4-year degree-granting institution of higher
education;
(4)is pursuing a
major in—
(A)the physical,
life, or computer sciences, mathematics, technology, or engineering (as
determined by the Secretary pursuant to regulations); or
(B)a foreign language
that the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence,
determines is critical to the national security of the United States;
and
(5)has obtained a
cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 (or the equivalent as determined
under regulations prescribed by the Secretary) in the coursework required for
the major described in paragraph
(4).
(e)
(1)Subject
to paragraphs (2) and (3), the Secretary shall award a grant under this section
to an eligible student in the amount of $4,000.
(2)Notwithstanding paragraph (1)—
(A)the amount of a grant under this section,
in combination with the Federal Pell Grant assistance and other student
financial assistance available to the eligible student, shall not exceed the
student’s cost of attendance;
(B)if the amount made available under
subsection (f) for any fiscal year is
less than the amount required to provide grants to all eligible students in the
amounts determined under paragraph (1) (subject to subparagraph (A)), then the
amount of the grant to each eligible student shall be ratably reduced;
and
(C)if additional amounts are appropriated for
a fiscal year described in subparagraph (B), such reduced grant amounts shall
be increased on the same basis as they were reduced.
(3)The
Secretary shall not award a grant under this section—
(A)to any eligible student for an academic
year of a program of undergraduate education for which the student received
credit before the date of enactment of the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent
Act; or
(B)to any eligible
student for more than 2 academic years.
(f)
(1)Authorization of
appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this section such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006 and each of
the succeeding 4 fiscal years.
(2)If, at the end of a fiscal year, the funds available for
awarding grants under this section exceed the amount necessary to make such
grants in the amounts authorized by
subsection (e), then all of the excess
funds shall remain available for awarding grants under this section during the
subsequent fiscal year.
(g)The authority to
make grants under this section shall expire at the end of the academic year
2009–2010.
.