[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 484 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 484

 To direct the Secretary of Education to pay to Fort Lewis College in 
the State of Colorado an amount equal to the tuition charges for Indian 
        students who are not residents of the State of Colorado.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 3, 2011

   Mr. Bennet (for himself and Mr. Udall of Colorado) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Education to pay to Fort Lewis College in 
the State of Colorado an amount equal to the tuition charges for Indian 
        students who are not residents of the State of Colorado.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

    It is the purpose of this Act to ensure that Federal funding is 
provided to support and sustain the longstanding Federal mandate 
requiring Fort Lewis College in the State of Colorado to waive tuition 
charges for each Indian student it admits to an undergraduate program, 
including the waiver of tuition charges for Indian students who are not 
residents of the State of Colorado.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) Fort Lewis College in the State of Colorado is a 
        signature school for Indian students from throughout the Nation 
        and graduates more Indian students than any other baccalaureate 
        institution of higher education;
            (2) in 2009, Fort Lewis College awarded 95 degrees in 
        science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to Indian 
        students, representing 13.5 percent of degrees awarded by 
        baccalaureate institutions of higher education to Indian 
        students, more degrees than any other comparable baccalaureate 
        institution in the Nation;
            (3) as of the 2010-11 academic year, Fort Lewis College 
        provides federally mandated tuition-free education to 
        approximately 786 Indian students from 124 different Indian 
        tribes and 34 different States, representing approximately 20 
        percent of the overall student population at this non-tribal 
        institution of higher education that serves Indian students;
            (4) the Federal mandate to provide tuition-free education 
        to Indian students was first placed upon the State of Colorado 
        under section 5 of the Act of April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 273, 
        chapter 140), as a condition of the transfer of the land, 
        buildings, and fixtures comprising Fort Lewis School, which had 
        been federally operated;
            (5) the amount of funds expended by the State of Colorado 
        to meet the waiver of tuition obligations under section 5 of 
        the Act of April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 273, chapter 140), for all 
        Indian students, both out-of-State and in-State, far exceeds 
        the value of the land, buildings, and fixtures that the State 
        of Colorado holds for the benefit of Fort Lewis College;
            (6) the State of Colorado has expended more than 
        $110,000,000 in the past 25 years to meet the costs of the 
        tuition waivers for Indian students at Fort Lewis College from 
        44 different States; and
            (7) the federally mandated tuition waiver program for 
        Indian students at Fort Lewis College is at risk of being 
        reduced by the severe budget constraints of the State of 
        Colorado, thereby jeopardizing the education of many talented 
        Indian students from around the Nation, in present and future 
        classes.

SEC. 3. STATE RELIEF FROM FEDERAL MANDATE.

    (a) Amount of Payment.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), for fiscal year 
        2011 and each succeeding fiscal year, the Secretary of 
        Education shall pay to Fort Lewis College in the State of 
        Colorado an amount equal to the charges for tuition for all 
        Indian students who are not residents of the State of Colorado 
        and who are enrolled in Fort Lewis College for the academic 
        year ending before the beginning of such fiscal year.
            (2) Limitation.--The amount paid to Fort Lewis College for 
        each fiscal year under paragraph (1) may not exceed the amount 
        equal to the charges for tuition for all Indian students who 
        were not residents of the State of Colorado and who were 
        enrolled in Fort Lewis College for academic year 2010-2011.
    (b) Treatment of Payment.--Any amounts received under this section 
shall be treated as a reimbursement from the State of Colorado to Fort 
Lewis College for complying with the requirement of section 5 of the 
Act of April 4, 1910 (36 Stat. 273, chapter 140), to admit Indian 
students free of charge of tuition.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to relieve the State of Colorado from reimbursing, for purposes of 
complying with the requirements of section 5 of the Act of April 4, 
1910 (36 Stat. 273, chapter 140), Fort Lewis College for each academic 
year--
            (1) with respect to Indian students who are not residents 
        of the State of Colorado and who are enrolled in Fort Lewis 
        College, any amount of charges for tuition for such students 
        that exceeds the amount received under this section for such 
        academic year; and
            (2) with respect to Indian students who are residents of 
        the State of Colorado and who are enrolled in Fort Lewis 
        College, an amount equal to the charges for tuition for such 
        students for such academic year.
    (d) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Indian students'' 
refers to the term ``Indian pupils'' in section 5 of the Act of April 
4, 1910 (36 Stat. 269, chapter 140).
    (e) Funding.--There are authorized to be appropriated, and there 
are appropriated (in addition to any other amounts appropriated to 
carry out this section and out of any money in the Treasury not 
otherwise appropriated), such sums as may be necessary to carry out 
this section.
                                 <all>