[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2659 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2659

To establish a grant program to issue grants to institutions of higher 
               education to support student internships.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 11, 2013

 Ms. Bonamici introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
   Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the 
Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a grant program to issue grants to institutions of higher 
               education to support student internships.

    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 ``Opportunities for Success Act of 
2013''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Internships are increasingly important to the ability 
        of college students to gain skills, make professional 
        connections, and find jobs after graduation.
            (2) In 2011, according to the National Association of 
        Colleges and Employers, employers offered full-time positions 
        to 61.2 percent of their interns with an acceptance rate of 
        86.5 percent.
            (3) Many students struggle to make ends meet; 66 percent of 
        young community college students dedicate more than 20 hours a 
        week to an outside job, and the need of many students to 
        maintain a part-time or full-time job reduces or eliminates the 
        time available for an internship.
            (4) Internships often require significant time commitments 
        or temporary relocation, which many students are unable to 
        afford; these additional living expenses include housing, 
        meals, and travel, and these costs make unpaid internships with 
        employers like non-profit organizations and government even 
        more inaccessible for those with low and middle incomes.
            (5) In 2011, 46 percent of students who had completed an 
        internship were offered jobs, compared with 31 percent of 
        students who did not complete an internship; more than 76 
        percent of employers rank relevant experience as the most 
        important quality when hiring.
            (6) Many university officials and employers acknowledge 
        that participating in an undergraduate internship is extremely 
        helpful for finding meaningful employment in today's job 
        market.

SEC. 3. OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUCCESS PROGRAM.

    (a) Program Authorized.--From the amounts made available to carry 
out this Act, the Secretary of Education shall establish a grant 
program to award grants to qualifying educational institutions in 
accordance with this section in order to support eligible students 
attending such institutions during internships.
    (b) Application.--To receive a grant under this section, a 
qualifying educational institution shall submit to the Secretary an 
application at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Secretary may require.
    (c) Use of Funds by Qualifying Educational Institutions.--A 
qualifying educational institution receiving a grant under this section 
shall use the grant funds in accordance with the following:
            (1) Activities.--Such institution may only use the grant to 
        fund internship awards in accordance with this section to 
        eligible students enrolled at the institution.
            (2) Administration of internship awards.--Internship awards 
        made from the grant--
                    (A) shall be administered by the financial aid 
                office of such institution; and
                    (B) may be administered in conjunction with the 
                career development office and career center of such 
                institution.
            (3) Prohibition on alteration of financial aid.--A 
        student's receipt of an internship award from a grant under 
        this section shall not be taken into account in determining the 
        need or eligibility of the student for financial assistance 
        under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        1070 et seq.).
            (4) Supplement not supplant.--Funds made available to carry 
        out this section shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, 
        other Federal and State funds available to carry out the 
        activities described in this section.
            (5) Deadline for summer internships.--Such institution 
        shall make an award for a summer internship under this section 
        by June 30 of a calendar year preceding the first day of the 
        summer internship for that year.
    (d) Calculating Award Amounts.--
            (1) Amount to qualifying educational institutions.--
                    (A) In general.--In determining a grant amount for 
                a qualifying educational institution under this 
                section, the Secretary shall ensure that the 
                institution's grant is equal to an amount that bears 
                the same relationship to the total funds available to 
                carry out this section for a fiscal year as the number 
                of eligible students enrolled at the institution (as 
                determined by the Secretary on the basis of the most 
                recent satisfactory data) bears to the total number of 
                eligible students enrolled at all qualifying 
                educational institutions, as so determined.
                    (B) Reallocation.--If a qualifying educational 
                institution does not receive funds under this 
                paragraph, the Secretary shall reallocate such funds to 
                other qualifying educational institutions in the same 
                proportion funds are allocated under subparagraph (A).
                    (C) Exception.--In the case of a qualifying 
                educational institution that does not award all of the 
                grant funds received under this section for a fiscal 
                year to eligible students in accordance with this 
                section, the Secretary, in awarding grants under this 
                section for the succeeding fiscal year--
                            (i) shall reallocate the unused funds to 
                        other qualifying educational institutions in 
                        the same proportion funds are allocated under 
                        subparagraph (A); and
                            (ii) may award such institution a grant in 
                        an amount that is less than the full grant 
                        amount such institution would have otherwise 
                        received under subparagraph (A) for such year.
            (2) Student award parameters.--
                    (A) Maximum student award.--A student receiving an 
                award of funds from a grant to a qualifying educational 
                institution under this section may not receive--
                            (i) more than $5,000 from such grant if the 
                        award is for a full-time internship; and
                            (ii) more than $2,500 from such grant if 
                        the award is for a part-time internship.
                    (B) Calculation of student award.--
                            (i) Unpaid internships.--
                                    (I) Awards for in-school 
                                students.--Subject to subparagraph (A), 
                                in the case of a student receiving an 
                                award for an unpaid internship that 
                                occurs during a period of enrollment at 
                                the awarding qualifying educational 
                                institution, the amount of the award 
                                shall be, to the extent practicable, an 
                                amount based on the higher of--
                                            (aa) the applicable Federal 
                                        minimum wage by each hour of 
                                        the internship; or
                                            (bb) the applicable State 
                                        minimum wage of the State in 
                                        which the institution is 
                                        located by each hour of the 
                                        internship.
                                    (II) Awards for students during 
                                summer and winter terms.--
                                            (aa) In general.--Subject 
                                        to subparagraph (A), in the 
                                        case of a student receiving an 
                                        award for an unpaid internship 
                                        that occurs during a period of 
                                        nonattendance at the awarding 
                                        educational institution, the 
                                        amount of the award shall, to 
                                        the extent practicable, be an 
                                        amount that covers reasonable 
                                        cost of living expenses for the 
                                        student.
                                            (bb) Reasonable cost of 
                                        living expenses.--For purposes 
                                        of item (aa), ``reasonable cost 
                                        of living expenses'' shall 
                                        include considerations of--

                                                    (AA) the location 
                                                of the internship;

                                                    (BB) the length of 
                                                the internship;

                                                    (CC) travel costs 
                                                associated with the 
                                                internship;

                                                    (DD) housing costs 
                                                during the duration of 
                                                the internship;

                                                    (EE) meal costs 
                                                during the duration of 
                                                the internship; and

                                                    (FF) whether the 
                                                internship is full-time 
                                                or part-time.

                            (ii) Paid internships.--In the case of a 
                        student receiving an award for a paid 
                        internship, the amount of the award shall be 
                        determined by reducing the amount such student 
                        would receive for an unpaid internship as 
                        calculated under clause (i) by the amount of 
                        income that the internship will provide to the 
                        student.
    (e) Awards Non-Taxable.--An award received by a student under this 
section shall not be considered taxable income.
    (f) Carry-Back Authorized.--A qualifying educational institution 
receiving a grant under this section for a fiscal year may use such 
grant funds to make internship awards under this section prior to the 
beginning of the fiscal year, but after the end of the previous 
academic year.
    (g) Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act and each succeeding year in which the Secretary makes grants 
under this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
detailing, with regard to grants made under this section for the 
previous academic year--
            (1) the percentage of students receiving internship funds 
        from grants under this section who, not later than 2 years 
        after graduating from a qualifying educational institution, are 
        hired in a field related to the internship for which the 
        students received such funds;
            (2) the number of qualifying educational institutions 
        receiving grants under this section;
            (3) the categories of qualifying educational institutions 
        (such as 4-year public institutions, 4-year private, nonprofit 
        institutions, 2-year public institutions, and 2-year private, 
        nonprofit institutions) receiving grants under this section;
            (4) the number of students receiving internship funds from 
        grants under this section, and the degrees such students are 
        pursuing;
            (5) the number of paid internships, and the number of 
        unpaid internships, funded by such grants;
            (6) the locations of internships funded by such grants;
            (7) the number of students who used internship funds 
        awarded under this section to complete an internship more than 
        60 miles from the qualifying educational institution that made 
        such award or that required the students to temporarily 
        relocate for the duration of the internship; and
            (8) the types of internships (such as full-time summer 
        internships, part-time summer internship, or part-time semester 
        internships) completed by students receiving awards funded by 
        such grants.
    (h) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as 
may be necessary to carry out this section, including regulations that 
provide guidance to qualifying educational institutions on how to 
determine whether an internship meets the requirements of subclauses 
(I) through (III) of subsection (i)(1)(F)(vi).
    (i) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) Eligible student.--The term ``eligible student'' means 
        a student who--
                    (A) is a full-time or half-time student (as such 
                terms are defined in section 668.2 of title 34, Code of 
                Federal Regulations (or a successor regulation));
                    (B) is eligible for a Federal Pell Grant under 
                section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
                U.S.C. 1070a et seq.);
                    (C) is enrolled at a qualifying educational 
                institution in a program of study that leads to an 
                associate's or bachelor's degree;
                    (D) if the student has accepted an internship 
                during a period of nonattendance at a qualifying 
                educational institution--
                            (i) demonstrates that the student is 
                        planning to re-enroll at such institution for 
                        the next period of enrollment at such 
                        institution by registering for such period of 
                        enrollment at the institution or accepting the 
                        institution's offer of admittance for such 
                        period of enrollment; and
                            (ii) will be eligible for a Federal Pell 
                        Grant under section 401 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 
                        1070a et seq.), for such period of enrollment;
                    (E) has not, while pursuing the same degree that 
                such student is currently pursuing, previously received 
                an award that included funds granted under subsection 
                (a) to a qualifying educational institution; and
                    (F) has received an official internship offer, as 
                defined by the Secretary in regulations, for an 
                internship that--
                            (i) is located within the United States;
                            (ii) in a case in which the internship 
                        employs (as defined under section 3(g) of the 
                        Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 203(g)) the 
                        student, meets the requirements of such Act (29 
                        U.S.C. 201 et seq.);
                            (iii) is a full-time summer internship, a 
                        part-time summer internship, or a part-time 
                        semester internship;
                            (iv) is not less than 4 weeks in duration, 
                        and is not greater in duration than the shorter 
                        of--
                                    (I) the length of a standard 
                                academic period at the qualifying 
                                educational institution; or
                                    (II) in the case of an internship 
                                that occurs during a period of 
                                nonattendance at the awarding 
                                qualifying educational institution, 10 
                                weeks, or in the case of an internship 
                                that occurs during a period of 
                                attendance at the awarding qualifying 
                                educational institution, 12 weeks;
                            (v) is--
                                    (I) an unpaid internship; or
                                    (II) a paid internship that, 
                                according to the determination of the 
                                qualifying educational institution, 
                                without an award under this section 
                                such student would otherwise be unable 
                                to afford participating in such 
                                internship; and
                            (vi) is determined by the qualifying 
                        educational institution to be an internship 
                        that--
                                    (I) is of good and reputable 
                                quality;
                                    (II) affords adequate educational 
                                or skill-building opportunities; and
                                    (III) is reasonably associated with 
                                the student's course of study at a 
                                qualifying educational institution.
            (2) Full-time.--The term ``full-time'', when used with 
        respect to an internship, shall be defined by the Secretary in 
        regulations.
            (3) Qualifying educational institution.--The term 
        ``qualifying educational institution'' has the meaning given 
        the term ``institution of higher education'' in section 101(a) 
        of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            (4) Part-time.--The term ``part-time'', when used with 
        respect to an internship, shall be defined by the Secretary in 
        regulations.
            (5) Period of nonattendence.--The term ``period of 
        nonattendence'', when used with respect to a student, means a 
        period during which the student is not enrolled at a qualifying 
        educational institution, including a summer or winter term.
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Education.
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