[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4259 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4259

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to lower the cost of college 
 education by establishing pilot programs to expand student access to 
                       digital course materials.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2014

Ms. DelBene (for herself and Mr. Hanna) 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 lower the cost of college 
 education by establishing pilot programs to expand student access to 
                       digital course materials.

    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 ``Electronic Books Opening Opportunity 
for Knowledge Act of 2014'' or the ``E-BOOK Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Rising costs are making it increasingly difficult for 
        students and their families to afford a college education.
            (2) In addition to the growing price of tuition, fees, and 
        room and board, the average college student in the United 
        States must also spend more than $1,000 per year on textbooks 
        and supplies.
            (3) New learning technologies in higher education provide a 
        growing opportunity to reduce the cost of course materials for 
        students and their families.
            (4) All students deserve the opportunity to obtain a high-
        quality education and acquire the skills needed to compete in 
        21st-century economy.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to identify savings in the cost of 
public college education for undergraduate students by funding pilot 
programs in institutions of higher education to provide expanded access 
to digital course materials as part of their academic programs.

SEC. 4. GRANTS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO DIGITAL COURSE MATERIALS.

    Title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161a et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new part:

    ``PART BB--GRANTS FOR THE EXPANSION OF ACCESS TO DIGITAL COURSE 
                               MATERIALS

``SEC. 891. GRANTS FOR ACCESS TO DIGITAL COURSE MATERIALS.

    ``(a) Grants Authorized.--
            ``(1) In general.--From amounts made available by the 
        Secretary pursuant to subsection (g), the Secretary may award 
        grants on a competitive basis to not more than 10 institutions 
        of higher education to reduce the cost of attendance for 
        undergraduate students by providing such students with expanded 
        access to digital course materials.
            ``(2) Amount of funds to be awarded.--The Secretary shall 
        determine the amount of funds to be awarded for each grant 
        based on the number of students to be served under the grant, 
        except that no grant under this section shall be in an amount 
        that is more than $2,000,000.
    ``(b) Application.--An institution desiring to obtain a grant under 
this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, 
in such form, and accompanied by such information, agreements, and 
assurances as the Secretary may reasonably require.
    ``(c) Preference.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall give preference to applications that demonstrate a 
commitment to serving disadvantaged students.
    ``(d) Use of Funds.--Each grant awarded under this section shall 
provide to an institution of higher education funds to support a pilot 
program for the institution to make digital course materials available 
to undergraduate students in at least two different academic 
departments. Such funds may be used for any of the following:
            ``(1) Purchasing and maintaining electronic equipment or 
        software necessary for the operation of the pilot program, 
        including mobile computer devices and accompanying hardware, 
        software applications, computer systems and platforms, digital 
        and online content, online instruction, and other online 
        services and support.
            ``(2) Purchasing and maintaining digital and online content 
        for the institution to make available electronically to 
        instructors or students, including paying any copyright fees 
        associated with the digital distribution of physical course 
        materials.
            ``(3) Hiring staff for the administration of the pilot 
        program, with priority given to hiring enrolled undergraduate 
        students.
            ``(4) Building or acquiring extra storage space dedicated 
        to equipment used for the pilot program.
            ``(5) Revising and adapting academic curricula as needed to 
        implement the pilot program.
            ``(6) Acquiring such other goods or services as the 
        Secretary determines appropriate.
    ``(e) Reporting Requirements.--
            ``(1) Report to the secretary.--After a period of time to 
        be determined by the Secretary, each institution of higher 
        education that receives a grant under this section shall submit 
        to the Secretary a report that includes--
                    ``(A) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 
                pilot program funded by the grant in reducing the cost 
                of attendance for students;
                    ``(B) an assessment of any impact of the pilot 
                program on student achievement;
                    ``(C) an accounting of the purposes for which the 
                grant funds were expended; and
                    ``(D) any additional information the Secretary 
                reasonably requires.
            ``(2) Report to congress.--Not later than three years after 
        the end of the first fiscal year in which a grant is awarded 
        under this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
        report on the effectiveness of the grants. Such report shall 
        include--
                    ``(A) an estimate by the Secretary of the amount of 
                money saved by students who participate in the pilot 
                programs;
                    ``(B) a summary of the best practices developed in 
                the pilot programs;
                    ``(C) a description of the types of digital course 
                materials used in the pilot programs, including 
                electronic books, interactive and adaptive digital 
                learning tools, and open educational resources; and
                    ``(D) any recommendations the Secretary determines 
                appropriate regarding future congressional action 
                related to student access to digital course materials.
    ``(f) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Cost of attendance.--The term `cost of attendance' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 472.
            ``(2) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        `institution of higher education' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a), except that such term only includes 
        public institutions.
            ``(3) Digital course materials.--The term `digital course 
        materials' includes electronic books, portable document format 
        and word-processing documents, Internet websites, interactive 
        and adaptive digital learning tools, open educational 
        resources, and other digital and online educational resources.
            ``(4) Open educational resources.--The term `open 
        educational resources' means digital course materials that are 
        made freely available online to the public with a permanent 
        copyright license granting advance permission for the public to 
        access, distribute, adapt, and otherwise use the work with 
        appropriate attribution to the authors as set forth in the 
        materials.
            ``(5) Mobile computer device.--The term `mobile computer 
        device' means an electronic reader or tablet computer.
            ``(6) Disadvantaged student.--The term `disadvantaged 
        student' means an undergraduate student who is--
                    ``(A) from a low-income family;
                    ``(B) a minority; or
                    ``(C) from an economically or otherwise 
                disadvantaged background.
    ``(g) Funding.--Of the funds made available in appropriation Acts 
for fiscal years 2015, 2016, and 2017 for the purpose of making 
competitive grants to institutions of higher education under this Act, 
the Secretary may make available to carry out this section not more 
than $20,000,000.
    ``(h) Sunset.--No grants may be awarded under this section after 
September 30, 2017.''.
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