Requires 300 hours of public service by the student: (1) during each of two academic years of secondary school, to be eligible for a scholarship for the first year of college; and (2) during the preceding postsecondary academic year, to be eligible for a second, third, or fourth year.
Requires such students to: (1) have been eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act; and (2) be eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants in the year in which the scholarships are awarded. Sets the scholarship amount at $5,000 for any academic year during a student's first four years of undergraduate education, and provides for adjustments of such amount in the event of insufficient appropriations.
Requires program dissemination and promotion.
[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2888 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2888
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a scholarship
program to encourage and support students who have contributed
substantial public services.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 5, 2004
Mr. Dodd (for himself, Mr. Edwards, Mr. Levin, and Mr. Kennedy)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a scholarship
program to encourage and support students who have contributed
substantial public services.
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 ``Youth Service Scholarship Act of
2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) young people under 18 years of age are now our Nation's
most impoverished age group, with 1 of every 5 living in
poverty, a higher proportion than in 1968, and the percentage
of minority children living in poverty is about twice as high;
(2) more than 1 of 4 families is headed by a single parent
and the percentage of such families has risen steadily over the
past few decades, rising 13 percent since 1990;
(3) there is a need to engage youth as active participants
in decisionmaking that affects their lives, including in the
design, development, implementation, and evaluation of youth
development programs at the Federal, State, and community
levels;
(4) existing outcome driven youth development strategies,
pioneered by community-based organizations, hold real promise
for promoting positive behaviors and preventing youth problems;
(5) formal evaluations of youth development programs have
documented significant reductions in drug and alcohol use,
school misbehavior, aggressive behavior, violence, truancy,
high-risk sexual behavior, and smoking;
(6) compared to youth in the United States generally, youth
participating in community-based organizations are more than 26
percent more likely to report having received recognition for
good grades than youth in the United States generally and
nearly 20 percent more likely to rate the likelihood of their
going to college as very high; and
(7) the availability and use of Federal resources can be an
effective incentive to leverage broader community support to
enable local programs, activities, and services to provide the
full array of developmental core resources, remove barriers to
access, promote program effectiveness, and facilitate
coordination and collaboration within the community.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.
Subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1070a-11 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 407E as section 406E; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``Chapter 4--Public Service Incentives
``SEC. 407A. PURPOSE.
``The purpose of this chapter is to establish a scholarship program
to reward low-income students who have, during high school, and who
continue, during college, to make significant public service
contributions to their communities.
``SEC. 407B. SCHOLARSHIPS AUTHORIZED.
``(a) Qualifications for Scholarships.--The Secretary is authorized
to award a scholarship to enable a student to pay the cost of
attendance at an institution of higher education during the student's
first 4 academic years of undergraduate education, if the student--
``(1) in order to be eligible for the first year of such
scholarship, performed not less than 300 hours of qualifying
public service during each of 2 academic years of the student's
secondary school enrollment;
``(2) in order to be eligible for the second or any
subsequent year of such scholarship, performed not less than
300 hours of qualifying public service during the academic year
of postsecondary school attendance preceding the academic year
for which the student seeks such scholarship;
``(3) was eligible for a free or reduced price lunch under
the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C.
1721 et seq.);
``(4) is eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants for the
year in which the scholarships are awarded, except that a
student shall not be required to comply or verify compliance
with section 484(a)(5) for purposes of receiving a scholarship
under this chapter; and
``(5) otherwise demonstrates compliance with regulations
prescribed by the Secretary under section 407G.
``(b) Definition of Qualifying Public Service.--For purposes of
subsection (a), the term `qualifying public service' means service that
would be eligible for treatment as community service under the National
and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.) or under
the Federal work-study program under part C.
``SEC. 407C. AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIP.
``(a) Amount of Award.--
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2) and
subsection (b), the amount of a scholarship awarded under this
chapter for any academic year shall be equal to $5,000.
``(2) Adjustment for insufficient appropriations.--If,
after the Secretary determines the total number of students
selected under section 407D for an academic year, funds
available to carry out this chapter for the academic year are
insufficient to fully fund all awards under this chapter for
the academic year, the amount of the scholarship paid to each
student under this chapter shall be reduced proportionately.
``(b) Assistance Not To Exceed Cost of Attendance.--A scholarship
awarded under this chapter 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.
``SEC. 407D. SELECTION OF SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS.
``The Secretary shall designate a panel to select students for the
award of scholarships under this chapter. Such panel shall be composed
of 9 individuals who are selected by the Secretary and shall be
composed of equal numbers of youths, community representatives, and
teachers. The Secretary shall ensure that no individual assigned under
this section to review any application has any conflict of interest
with regard to the application that might impair the impartiality with
which the individual conducts the review under this section.
``SEC. 407E. APPLICATIONS.
``Any eligible student desiring to obtain a scholarship under this
section shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information or assurances as the
Secretary may require. Such application shall--
``(1) demonstrate that the eligible student is maintaining
satisfactory academic progress and is achieving a grade point
average of at least 2.0 (on a scale of 4), or its equivalent;
``(2) include a recommendation from--
``(A) the supervisor of the community service
project of the applicant; and
``(B) another individual not related to, but
familiar with the character of the applicant such as a
teacher, coach, or employer; and
``(3) include an essay by the applicant on the nature of
the community service performed by the applicant.
``SEC. 407F. PROGRAM DISSEMINATION AND PROMOTION.
``(a) Development and Dissemination.--The Secretary shall develop
and disseminate to the public information on the availability of, and
application process for, scholarships under this chapter.
``(b) Promotion.--In disseminating information about the
scholarship program under this chapter, the Secretary shall--
``(1) disseminate such information directly or through
arrangements with local educational agencies, public and
private elementary schools and secondary schools, nonprofit
organizations, consumer groups, Federal, State, or local
agencies, and the media; and
``(2) at a minimum, include a description and the purpose
of the scholarship program, an explanation of how to obtain an
application, and a description of the application process and
procedures.
``SEC. 407G. REGULATIONS.
``The Secretary shall prescribe such regulations as may be
necessary to carry out this chapter.
``SEC. 407H. EVALUATION.
``Not earlier than 2 years after the first fiscal year for which
funds are made available under this chapter, the Secretary shall
prepare and submit to Congress an evaluation of the effectiveness of
the program under this chapter. Such evaluation shall include--
``(1) an evaluation of the demand, by grade level and types
of community service sites, for the scholarships provided under
this chapter;
``(2) general data on the background of program
participants and the types of service performed; and
``(3) an itemization of the costs of administering the
program under this chapter.
``SEC. 407I. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this chapter
$5,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 and such sums as are necessary for each
of the 3 succeeding fiscal years.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S10439)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S10439-10440)
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