Pell Grant Flexibility Act

Pell Grant Flexibility Act

This bill changes certain requirements relating to the Federal Pell Grant program for students with disabilities.

Currently, Pell Grant awards are based on enrollment status and a student must attend an institution of higher education (IHE) on a full-time basis in order to receive the maximum award amount. This bill provides an exception for a student with a disability who takes a reduced course load (as determined appropriate by the student's IHE). Specifically, the bill deems such a student as enrolled on a full-time basis for purposes of calculating the amount of the student's Pell Grant.  

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4931 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4931

  To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to change certain Federal 
Pell Grant requirements for certain students with disabilities, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2023

Mr. Morelle (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. Bowman, and Mr. Keating) 
 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 change certain Federal 
Pell Grant requirements for certain students with disabilities, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Pell Grant Flexibility Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.

    (a) Amendments.--Section 401(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(2)), as amended by section 703 of division FF 
of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260), is 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``In any case'' and inserting the 
        following:
                    ``(A) Reduction.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), in any case''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Students with disabilities.--
                            ``(i) In general.--In the case of a student 
                        with a disability (as defined in section 3 of 
                        the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 
                        U.S.C. 12102)) for whom a reduced course load 
                        has been determined appropriate by the 
                        institution of higher education, the student's 
                        enrollment in the reduced course load or 5 
                        credits (or the equivalent), whichever is 
                        greater, shall be deemed to be enrollment on a 
                        full-time basis for purposes of calculating the 
                        amount of the Federal Pell Grant to which the 
                        student is entitled.
                            ``(ii) Limited application.--A 
                        determination under clause (i) shall not be 
                        used in the calculation of Federal Pell Grant 
                        semester eligibility under subsection 
                        (d)(5).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as if included in section 703 of division FF of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260) and subject to the 
effective date of section 701(b) of such FAFSA Simplification Act, as 
amended by section 102(a) of the FAFSA Simplification Act Technical 
Corrections Act (division R of Public Law 117-103) (including the 
authorization provided under section 102(c)(1)(A) of such Act).
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