119-hr266

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 266 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 266

 To modify the Federal TRIO programs.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 9, 2025

 Mr. Davidson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To modify the Federal TRIO programs.

 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 ``Educational Opportunity and Success 
Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. PROGRAM AUTHORITY AND AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR 
 FEDERAL TRIO PROGRAMS.

    (a) Minimum Grants.--

Section 402A

    (b)

    (3) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11

    (b)

    (3) ) is amended--

    (1) by striking ``$200,000'' and inserting ``$220,000''; 
 and

    (2) by striking ``$170,000'' and inserting ``$190,000''.

    (b) Procedures for Awarding Grants and Contracts.--

Section 402A
            (c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11
            (c) ) is 
amended--

    (1) in paragraph

    (2)
        (A) --
        (A) in the subparagraph heading, by striking 
 ``Prior experience'' and inserting ``Prior success'';
        (B) in the first sentence, by striking ``prior 
 experience of high quality service delivery'' and 
 inserting ``prior success in achieving high quality 
 service delivery''; and
            (C) in the second sentence--
            (i) by striking ``prior experience shall 
 not'' and inserting ``prior success in 
 achieving high quality service delivery shall 
 not''; and
            (ii) by striking ``shall not be given prior 
 experience consideration'' and inserting 
 ``shall not be given such consideration''; and

    (2) by striking paragraph

    (8) and inserting the following:
 ``

    (8) Review and notification by the secretary.--
 ``
        (A) Guidance.--Not less than 90 days before the 
 commencement of each competition for a grant under this 
 chapter, the Secretary shall issue nonregulatory 
 guidance regarding the rights and responsibilities of 
 applicants with respect to the application and 
 evaluation process for programs and projects assisted 
 under this chapter, including applicant access to peer 
 review comments. The guidance shall describe the 
 procedures for the submission, processing, and scoring 
 of applications for grants under this chapter, 
 including the information described in subparagraph
        (B) .
 ``
        (B) Technical components of applications.--
 ``
            (i) Establishment and treatment of 
 nonsubstantive technical components of 
 applications.--With respect to any competition 
 for a grant under this chapter, the Secretary 
 may only establish voluntary page limit and 
 formatting requirements for grant applications 
 and may not reject grant applications that do 
 not meet those voluntary requirements. The 
 Secretary may suggest page limits and 
 formatting standards (including with respect to 
 font size, font style, font type, line spacing, 
 paragraph justification, and page margins), but 
 may not use noncompliance with these suggested 
 requirements as a basis to reject or penalize 
 grant applications.
 ``
            (ii) Identification and treatment of 
 technical budget errors in applications.--
 ``
            (I) In general.--With respect to 
 any competition for a grant under this 
 chapter, the Secretary may not reject 
 or penalize grant applications on the 
 basis of a typographical or rounding 
 error in a proposed budget until the 
 Secretary has given the applicant an 
 opportunity for correction in 
 accordance with subclause
            (II) .
 ``
            (II) Notice and opportunity for 
 correction.--The Secretary shall 
 provide notice and identification of an 
 error described in subclause
            (I) by 
 email and phone to the applicant before 
 awarding grants for each competition. 
 During a period of not fewer than 14 
 days, the Secretary shall allow the 
 applicant to submit a revised 
 application that corrects the 
 identified error.
 ``
            (III) Treatment of revised 
 applications.--The Secretary shall 
 treat the revised application in the 
 same manner as a timely submitted 
 application.
 ``
            (IV) Failure to correct.--If an 
 applicant has received a notice and 
 opportunity for correction of a 
 typographical or rounding error in a 
 proposed budget in accordance with 
 subclause
            (II) and the applicant fails 
 to correct the error and submit a 
 revised application before the deadline 
 described in that subclause, the 
 Secretary may reject or penalize that 
 grant application.
 ``
            (C) Review.--
 ``
            (i) Request for review.--With respect to 
 any competition for a grant under this chapter, 
 an applicant may request a review if the 
 applicant--
 ``
            (I) has evidence that a specific 
 technical, administrative, or scoring 
 error was made by the Department, an 
 agent of the Department, or a peer 
 reviewer, with respect to the scoring 
 or processing of a submitted 
 application; and
 ``
            (II) has otherwise met all of the 
 requirements for submission of the 
 application.
 ``
            (ii) Error made by the department.--In 
 the case of evidence of error by the Department 
 or an agent of the Department, other than a 
 peer reviewer, the Secretary shall review any 
 evidence submitted by the applicant and provide 
 a timely response to the applicant. If the 
 Secretary determines that an error was made by 
 the Department or an agent of the Department, 
 other than a peer reviewer, the Secretary shall 
 correct the error and accordingly adjust the 
 applicant score.
 ``
            (iii) Error made by a peer reviewer.--
 ``
            (I) In general.--In the case of 
 evidence of error by a peer reviewer, a 
 secondary review panel shall 
 automatically and promptly evaluate the 
 application for consideration in the 
 applicable grant competition upon 
 receipt of a request by any such 
 applicant. Examples of errors 
 warranting secondary review may 
 include--
 ``

    (aa) points withheld for 
 criteria not required in 
 statute, regulation, or 
 guidance governing a program 
 under this chapter or the 
 application for a grant for 
 such program; or
 ``

    (bb) information 
 pertaining to selection 
 criteria that was incorrectly 
 determined to be missing from 
 an application.
 ``
            (II) Timely review and 
 replacement score.--The secondary 
 review panel described in subclause
            (I) shall conduct a secondary review in a 
 timely fashion, and the score resulting 
 from the secondary review shall replace 
 the score from the initial peer review.
 ``
            (III) Composition of secondary 
 review panel.--The secondary review 
 panel shall be composed of reviewers 
 each of whom--
 ``

    (aa) did not review the 
 application in the original 
 peer review;
 ``

    (bb) is a member of the 
 cohort of peer reviewers for 
 the grant program that is the 
 subject of such secondary 
 review; and
 ``
            (cc) to the extent 
 practicable, has conducted peer 
 reviews in not less than 2 
 previous competitions for the 
 grant program that is the 
 subject of such secondary 
 review.
 ``
            (IV) Final score.--The final peer 
 review score of an application subject 
 to a secondary review under this clause 
 shall promptly be adjusted 
 appropriately using the score awarded 
 by the secondary review panel, so as 
 not to interfere with the timely 
 awarding of grants for the applicable 
 grant competition.
 ``
            (iv) Finality.--
 ``
            (I) In general.--A determination 
 by the Secretary under clause
            (ii) shall not be reviewable by any officer 
 or employee of the Department other 
 than the Secretary.
 ``
            (II) Scoring.--The score awarded 
 by a secondary review panel under 
 clause
            (iii) shall not be reviewable by 
 any officer or employee of the 
 Department other than the Secretary.
 ``
            (v) Funding of applications with certain 
 adjusted scores.--Applications with scores that 
 are adjusted upward under clause
            (ii) or
            (iii) that equal or exceed the minimum cut-off score 
 for the applicable grant competition shall be 
 funded by the Secretary using general or 
 administrative funds available to the Secretary 
 other than those funds appropriated or 
 allocated for the programs authorized by this 
 chapter.''.
            (c) Outreach.--

Section 402A
            (d) (3) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11
            (d) (3) ) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: ``The Secretary shall also host at least one virtual, 
interactive training using telecommunications technology to ensure that 
interested applicants have access to technical assistance.''.
            (d) Documentation of Status as a Low-Income Individual.--

Section 402A

    (e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11

    (e) ) is 
amended--

    (1) in paragraph

    (1) --
        (A) in subparagraph
            (C) , by striking ``or'' after 
 the semicolon;
        (B) in subparagraph
            (D) , by striking the period at 
 the end and inserting a semicolon; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
        (E) documentation that the student has been determined to 
 be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant under 

section 401; or
 ``
        (F) for grants authorized under 

section 402B and 402F of 
 this chapter, documentation that a student is attending a 
 school that had a percentage of enrolled students who are 
 identified students (as defined in 

section 11

    (a)

    (1)
        (F)
            (i) of 
 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
 1759a

    (a)

    (1)
        (F)
            (i) )) that meets or exceeds the threshold 
 described in 

section 11

    (a)

    (1)
        (F)
            (viii) of that Act during the 
 school year prior to the first year of the period for which 
 such grant is awarded.''; and

    (2) in paragraph

    (2) --
        (A) in subparagraph
            (C) , by striking ``or'' after 
 the semicolon;
        (B) in subparagraph
            (D) , by striking the period at 
 the end and inserting a semicolon; and
            (C) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
        (E) documentation that the student has been determined to 
 be eligible for a Federal Pell Grant under 

section 401; or
 ``
        (F) for grants authorized under 

section 402B and 402F of 
 this chapter, documentation that a student is attending a 
 school that had a percentage of enrolled students who are 
 identified students (as defined in 

section 11

    (a)

    (1)
        (F)
            (i) of 
 the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 
 1759a

    (a)

    (1)
        (F)
            (i) )) that meets or exceeds the threshold 
 described in 

section 11

    (a)

    (1)
        (F)
            (viii) of that Act during the 
 school year prior to the first year of the period for which 
 such grant is awarded.''.

    (e) Outcome Criteria.--

Section 402A

    (f) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11

    (g) ) is amended--

    (1) in paragraph

    (1) --
        (A) in the paragraph heading, by striking ``prior 
 experience'' and inserting ``prior success'';
        (B) by striking ``January 1, 2009'' and inserting 
 ``the date of enactment of the Educational Opportunity 
 and Success Act of 2025''; and
            (C) by striking ``prior experience of'' and 
 inserting ``prior success in achieving''; and

    (2) in paragraph

    (3) --
        (A) in subparagraph
        (A) --
            (i) in clause
            (iv) , by striking ``that will 
 make such students eligible for programs such 
 as the Academic Competitiveness Grants 
 Program'' and inserting ``that includes at 
 least 4 years of mathematics, 3 years of 
 science, and 2 years of a foreign language'';
            (ii) by redesignating clauses
            (v) and
            (vi) as clauses
            (vi) and
            (vii) , respectively; and
            (iii) by inserting after clause
            (iv) , the 
 following:
 ``
            (v) the completion of financial aid 
 applications, including the Free Application 
 for Federal Student Aid described in 

section 483

    (a) and college admissions applications;'';
        (B) in subparagraph
        (B) --
            (i) in the matter preceding clause
            (i) , by 
 inserting ``except in the case of programs that 
 are specifically designed for veterans,'' after 
 ``402C'';
            (ii) in clause
            (v) , by striking ``that will 
 make such students eligible for programs such 
 as the Academic Competitiveness Grants 
 Program'' and inserting ``that includes at 
 least 4 years of mathematics, 3 years of 
 science, and 2 years of a foreign language'';
            (iii) by redesignating clauses
            (vi) and
            (vii) as clauses
            (vii) and
            (viii) , 
 respectively; and
            (iv) by inserting after clause
            (v) , the 
 following:
 ``
            (vi) the completion of financial aid 
 applications, including the Free Application 
 for Federal Student Aid described in 

section 483

    (a) and college admissions applications;'';
            (C) by redesignating subparagraphs
            (C) through
        (E) as subparagraphs
            (D) through
        (F) , respectively;
            (D) by inserting after subparagraph
        (B) the 
 following:
 ``
            (C) For programs authorized under 

section 402C 
 that are specifically designed for veterans, the extent 
 to which the eligible entity met or exceeded the 
 entity's objectives for such program regarding--
 ``
            (i) the delivery of service to a total 
 number of students served by the program, as 
 agreed upon by the entity and the Secretary for 
 the period of the program;
 ``
            (ii) such students' academic performance 
 as measured by standardized tests;
 ``
            (iii) the retention and completion of 
 participants in the program;
 ``
            (iv) the provision of assistance to 
 students served by the program in completing 
 financial aid applications, including the Free 
 Application for Federal Student Aid described 
 in 

section 483

    (a) and college admission 
 applications;
 ``
            (v) the enrollment of such students in an 
 institution of higher education; and
 ``
            (vi) to the extent practicable, the 
 postsecondary completion of such students;'';
        (E) in subparagraph
            (D) , as redesignated by 
 subparagraph
            (C) , by striking clause
            (ii) and inserting 
 the following:
 ``
            (ii) 
            (I) in the case of an entity that is 
 an institution of higher education offering a 
 baccalaureate degree, the extent to which the 
 entity met or exceeded the entity's objectives 
 regarding the percentage of such students' 
 completion of a baccalaureate degree at any 
 baccalaureate granting institution within 6 
 years of initial enrollment in the project; or
 ``
            (II) in the case of an entity that is an 
 institution of higher education that does not 
 offer a baccalaureate degree, the extent to 
 which such students met or exceeded--
 ``

    (aa) the entity's objective 
 regarding the transfer of such students 
 to institutions of higher education 
 that offer baccalaureate degrees, 
 regardless of whether the transferring 
 student completes a degree or 
 certificate; and
 ``

    (bb) the entity's objective 
 regarding the completion of a degree or 
 certificate by such students at the 
 institution or any accredited 
 institution within 4 years of initial 
 enrollment in the project;'';
        (F) by amending subparagraph
        (E) , as redesignated 
 by subparagraph
            (C) , to read as follows:
 ``
        (E) For programs authorized under 

section 402E, 
 the extent to which the entity met or exceeded--
 ``
            (i) the entity's objective regarding the 
 delivery of service to a total number of 
 students served by the program, as agreed upon 
 by the entity and the Secretary for the period;
 ``
            (ii) the entity's objective regarding the 
 provision of appropriate scholarly and research 
 activities for the students served by the 
 program;
 ``
            (iii) the entity's objective regarding 
 the acceptance and enrollment of such students 
 in graduate programs within 2 years of 
 receiving the baccalaureate degree;
 ``
            (iv) the entity's objective regarding the 
 continued enrollment of such students in 
 graduate study; and
 ``
            (v) the entity's objective regarding the 
 attainment of doctoral degrees by former 
 program participants within 10 years of 
 receiving the baccalaureate degree.''; and
        (G) in subparagraph
        (F) , as redesignated by 
 subparagraph
            (C) --
            (i) in clause
            (i) , by inserting ``within 2 
 years of participation in the program'' after 
 ``such diploma or equivalent''; and
            (ii) in clause
            (ii) , by inserting ``or re-
 enrollment'' after ``the enrollment''.

    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--

Section 402A

    (g) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11

    (g) ) is amended to read as 
follows:
 ``

    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of making 
grants and contracts under this chapter, there are authorized to be 
appropriated $1,100,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 and such sums as may 
be necessary for each of the five succeeding fiscal years. Of the 
amount appropriated under this chapter, the Secretary may use no more 
than 1 percent of such amount to obtain additional qualified readers 
and additional staff to review applications, to increase the level of 
oversight monitoring, to support impact studies, program assessments, 
and reviews, and to provide technical assistance to potential 
applicants and current grantees.''.

    (g) 

=== Definitions. ===
-

Section 402A

    (h) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a-11

    (h) ) is amended by striking paragraph

    (4) and 
inserting the following:
 ``

    (4) Low-income individual.--The term `low-income 
 individual' means--
 ``
        (A) an individual from a family whose adjustable 
 gross income for the preceding year did not exceed 150 
 percent of an amount equal to the poverty level 
 determined by using criteria of poverty established by 
 the Bureau of the Census;
 ``
        (B) an individual from a family whose adjustable 
 gross income, as reported on the individual's most 
 recently completed Free Application for Federal Student 
 Aid, did not exceed 150 percent of an amount equal to 
 the poverty level determined by using criteria of 
 poverty established by the Bureau of the Census for 
 that year;
 ``
            (C) an individual who has been determined to be 
 eligible for a Federal Pell Grant under 

section 401; or
 ``
            (D) for grants authorized under 

section 402B and 
 402F of this chapter, a student who is attending a 
 school that had a percentage of enrolled students who 
 are identified students (as defined in 

section 11

    (a)

    (1)
        (F)
            (i) of the Richard B. Russell National 
 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a

    (a)

    (1)
        (F)
            (i) )) that 
 meets or exceeds the threshold described in 

section 11

    (a)

    (1)
        (F)
            (viii) of that Act during the school year 
 prior to the first year of the period for which such 
 grant is awarded.''.

SEC. 3. UPWARD BOUND.

 

Section 402C

    (f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1070a-13

    (f) ) is amended--

    (1) by striking ``$60'' and inserting ``$90'';

    (2) by striking ``$300'' and inserting ``$450'';

    (3) by striking ``$40'' and inserting ``$60''; and

    (4) by adding at the end the following: ``Adults 
 participating in a project that is specifically designed for 
 veterans under this section may be paid stipends not in excess 
 of $100 per month during the year.''.

SEC. 4. POSTBACCALAUREATE ACHIEVEMENT PROGRAM AUTHORITY.

 

Section 402E of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 USC 1070a-15) 
is amended--

    (1) in subsection

    (b)

    (2) , by striking ``summer 
 internships'' and inserting ``internships or faculty-led 
 research experiences'';

    (2) in subsection
            (d) (4) , by striking ``summer research 
 internships'' and inserting ``research internships or faculty-
 led research experiences''; and

    (3) in subsection

    (f)

    (1) , by striking ``$2,800'' and 
 inserting ``$4,000''.
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