Sponsors (18)
Official title: To establish State-Federal partnerships to provide students the opportunity to attain higher education at in-State public institutions of higher education without debt, to provide Federal Pell Grant eligibility to DREAMer students, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 16, 2026 by Mark Pocan · Last progress September 16, 2026
The bill expands and targets federally funded debt-free aid to historically underserved institutions and opens Title IV access to many Dreamer students—significantly boosting college access and affordability for low-income and immigrant students—while creating substantial new federal spending, eligibility limits, and administrative requirements that could reduce benefits for some institutions and complicate program delivery.
Low-income and Pell-eligible undergraduates at participating HBCUs, Tribal colleges, and other MSIs receive grant-funded aid to cover unmet financial need, reducing or eliminating student debt for eligible students.
Dreamer students (those who entered the U.S. before age 16), including those who have completed two years of college or earned a degree and qualifying long-serving servicemembers, become eligible for Title IV federal student aid, expanding college access and supporting degree completion.
Grantees receive five years of predictable funding sized to undergraduate instruction and academic support spending, giving eligible institutions stable resources to plan and sustain debt-free program models.
The bill increases federal student-aid spending (including a $3 billion FY2027 appropriation and expanded Title IV eligibility), creating larger budgetary commitments that may raise taxpayer costs or require offsets elsewhere in the budget.
If appropriations for the HBCU/MSI grant program are insufficient, each institution’s award will be ratably reduced, meaning students may receive less aid than planned and program benefits would be diluted.
Institutions face new compliance and reporting obligations (maintaining spending/enrollment targets, regular reporting, possible fines up to 1% of the grant) that could divert administrative resources away from students and academic programs.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes five-year grants to eligible HBCUs/MSIs for unmet-need debt-free aid and creates a Title IV "Dreamer student" eligibility category with waiver authority.
Creates a new five-year grant program to help eligible HBCUs and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) provide need-based, debt-free undergraduate aid and adds a placeholder "debt-free college partnership" provision to Title IV. Expands Title IV student-aid eligibility by defining a new "Dreamer student" category (with four alternative evidentiary paths and a hardship waiver for age-at-entry or school-attendance rules) so certain long-resident undocumented students can qualify for federal student aid.