A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require that recipients of Pell Grants be citizens or nationals of the United States.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [S. 5451 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 5451

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require that recipients of Pell Grants be citizens or nationals of the United States.

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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

September 22, 2026

Mr. Banks introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

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A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require that recipients of Pell Grants be citizens or nationals of the United States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AMENDMENT TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.

(a) Pell Grants.--Section 401(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(a)) is amended-- (1) in the subsection heading, by inserting ``; Eligible Student'' after ``Definitions''; and (2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(3) Eligible Student.--Notwithstanding section 484, or any other provision of law, for the purposes of this section, the term `eligible student' means a student who-- ``(A) meets the requirements of paragraphs (1) through (4) of section 484(a); and ``(B) is a citizen or national of the United States.''. (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 484(a) (20 U.S.C. 1091(a)) is amended by striking ``In order to receive'' and inserting ``Subject to section 401(a)(3), in order to receive''. <all>