S.686: Strengthening American Communities Act of 2019

S. 686 would amend the Higher Education Act to require the Department of Education (ED) to establish a grant program to assist students in paying for the costs of attending community colleges, historically black colleges and universities, or minority-serving institutions of higher education. In addition, ED would establish grant programs to pay the costs of undergraduate education for students who commit to working for at least three years in public service jobs upon graduation. Finally, ED would cancel a certain percentage of the amount a borrower owes, based on the number of years of public service employment, on federal student loans made after this bill’s enactment. This bill would appropriate nearly $90 billion cumulative over the next ten years for such grants.

H.R. 3692 is the House companion bill