Shaheen, Hassan Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Help More Americans Access High-Quality Job Training, Get Good-Paying Jobs
(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) joined a bipartisan group of Senators to reintroduce the Jumpstarting Our Businesses by Supporting Students (JOBS) Act, bipartisan legislation to help more Americans get good-paying jobs by allowing students to use federal Pell Grants to afford high-quality, shorter-term job training programs.
Pell Grants are need-based education grants for low-income and working students. Currently, students can only use Pell Grants for two-year and four-year colleges or universities. By expanding Pell Grant eligibility, the JOBS Act would help close the skills gap and provide workers with the job training and credentials they need for careers in high-demand fields.
“As the economy continues to recover from the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important we invest in our students to ensure they acquire the skills necessary to secure good-paying jobs,” said Shaheen. “This legislation will expand Pell Grant eligibility, increasing the affordability and accessibility of short-term job training programs. I’ll keep working in the Senate to invest in the success of our workers and economy.”
“Job training programs allow employees to improve their professional skills and access better-paying jobs, which strengthens the American workforce as a whole,” said Senator Hassan. “It is important to make job training programs, whether they are long- or short-term, more accessible for students of all backgrounds. Our bipartisan bill will do just that, and I will continue working to pass it in the Senate to help Granite State students and businesses succeed in the 21st century economy.”
The legislation is led by Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mike Braun (R-IN) and is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), John Barrasso (R-WY), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Susan Collins (R-ME), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Full text of the bill is available here.
Senator Shaheen has led efforts in Congress to help students manage their debt and to make college more affordable, championing legislation to increase access to higher education for Granite Staters. In the previous Congress, she reintroduced the Simplifying Access to Student Loan Information Act, which calls for the development of a central online portal to allow students to review all their public and private student loans, as well as repayment options, in one place. She also reintroduced her bill, the Student Protection and Success Act, which works to curb skyrocketing student debt by increasing higher education institutions’ accountability for their students’ ability to repay their loans and requiring institutions to have a vested interest in the success of their students. Shaheen has previously introduced legislation to aid undergraduate borrowers and successfully ushered her legislation with Senators Baldwin (D-WI), Braun (R-IN) and Fischer (R-NE) to combat student debt relief scams through Congress. It was signed into law in 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shaheen led and supported numerous efforts to provide necessary relief to students and their families to afford college and other higher education opportunities. Last year, Shaheen helped introduce bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would double the Pell Grant award and make college more affordable.
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