Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Apr 3, 2017
College for All Act of 2017
This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to establish a grant program to eliminate tuition and required fees: (1) for all students at community colleges and two-year tribal colleges and universities, and (2) for working- and middle-class students at four-year public institutions of higher education (IHEs).
Additionally, the bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the HEA to:
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Read full official summaryShow less
reauthorize the Federal TRIO Programs, the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (i.e., GEAR UP), and the Federal Work Study Program for FY2018-FY2027;
eliminate existing base guarantees of Federal Work Study funds to IHEs and require funds to be allocated based solely on the aggregate need of the institution's students;
modify the interest rate formulas for federal student loans to revise applicable rates on new loans disbursed on or after July 1, 2017; and
allow student loan borrowers to modify interest rates on outstanding federal student loans to current rates.
Finally, it directs the Department of Education to use any excess revenue generated by the Federal Direct Loan program to carry out the Federal Pell Grant program.
Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.806 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.806 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.806 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.806 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.