# 119-s-5626: Higher Education Grant Flexibility Act of 2026

119-s-5626, Higher Education Grant Flexibility Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5626
- As of: 2026-10-16
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5626
- Congress: 119
- Title: Higher Education Grant Flexibility Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-09-30
- Sponsor: Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD)
- Cosponsors: 6
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-16

## Summary

**Treats approved reduced course loads for students with disabilities as full-time when calculating grant amounts.** It would apply this rule to Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and TEACH Grants and tie the change to existing FAFSA and appropriations effective dates. - Students with disabilities: A student with a disability who has a reduced course load approved as a reasonable accommodation would have that reduced load or 5 credits, whichever is greater, deemed full-time for the elements of cost of attendance used to set Pell Grant amounts. Section 472(b) would not apply to these calculations and semester-by-semester Pell eligibility rules remain unaffected. - FSEOG recipients: The bill would treat similarly situated students as full-time when calculating the cost-of-attendance elements that determine Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant amounts. - TEACH Grant candidates: Teacher candidates with an approved reduced load would have that reduced load or 5 credits treated as full-time for calculating TEACH Grant amounts.

## Cosponsors (6)

- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT), 2026-09-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2026-09-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI), 2026-09-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-09-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA), 2026-09-30T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM), 2026-09-30T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Full-time grants for students with disabilities: benefit, medium. If enacted, this bill would treat certain reduced course loads as full-time when calculating federal grant amounts. A student or teacher candidate with a disability who has a reduced course load approved as a reasonable accommodation would be deemed full-time for cost-of-attendance calculations for…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-5626 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5626)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4504)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5626 (as of 2026-10-16).