§ 1101a. Definitions; eligibility
(a)
Definitions
For the purpose of this subchapter:
(1)
Educational and general expenditures
The term “educational and general expenditures” means the total amount expended by an institution for instruction, research, public service, academic support (including library expenditures), student services, institutional support, scholarships and fellowships, operation and maintenance expenditures for the physical plant, and any mandatory transfers that the institution is required to pay by law.
(2)
Eligible institution
The term “eligible institution” means—
(A)
an institution of higher education—
(ii)
except as provided in section
1103a
(b) of this title, the average educational and general expenditures of which are low, per full-time equivalent undergraduate student, in comparison with the average educational and general expenditures per full-time equivalent undergraduate student of institutions that offer similar instruction;
(iii)
that is—
(B)
any branch of any institution of higher education described under subparagraph (A) that by itself satisfies the requirements contained in clauses (i) and (ii) of such subparagraph.
For purposes of the determination of whether an institution is an eligible institution under this paragraph, the factor described under subparagraph (A)(i) shall be given twice the weight of the factor described under subparagraph (A)(ii).
(3)
Endowment fund
The term “endowment fund” means a fund that—
(4)
Full-time equivalent students
The term “full-time equivalent students” means the sum of the number of students enrolled full time at an institution, plus the full-time equivalent of the number of students enrolled part time (determined on the basis of the quotient of the sum of the credit hours of all part-time students divided by 12) at such institution.
(5)
Hispanic-serving institution
The term “Hispanic-serving institution” means an institution of higher education that—
(6)
Junior or community college
The term “junior or community college” means an institution of higher education—
(A)
that admits as regular students persons who are beyond the age of compulsory school attendance in the State in which the institution is located and who have the ability to benefit from the training offered by the institution;
(B)
that does not provide an educational program for which the institution awards a bachelor’s degree (or an equivalent degree); and
(C)
that—
(i)
provides an educational program of not less than 2 years in duration that is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree; or
(ii)
offers a 2-year program in engineering, mathematics, or the physical or biological sciences, designed to prepare a student to work as a technician or at the semiprofessional level in engineering, scientific, or other technological fields requiring the understanding and application of basic engineering, scientific, or mathematical principles of knowledge.
(b)
Enrollment of needy students
For the purpose of this subchapter, the term “enrollment of needy students” means an enrollment at an institution with respect to which—
(1)
at least 50 percent of the degree students so enrolled are receiving need-based assistance under subchapter IV of this chapter and part
C of subchapter
I of chapter
34 of title
42 in the second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made (other than loans for which an interest subsidy is paid pursuant to section
1078 of this title); or
(2)
a substantial percentage of the students so enrolled are receiving Federal Pell Grants in the second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made, compared to the percentage of students receiving Federal Pell Grants at all such institutions in the second fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the determination is made, unless the requirement of this paragraph is waived under section
1103a
(a) of this title.