42 U.S.C. § 15113 — Reaching up scholarship program

(a) Program authorization: The Secretary may award competitive grants to eligible entities so they can run scholarship programs. Those programs give postsecondary-education vouchers to direct support workers who help people with developmental disabilities living in different kinds of settings. The grants pay the federal share of the voucher costs. (b) Eligible entity: To get a grant, an entity must be: (1) an institution of higher education; (2) a state agency; or (3) a group made up of such institutions or agencies. (c) Application requirements: To get a grant, an eligible entity must apply to the Secretary, following the Secretary's timing, format, and information rules. The application must describe: (1) how the entity will decide who gets vouchers; (2) how many people will receive vouchers; and (3) how much money the entity will provide toward the non-federal share of the voucher cost. (d) Selection criteria: In choosing which grant applications to fund, the Secretary must give priority to an application that: (1) says voucher recipients will be direct support workers who help people with developmental disabilities in diverse settings while going to college, and each recipient must first verify they worked 250 hours as a direct support worker in the past 90 days; (2) states that vouchers will be no more than $2,000 per year; (3) promises that the eligible entity — or another named entity that isn't getting a voucher — will pay the non-federal share of the voucher cost; and (4) meets any other conditions the Secretary sets. (e) Federal share: The federal government's share of voucher costs cannot be more than 80 percent.