H.R. 10097 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
Earn to Learn Act
Cosponsors: 3 (1 D, 2 R) · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-14
Introduced: 2026-08-13
Latest action (2026-08-13): Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
What H.R. 10097 does, in plain terms
Earn to Learn Act This bill directs the Department of Education (ED) to establish a postsecondary education match savings account demonstration grant program, through which ED must award competitive grants to states and nonprofit organizations to provide certain low-income students with postsecondary education match savings accounts (e.g., 529 plans). Further, ED must (1) develop and make available to grant recipients certain tools, including a training platform, a program guide, an online data portal, and certain trainings (e.g., on workforce readiness); (2) ensure that participation in the grant program does not affect student eligibility for Federal Pell Grants; and (3) provide technical assistance. Grant recipients must use funds to (1) select eligible students to participate in the grant program, (2) provide selected students with financial literacy education, (3) establish a postsecondary education match savings account for each participating student and allow such students and their families to deposit funds in their account to save for attendance at an institution of higher education or an area career and technical education school, and (4) reserve matching funds for participating students. Additionally, grant recipients must ensure that participating students are entitled to withdraw funds from their accounts under certain circumstances.
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.
Constitution Index
“VFA Constitution grade”
Not graded yet
H.R. 10097 has not been graded yet. New measures with an official summary are graded daily under the published rubric.
The Framers
“Founders’ Verdict”
Confidence 0.50
Archived SI output (machine-generated)No editorial review recorded. This historical SI verdict was machine-generated by software and predates the review desk; check it against the official bill text.
Synthesis
The bill exceeds Congress's enumerated powers, as it is not authorized by the general welfare clause or any other specific grant of power, and it infringes on state sovereignty reserved by the Tenth Amendment.
The proposed matched savings program for low-income students falls within the enumerated powers of Congress under Article I, Section 8, Clause 1, which grants Congress the power to 'provide for the general Welfare of the United States.' This clause, as interpreted in Federalist No. 30, authorizes expenditures for the common benefit, including education and economic opportunity. Additionally, Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 (the Necessary and Proper Clause) empowers Congress to make laws that are necessary and proper for executing its spending power. The program is a legitimate exercise of fede…
This bill proposes a federal matched savings program for low-income students, which exceeds the limited and enumerated powers granted to Congress by the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment reserves to the states or the people all powers not delegated to the United States. Education and savings programs are not among the powers delegated to Congress in Article I, Section 8, nor are they necessary and proper for executing any enumerated power. Such a program would create a new federal entanglement in domestic affairs, contrary to the principle that the federal government should be confined to its …
This bill proposes a federal matched savings program for low-income students, which falls outside the enumerated powers granted to Congress by the Constitution. The Constitution does not authorize Congress to establish savings programs for individuals, as such a power is not listed in Article I, Section 8, nor is it necessary and proper for executing any enumerated power. The general welfare clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1) is limited to taxing and spending for the common defense and general welfare, but this does not extend to creating new programs that regulate private savings or prov…
This bill proposes a matched savings program for low-income students, which falls under Congress's power to provide for the general welfare and to regulate commerce among the several states, as education and economic opportunity are intimately connected to interstate commerce. However, the Constitution does not grant Congress an unlimited power to spend for any purpose; the spending must be in pursuit of the general welfare, as interpreted in McCulloch v. Maryland, where it was held that Congress may employ means not expressly prohibited by the Constitution to carry into execution its enumerat…
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