A new college-grant program slipped into a pending federal budget bill could ultimately influence course offerings at high schools across the country and has stirred a debate about creeping federal authority over curricula. The legislation would create a $3.7 billion annual program of grants aimed at students from low-income families who have taken a "rigorous" high school curriculum. Modeled on a "state scholars" program in Texas, the grants would seek to encourage high school students to pursue college-level studies in mathematics, science, and certain foreign languages. The bill would give the U.S. secretary of education the authority to determine which high school curricula fit that definition. This has drawn criticism from many lawmakers who do not want the Department of Education to start directing the local business of education. The General Education Provisions Act, a federal law that broadly sketches the mission of the Department of Education, specifically bars the department from involvement in curricula. The No Child Left Behind Act adds further limits, stating that federal officials may not "mandate, direct, or control" a state, district, or school curriculum or program of instruction.