; and (ii) register the intent of the student to serve in such a program upon graduation from high school, or defer until completion of a program of study at an institution of higher education. . (b) Educational award amount for full-Time national service Section 147(a) of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 12603 ) is amended by inserting 2 times the amount of the national average of the annual tuition and fees (as described in section 472(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1087ll(1) )) at 2-year institutions of higher education, except that such value shall be not less than after value equal to . (c) Noncompetitive hiring authority Part III of subtitle C of title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 is amended by adding at the end the following: 142. Noncompetitive hiring authority Upon completion of a term of service in a national service position, an individual shall be eligible for appointment in the competitive service in the same manner as a Peace Corps volunteer as prescribed in Executive Order 11103 ( 22 U.S.C. 2504 note, relating to Providing for the Appointment of Former Peace Corps Volunteers to the Civilian Career Services). . 4. Exclusion from gross income of AmeriCorps educational awards (a) In general Paragraph (2) of section 117(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking or at the end of subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (C) and inserting , or , and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: (D) a national service educational award under subtitle D of title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990. . (b) Exclusion of discharge of student loan debt Subsection (f) of section 108 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (6) Payments under national service educational award programs In the case of an individual, gross income shall not include any amount received under a national service educational award under subtitle D of title I of the