I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3790 

To improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 21, 2015 

Ms. KELLY of Illinois introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To improve science, technology, engineering, and 

mathematics education, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Diversity in Science 

5 Technology and Nurturing Capable Educators Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘DISTANCE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. TEACHER RECRUITING. 

8 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 

9 encourage individuals educated in science, technology, en10 gineering, and mathematics to enter and continue in the 


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1 teaching profession, with the goal of attracting 10,000 of 

2 America’s brightest students to the teaching profession 

3 over the next 5 years. 

4 (b) SCHOLARSHIPS.—Title II of the Higher Edu5 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating part C as part E; 

7 (2) by redesignating section 261 as section 281; 

8 and 

9 (3) by inserting after part B the following new 

10 part: 

11 ‘‘PART C—STEM TEACHER SCHOLARSHIPS 

12 ‘‘SEC. 261. PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. 

13 ‘‘The Secretary shall award scholarships, on a com14 petitive basis and in accordance with this part, to students 

15 who are enrolled in studies leading to bachelor’s degrees, 

16 with concurrent certification as kindergarten, elementary, 

17 and secondary school teachers, in science, technology, en18 gineering, and mathematics, and who have agreed to per19 form qualified service. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 262. SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS. 

21 ‘‘(a) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall de22 velop selection criteria that the Secretary will use to award 

23 scholarships, and to renew those awards, based on estab24 lished measurements of merit available to secondary stuVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:05 Oct 22, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3790.IH H3790

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1 dents who wish to pursue degrees in science, technology, 

2 engineering, and mathematics. 

3 ‘‘(b) APPLICATIONS.—Any student desiring to receive 

4 a scholarship under this part shall submit an application 

5 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con6 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

7 ‘‘(c) DURATION OF SCHOLARSHIPS; RENEWAL.— 

8 Scholarships shall be awarded for only one academic year 

9 of study at a time, and shall be renewable on an annual 

10 basis for the established length of the recipient’s academic 

11 program, not to exceed 6 academic years. The Secretary 

12 shall condition the renewal of scholarships on measures 

13 of academic progress and achievement. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 263. QUALIFIED SERVICE REQUIREMENT. 

15 ‘‘(a) QUALIFIED SERVICE AGREEMENT.—Any stu16 dent who receives a scholarship under this part shall enter 

17 into an agreement with the Secretary to complete no less 

18 than 5 academic years of qualified service during a 7-year 

19 period, to begin no later than 12 months following the 

20 completion of a bachelor’s degree in science, technology, 

21 engineering, or mathematics. 

22 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT ENFORCED.—The Secretary 

23 shall establish such requirements as the Secretary finds 

24 necessary to ensure that recipients of scholarships under 

25 this subsection who complete bachelor’s degrees in science, 


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1 technology, engineering, and mathematics, with teacher 

2 certification, subsequently perform 5 academic years of 

3 qualified service during a 7-year period, or repay the por4 tion of the scholarship received for which the recipient did 

5 not perform the required qualified service, as determined 

6 by the Secretary. The Secretary shall use any such repay7 ments to carry out additional activities under this part. 

8 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of this section, 

9 the term ‘qualified service’ means full-time employment at 

10 a public or private kindergarten, elementary school, or sec11 ondary school as a teacher of a course in a science, tech12 nology, engineering, or mathematics field. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 264. AWARDS. 

14 ‘‘(a) SCHOLARSHIP AWARD.—The Secretary shall 

15 provide each recipient with a scholarship in the amount 

16 of up to $20,000 to pay for the cost of attendance of the 

17 student for each academic year the student is eligible to 

18 receive the scholarship. The Secretary shall transfer such 

19 funds to the institution of higher education at which the 

20 recipient is enrolled. 

21 ‘‘(b) BONUS AWARD.— 

22 ‘‘(1) OPTION FOR BONUS AWARD.—Any student 

23 who receives a scholarship under this part may elect 

24 to enter into a bonus agreement with the Secretary, 

25 in accordance with this subsection, for any academic 


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1 year during which the student receives a scholarship 

2 under this part. 

3 ‘‘(2) BONUS AGREEMENT.—A bonus agreement 

4 under paragraph (1) shall provide that— 

5 ‘‘(A) the student shall perform one aca6 demic year of the qualified service agreed to 

7 under section 263(a) in a high-need local edu8 cational agency, as defined in section 200; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the Secretary shall provide $10,000, 

10 in addition to the amount the student receives 

11 under subsection (a), for each academic year in 

12 which the student enters into such bonus agree13 ment. 

14 ‘‘(3) SERVICE REQUIREMENT ENFORCED.—The 

15 Secretary shall establish such requirements as the 

16 Secretary finds necessary to ensure that recipients 

17 of bonuses under this subsection fulfill the qualified 

18 service requirement in a high-need local educational 

19 agency, as defined in section 200, for a period of 

20 time equivalent to the period for which the recipient 

21 receives the bonus, or repays the portion of the 

22 bonus received for which the recipient did not per23 form the required qualified service in a high-need 

24 local educational agency, as determined by the Sec25 retary. The Secretary shall use any such repayments 


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1 to carry out additional activities under this sub2 section. 

3 ‘‘(c) MAXIMUM AWARD.—The maximum award any 

4 student may receive under this section for an academic 

5 year shall be the student’s cost of attendance minus any 

6 grant aid such student receives from sources other than 

7 this section. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 265. REGULATIONS. 

9 ‘‘The Secretary is authorized to issue such regula10 tions as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 

11 this part.’’. 

12 (c) INSTITUTIONAL GRANTS FOR INTEGRATED DE13 GREE PROGRAMS.—Title II of the Higher Education Act 

14 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is further amended by 

15 inserting after part C, as added by subsection (b) of this 

16 section, the following new part: 

17 ‘‘PART D—INTEGRATED DEGREE PROGRAMS 

18 ‘‘SEC. 271. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to 

20 award grants to institutions of higher education, on a 

21 competitive basis, in order to pay for the Federal share 

22 of the cost of projects to establish, strengthen, and operate 

23 4-year undergraduate degree programs through which stu24 dents may concurrently— 


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1 ‘‘(1) earn a bachelor’s degree in science, tech2 nology, engineering, or mathematics; and 

3 ‘‘(2) be certified to teach kindergarten, elemen4 tary, or secondary school. 

5 ‘‘(b) GRANT AMOUNT; AWARD PERIOD.—The Sec6 retary may award grants to no more than 50 institutions 

7 of higher education each fiscal year, and a grant to an 

8 institution for a fiscal year shall not exceed $1,000,000. 

9 Grants shall be awarded for only one fiscal year at a time, 

10 and shall be renewable on an annual basis for up to 5 

11 years. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 272. SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS. 

13 ‘‘(a) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall set criteria to 

14 evaluate the applications for grants under this part and 

15 the projects proposed to establish, strengthen, and operate 

16 4-year integrated undergraduate degree programs. 

17 ‘‘(b) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—To 

18 the extent practicable and consistent with the criteria 

19 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make grants 

20 under this part in such manner as to achieve an equitable 

21 distribution of the grant funds throughout the United 

22 States, considering geographic distribution, rural and 

23 urban areas, and range and type of institutions. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 273. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS. 

2 ‘‘In order to receive a grant under this part, an insti3 tution of higher education shall submit an application to 

4 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con5 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

6 Such application shall include the following: 

7 ‘‘(1) A description of the proposed project. 

8 ‘‘(2) A demonstration of— 

9 ‘‘(A) the commitment, including the finan10 cial commitment, of the institution for the pro11 posed project; and 

12 ‘‘(B) the active support of the leadership of 

13 the institution for the proposed project. 

14 ‘‘(3) A description of how the proposed project 

15 will be continued after Federal funds are no longer 

16 awarded under this part for the project. 

17 ‘‘(4) A plan for the evaluation of the project, 

18 which shall include benchmarks to monitor progress 

19 toward specific project objectives. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 274. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 

21 ‘‘Each institution of higher education receiving a 

22 grant under this part shall provide, from non-Federal 

23 sources, an amount equal to the amount of the grant (in 

24 cash or in-kind) to carry out the project supported by the 

25 grant. 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 275. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this part $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2016 

4 through 2021.’’. 

Æ 


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