II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3901 

To establish a Federal artificial intelligence scholarship-for-service program. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2020 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. GARDNER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a Federal artificial intelligence scholarship-forservice program. 

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 ‘‘AI Scholarship-for5 Service Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SCHOLAR7 SHIP-FOR-SERVICE PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.—The term ‘‘ar10 tificial intelligence’’ or ‘‘AI’’ has the meaning given 


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1 the term ‘‘artificial intelligence’’ in section 238(g) of 

2 the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization 

3 Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (10 U.S.C. 2358 note). 

4 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

5 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Executive 

6 agency’’ in section 105 of title 5, United States 

7 Code. 

8 (3) REGISTERED INTERNSHIP.—The term ‘‘reg9 istered internship’’ means a Federal Registered In10 ternship Program coordinated through the Depart11 ment of Labor. 

12 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

13 Science Foundation, in coordination with the Director of 

14 the Office of Personnel Management, the Director of the 

15 National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the 

16 heads of other agencies with appropriate scientific knowl17 edge, shall establish a Federal artificial intelligence schol18 arship-for-service program (referred to in this section as 

19 the ‘‘Federal AI Scholarship-for-Service Program’’) to re20 cruit and train artificial intelligence professionals to lead 

21 and support the application of artificial intelligence to the 

22 missions of Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments. 

23 (c) QUALIFIED INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU24 CATION.—The Director of the National Science Founda25 tion, in coordination with the heads of other agencies with 


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1 appropriate scientific knowledge, shall establish criteria to 

2 designate qualified institutions of higher education that 

3 shall be eligible to participate in the Federal AI Scholar4 ship-for-Service program. Such criteria shall include— 

5 (1) measures of the institution’s demonstrated 

6 excellence in the education of students in the field 

7 of artificial intelligence; and 

8 (2) measures of the institution’s ability to at9 tract and retain a diverse and non-traditional stu10 dent population in the fields of science, technology, 

11 engineering, and mathematics, which may include 

12 the ability to attract women, minorities, and individ13 uals with disabilities. 

14 (d) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND COMPONENTS.— 

15 The Federal AI Scholarship-for-Service Program shall— 

16 (1) provide scholarships through qualified insti17 tutions of higher education to students who are en18 rolled in programs of study at institutions of higher 

19 education leading to degrees or concentrations in or 

20 related to the artificial intelligence field; 

21 (2) provide the scholarship recipients with sum22 mer internship opportunities, registered internships, 

23 or other meaningful temporary appointments in the 

24 Federal information technology workforce focusing 


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1 on artificial intelligence (referred to in this section 

2 as ‘‘AI’’) projects or research; 

3 (3) prioritize the employment placement of 

4 scholarship recipients in executive agencies; 

5 (4) identify opportunities to promote multi-dis6 ciplinary programs of study that integrate basic or 

7 advanced AI training with other fields of study, in8 cluding those that address the social, economic, 

9 legal, and ethical implications of human interaction 

10 with AI systems; and 

11 (5) support capacity-building education re12 search programs that will enable postsecondary edu13 cational institutions to expand their ability to train 

14 the next-generation AI workforce, including AI re15 searchers and practitioners. 

16 (e) SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNTS.—Each scholarship 

17 under subsection (d) shall be in an amount that covers 

18 the student’s tuition and fees at the institution for not 

19 more than 3 years and provides the student with an addi20 tional stipend. 

21 (f) POST-AWARD EMPLOYMENT OBLIGATIONS.— 

22 Each scholarship recipient, as a condition of receiving a 

23 scholarship under the program, shall enter into an agree24 ment under which the recipient agrees to work for a period 


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1 equal to the length of the scholarship, following receipt 

2 of the student’s degree, in the AI mission of— 

3 (1) an executive agency; 

4 (2) Congress, including any agency, entity, of5 fice, or commission established in the legislative 

6 branch; 

7 (3) an interstate agency; 

8 (4) a State, local, or Tribal government, which 

9 may include instruction in AI-related skill sets in a 

10 public school system; or 

11 (5) a State, local, or Tribal government-affili12 ated nonprofit that is considered to be critical infra13 structure (as defined in section 1016(e) of the USA 

14 Patriot Act (42 U.S.C. 5195c(e))). 

15 (g) HIRING AUTHORITY.— 

16 (1) APPOINTMENT IN EXCEPTED SERVICE.— 

17 Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 33 of title 

18 5 governing appointments in the competitive service, 

19 an executive agency shall appoint in the excepted 

20 service an individual who has completed the eligible 

21 degree program for which a scholarship was award22 ed. 

23 (2) NONCOMPETITIVE CONVERSION.—Except as 

24 provided in paragraph (4), upon fulfillment of the 

25 service term, an employee appointed under paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:49 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3901.IS S3901

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1 graph (1) may be converted noncompetitively to 

2 term, career-conditional or career appointment. 

3 (3) TIMING OF CONVERSION.—An executive 

4 agency may noncompetitively convert a term em5 ployee appointed under paragraph (2) to a career6 conditional or career appointment before the term 

7 appointment expires. 

8 (4) AUTHORITY TO DECLINE CONVERSION.—An 

9 executive agency may decline to make the non10 competitive conversion or appointment under para11 graph (2) for cause. 

12 (h) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a scholar13 ship under this section, an individual shall— 

14 (1) be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of 

15 the United States; 

16 (2) demonstrate a commitment to a career in 

17 advancing the field of AI; 

18 (3) be— 

19 (A) a full-time student in an eligible degree 

20 program at a qualified institution of higher 

21 education, as determined by the Director of the 

22 National Science Foundation; 

23 (B) a student pursuing a degree on a less 

24 than full-time basis, but not less than half-time 

25 basis; or 


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1 (C) an AI faculty member on sabbatical to 

2 advance knowledge in the field; and 

3 (4) accept the terms of a scholarship under this 

4 section. 

5 (i) CONDITIONS OF SUPPORT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of receiving a 

7 scholarship under this section, a recipient shall agree 

8 to provide the qualified institution of higher edu9 cation with annual verifiable documentation of post10 award employment and up-to-date contact informa11 tion. 

12 (2) TERMS.—A scholarship recipient under this 

13 section shall be liable to the United States as pro14 vided in subsection (k) if the individual— 

15 (A) fails to maintain an acceptable level of 

16 academic standing at the applicable institution 

17 of higher education, as determined by the Di18 rector of the National Science Foundation; 

19 (B) is dismissed from the applicable insti20 tution of higher education for disciplinary rea21 sons; 

22 (C) withdraws from the eligible degree pro23 gram before completing the program; 


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1 (D) declares that the individual does not 

2 intend to fulfill the post-award employment ob3 ligation under this section; or 

4 (E) fails to fulfill the post-award employ5 ment obligation of the individual under this sec6 tion. 

7 (j) MONITORING COMPLIANCE.—As a condition of 

8 participating in the program, a qualified institution of 

9 higher education shall— 

10 (1) enter into an agreement with the Director 

11 of the National Science Foundation, to monitor the 

12 compliance of scholarship recipients with respect to 

13 their post-award employment obligations; and 

14 (2) provide to the Director of the National 

15 Science Foundation, on an annual basis, the post16 award employment documentation required under 

17 subsection (i)(1) for scholarship recipients through 

18 the completion of their post-award employment obli19 gations. 

20 (k) AMOUNT OF REPAYMENT.— 

21 (1) LESS THAN 1 YEAR OF SERVICE.—If a cir22 cumstance described in subsection (i)(2) occurs be23 fore the completion of 1 year of a post-award em24 ployment obligation under this section, the total 


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1 amount of scholarship awards received by the indi2 vidual under this section shall— 

3 (A) be repaid; or 

4 (B) be treated as a loan to be repaid in ac5 cordance with subsection (l). 

6 (2) 1 OR MORE YEARS OF SERVICE.—If a cir7 cumstance described in subparagraph (D) or (E) of 

8 subsection (i)(2) occurs after the completion of 1 or 

9 more years of a post-award employment obligation 

10 under this section, the total amount of scholarship 

11 awards received by the individual under this section, 

12 reduced by the ratio of the number of years of serv13 ice completed divided by the number of years of 

14 service required, shall— 

15 (A) be repaid; or 

16 (B) be treated as a loan to be repaid in ac17 cordance with subsection (l). 

18 (l) REPAYMENTS.—A loan described in subsection (k) 

19 shall— 

20 (1) be treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

21 Stafford Loan under part D of title IV of the High22 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.); 

23 and 

24 (2) be subject to repayment, together with in25 terest thereon accruing from the date of the scholarVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:49 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3901.IS S3901

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1 ship award, in accordance with terms and conditions 

2 specified by the Director of the National Science 

3 Foundation (in consultation with the Secretary of 

4 Education) in regulations promulgated to carry out 

5 this subsection. 

6 (m) COLLECTION OF REPAYMENT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the event that a scholar8 ship recipient is required to repay the scholarship 

9 award under this section, the qualified institution of 

10 higher education providing the scholarship shall— 

11 (A) determine the repayment amounts and 

12 notify the recipient and the Director of the Na13 tional Science Foundation of the amounts owed; 

14 and 

15 (B) collect the repayment amounts within 

16 a period of time as determined by the Director 

17 of the National Science Foundation, or the re18 payment amounts shall be treated as a loan in 

19 accordance with subsection (l). 

20 (2) RETURNED TO TREASURY.—Except as pro21 vided in paragraph (3), any repayment under this 

22 subsection shall be returned to the Treasury of the 

23 United States. 

24 (3) RETAIN PERCENTAGE.—A qualified institu25 tion of higher education may retain a percentage of 


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1 any repayment the institution collects under this 

2 subsection to defray administrative costs associated 

3 with the collection. The Director of the National 

4 Science Foundation shall establish a single, fixed 

5 percentage that will apply to all eligible entities. 

6 (n) EXCEPTIONS.—The Director of the National 

7 Science Foundation may provide for the partial or total 

8 waiver or suspension of any service or payment obligation 

9 by an individual under this section whenever compliance 

10 by the individual with the obligation is impossible or would 

11 involve extreme hardship to the individual, or if enforce12 ment of such obligation with respect to the individual 

13 would be unconscionable. 

14 (o) PUBLIC INFORMATION.— 

15 (1) EVALUATION.—The Director of the Na16 tional Science Foundation, in coordination with the 

17 Director of the Office of Personnel Management, 

18 shall annually evaluate and make public, in a man19 ner that protects the personally identifiable informa20 tion of scholarship recipients, information on the 

21 success of recruiting individuals for scholarships 

22 under this section and on hiring and retaining those 

23 individuals in the public sector AI workforce, includ24 ing information on— 

25 (A) placement rates; 


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1 (B) where students are placed, including 

2 job titles and descriptions; 

3 (C) salary ranges for students not released 

4 from obligations under this section; 

5 (D) how long after graduation students are 

6 placed; 

7 (E) how long students stay in the positions 

8 they enter upon graduation; 

9 (F) how many students are released from 

10 obligations; and 

11 (G) what, if any, remedial training is re12 quired. 

13 (2) REPORTS.—The Director of the National 

14 Science Foundation, in coordination with the Office 

15 of Personnel Management, shall submit, not less fre16 quently than once every 3 years, to the Homeland 

17 Security and Governmental Affairs Committee of the 

18 Senate, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

19 Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on 

20 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 

21 Representatives, and the Committee on Oversight 

22 and Reform of the House of Representatives a re23 port, including the results of the evaluation under 

24 paragraph (1) and any recent statistics regarding 


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1 the size, composition, and educational requirements 

2 of the Federal AI workforce. 

3 (3) RESOURCES.—The Director of the National 

4 Science Foundation, in coordination with the Direc5 tor of the Office of Personnel Management, shall 

6 provide consolidated and user-friendly online re7 sources for prospective scholarship recipients, includ8 ing, to the extent practicable— 

9 (A) searchable, up-to-date, and accurate 

10 information about participating institutions of 

11 higher education and job opportunities related 

12 to the AI field; and 

13 (B) a modernized description of AI ca14 reers. 

15 (p) REFRESH.—Not less than once every 2 years, the 

16 Director of the National Science Foundation, in coordina17 tion with the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage18 ment, shall review and update the Federal AI Scholarship19 for-Service Program to reflect advances in technology. 

20 (q) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 such sums as may be necessary. 

Æ 


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