II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5331 

To create a National Science Foundation scholarship-for-service Humanitarian 

Tech Corps, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 14, 2024 

Mr. WELCH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To create a National Science Foundation scholarship-forservice Humanitarian Tech Corps, 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 ‘‘Humanitarian Tech 

5 Corps Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that the Federal Govern8 ment must broadly invest in the technological innovation 

9 and talent pipeline of the United States, in a manner that 

10 is beyond traditional focus areas, in order to— 


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1 (1) develop public interest technology expertise; 

2 and 

3 (2) ensure Federal agencies, especially agencies 

4 tasked with critical humanitarian missions, have the 

5 capacity to uniquely and meaningfully leverage lead6 ing-edge technology to improve their operations. 

7 SEC. 3. FEDERAL HUMANITARIAN TECHNOLOGY SCHOLAR8 SHIP-FOR-SERVICE PROGRAM. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis11 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

12 States Agency for International Development. 

13 (2) COVERED DEGREE.—The term ‘‘covered de14 gree’’ means a baccalaureate or postgraduate degree 

15 that is in— 

16 (A) computer science; 

17 (B) data science or data analytics; or 

18 (C) any other science, technology, engi19 neering, or mathematics field that, as deter20 mined by the Administrator under subsection 

21 (j)(1)(A) and shared with the Director for pro22 gram facilitation, enables humanitarian oper23 ations and technology-related modernization ef24 forts. 


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1 (3) COVERED POSITION.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 position’’, when used with respect to a scholarship 

3 recipient, means a position of employment (including 

4 a civil service or foreign service position with a 

5 qualifying agency)— 

6 (A) for which the scholarship recipient is 

7 qualified; 

8 (B) that— 

9 (i) requires a covered degree; or 

10 (ii) does not explicitly require a cov11 ered degree but, as determined by the Ad12 ministrator under subsection (j)(1)(A)(ii) 

13 and shared with the Director for program 

14 facilitation, directly supports strictly hu15 manitarian operations, such as an analysis, 

16 management, or executive position or an17 other operational position that provides 

18 such direct support; and 

19 (C) that is with a qualifying agency or a 

20 qualifying organization or nongovernmental 

21 agency. 

22 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

23 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

24 (5) ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

25 student’’ means an individual who— 


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1 (A) is a citizen of the United States; and 

2 (B) is a full-time student enrolled in a pro3 gram of study leading to a covered degree at a 

4 qualifying institution. 

5 (6) HUMANITARIAN TECH CORPS SCHOLAR6 SHIP.—The term ‘‘Humanitarian Tech Corps schol7 arship’’ means a scholarship described in subsection 

8 (c )(1). 

9 (7) QUALIFYING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘quali10 fying agency’’ means— 

11 (A) the United States Agency for Inter12 national Development; or 

13 (B) another agency, as determined by the 

14 Administrator under subsection (j)(1)(B) and 

15 shared with the Director for program facilita16 tion. 

17 (8) QUALIFYING INSTITUTION.—The term 

18 ‘‘qualifying institution’’ means an institution of 

19 higher education, as defined in section 101(a) of the 

20 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

21 (9) QUALIFYING ORGANIZATION OR NON22 GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘qualifying or23 ganization or nongovernmental agency’’ means an 

24 organization or nongovernmental agency identified 


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1 by the Administrator under subsection (j)(1)(C) and 

2 shared with the Director for program facilitation. 

3 (10) SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT.—The term 

4 ‘‘scholarship recipient’’ means an eligible student 

5 who receives a Humanitarian Tech Corps scholar6 ship and enters into an agreement under subsection 

7 (e). 

8 (b) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—The Director, in co9 ordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel 

10 Management and the Administrator, shall establish a Fed11 eral humanitarian technology scholarship-for-service pro12 gram (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Humanitarian 

13 Tech Corps Program’’) to recruit and train the next gen14 eration of professionals needed to meet the humanitarian 

15 technology needs of the Federal Government. 

16 (c) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND COMPONENTS.— 

17 The Humanitarian Tech Corps Program shall— 

18 (1) award grants, contracts, or cooperative 

19 agreements to qualifying institutions of higher edu20 cation to enable the qualifying institutions to provide 

21 Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarships to eligible 

22 students; 

23 (2) in consultation with the United States 

24 Agency for International Development, provide the 

25 scholarship recipients with summer internship opporVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:02 Nov 15, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5331.IS S5331

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1 tunities or other meaningful temporary appoint2 ments serving humanitarian purposes in qualifying 

3 agencies or qualifying organizations or nongovern4 mental agencies; and 

5 (3) prioritize the placement of scholarship re6 cipients fulfilling the post-award employment obliga7 tion under this section in covered positions in a 

8 manner that ensures— 

9 (A) for not less than the first year of such 

10 post-award employment obligation required 

11 under subsection (e)(1)(A), all scholarship re12 cipients are placed in a covered position with a 

13 qualifying agency; and 

14 (B) that after the completion of the first 

15 year of such employment obligation, scholarship 

16 recipients may obtain employment in covered 

17 positions at a qualifying organization or non18 governmental agency. 

19 (d) SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNTS; SCHOLARSHIP RECIPI20 ENT SELECTION.— 

21 (1) SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNTS.—Each Humani22 tarian Tech Corps scholarship shall be in an amount 

23 that covers the scholarship recipient’s tuition and 

24 fees at the qualifying institution under subsection 

25 (c)(1) for not more than 4 years and provides the 


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1 scholarship recipient with an additional living sti2 pend. 

3 (2) SELECTION.—In selecting eligible students 

4 to receive Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarships, a 

5 qualifying institution participating in the Humani6 tarian Tech Corps program shall not exclusively con7 sider the technical background or prior education of 

8 the eligible students, but shall also take into consid9 eration other experiences of the eligible students 

10 that may transfer well to humanitarian work. 

11 (e) AGREEMENT.— 

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

13 Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship, an eligible 

14 student shall enter into an agreement with the quali15 fying institution providing the scholarship under 

16 which the eligible student receiving the scholarship— 

17 (A) agrees to work for a period equal to 

18 the duration of the scholarship, following re19 ceipt of the student’s degree, in a covered posi20 tion; 

21 (B) accepts and acknowledges the condi22 tions of support under paragraph (2); and 

23 (C) accepts the repayment requirements 

24 under subsection (f) and all other terms and 


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1 conditions of the Humanitarian Tech Corps 

2 scholarship. 

3 (2) CONDITIONS OF SUPPORT.— 

4 (A) PROVISION OF DOCUMENTATION AND

5 CONTACT INFORMATION.—As a condition of re6 ceiving a Humanitarian Tech Corps scholar7 ship, an eligible student shall agree to provide 

8 the Office of Personnel Management (in coordi9 nation with the National Science Foundation) 

10 and the qualifying institution with annual 

11 verifiable documentation of post-award employ12 ment and up-to-date contact information. 

13 (B) OTHER CONDITIONS.—A scholarship 

14 recipient shall be liable to the United States as 

15 provided under subsection (f) if the individual— 

16 (i) fails to maintain an acceptable 

17 level of academic standing, as determined 

18 by the Director, at the applicable quali19 fying institution; 

20 (ii) is dismissed from such qualifying 

21 institution for disciplinary reasons; 

22 (iii) withdraws from the covered de23 gree program before completing the pro24 gram; 


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1 (iv) declares that the individual does 

2 not intend to fulfill the post-award employ3 ment obligation under this section; 

4 (v) fails to maintain or fulfill any of 

5 the post-graduation or post-award obliga6 tions or requirements of the individual; or 

7 (vi) fails to fulfill the requirements of 

8 subparagraph (A). 

9 (f) REPAYMENT.— 

10 (1) AMOUNT OF REPAYMENT.— 

11 (A) LESS THAN 1 YEAR OF SERVICE.—If a 

12 circumstance described in subsection (e)(2)(B) 

13 occurs before the completion of 1 year of a 

14 post-award employment obligation under this 

15 section, the total amount of scholarship awards 

16 received by the individual under this section 

17 shall— 

18 (i) be repaid; or 

19 (ii) be treated as a loan to be repaid 

20 in accordance with paragraph (3). 

21 (B) 1 OR MORE YEARS OF SERVICE.—If a 

22 circumstance described in clause (iv) or (v) of 

23 subsection (e)(2)(B) occurs after the completion 

24 of 1 or more years of a post-award employment 

25 obligation under this section, the total amount 


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1 of scholarship awards received by the individual 

2 under this section, reduced by the ratio of the 

3 number of years of service completed divided by 

4 the number of years of service required, shall— 

5 (i) be repaid; or 

6 (ii) be treated as a loan to be repaid 

7 in accordance with paragraph (3). 

8 (2) COLLECTION OF REPAYMENT.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the event that a 

10 scholarship recipient is required to repay a Hu11 manitarian Tech Corps scholarship award, the 

12 qualifying institution providing the scholarship 

13 shall— 

14 (i) determine the repayment amount 

15 and notify the recipient, the Director, and 

16 the Director of the Office of Personnel 

17 Management of the amount owed; and 

18 (ii) collect the repayment amount 

19 within a reasonable period of time, as de20 termined by the Director, or treat the re21 payment amount as a loan in accordance 

22 with paragraph (3). 

23 (B) RETURNED TO TREASURY.— 

24 (i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

25 in clause (ii), any repayment collected 


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1 under this paragraph shall be returned to 

2 the Treasury of the United States. 

3 (ii) RETAINED PERCENTAGE.—A 

4 qualifying institution may retain a percent5 age of any repayment the institution col6 lects under this subsection to defray ad7 ministrative costs associated with the col8 lection. The Director shall establish a sin9 gle, fixed percentage that will apply to all 

10 qualifying institutions of higher education 

11 under this section. 

12 (3) LOAN TREATMENT.—A loan described in 

13 subparagraph (A)(ii) or (B)(ii) of paragraph (1) 

14 shall— 

15 (A) be treated as a Federal Direct Unsub16 sidized Stafford Loan under part D of title IV 

17 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

18 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.); and 

19 (B) be subject to repayment, together with 

20 interest thereon accruing from the date of the 

21 scholarship award, in accordance with terms 

22 and conditions specified by the Director (in con23 sultation with the Secretary of Education) in 

24 regulations promulgated to carry out this sub25 section. 


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1 (4) EXCEPTIONS.—The Director may provide 

2 for the partial or total waiver or suspension of any 

3 service or payment obligation by a scholarship recipi4 ent— 

5 (A) whenever compliance by the scholar6 ship recipient with the obligation is impossible 

7 or would involve extreme hardship to the schol8 arship recipient; or 

9 (B) if enforcement of such obligation with 

10 respect to the scholarship recipient would be 

11 unconscionable. 

12 (g) MONITORING COMPLIANCE.—As a condition of 

13 participating in the program, a qualifying institution 

14 shall— 

15 (1) enter into an agreement with the Director 

16 to monitor the compliance of scholarship recipients 

17 with respect to their post-award employment obliga18 tions; and 

19 (2) provide to the Director and the Director of 

20 the Office of Personnel Management, on an annual 

21 basis, the post-award employment documentation re22 quired under subsection (e)(2)(A) for scholarship re23 cipients supported by the qualifying institution, dur24 ing the period beginning upon the receipt of the Hu25 manitarian Tech Corps scholarship and ending upon 


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1 the completion of the scholarship recipient’s post2 award employment obligations. 

3 (h) HIRING AUTHORITY.— 

4 (1) APPOINTMENT IN EXCEPTED SERVICE.— 

5 Notwithstanding any provision of chapter 33 of title 

6 5, United States Code, governing appointments in 

7 the competitive service, a qualifying agency shall ap8 point in the excepted service an individual who has 

9 completed the eligible degree program for which a 

10 scholarship was awarded. 

11 (2) NONCOMPETITIVE CONVERSION.—Except as 

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

13 service term, an employee appointed under para14 graph (1) may be converted noncompetitively to 

15 term, career-conditional, or career appointment. 

16 (3) TIMING OF CONVERSION.—A qualifying 

17 agency may noncompetitively convert a term em18 ployee appointed under paragraph (2) to a career19 conditional or career appointment before the term 

20 appointment expires. 

21 (4) AUTHORITY TO DECLINE CONVERSION.—A 

22 qualifying agency may decline to make the non23 competitive conversion or appointment under para24 graph (2) for cause. 

25 (i) PUBLIC INFORMATION.— 


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1 (1) EVALUATION.—The Director, in coordina2 tion with the Director of the Office of Personnel 

3 Management, shall periodically evaluate and make 

4 public, in a manner that protects the personally 

5 identifiable information of scholarship recipients, in6 formation on the success of recruiting individuals for 

7 scholarships under this section and on hiring and re8 taining those individuals in the humanitarian tech9 nology workforce, including information on— 

10 (A) placement rates; 

11 (B) where students are placed, including 

12 job titles and descriptions; 

13 (C) salary ranges for students not released 

14 from obligations under this section; 

15 (D) how long after graduation students are 

16 placed; 

17 (E) how long students stay in the positions 

18 they enter upon graduation; 

19 (F) how many students are released from 

20 obligations; and 

21 (G) what, if any, remedial training is re22 quired. 

23 (2) REPORTS.—The Director, in coordination 

24 with the Office of Personnel Management, shall sub25 mit, not less frequently than once every 2 years, to 


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1 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans2 portation and the Committee on Homeland Security 

3 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the 

4 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and 

5 the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of 

6 the House of Representatives, a report that in7 cludes— 

8 (A) the results of the evaluation under 

9 paragraph (1); 

10 (B) an explanation of any disparity in re11 porting between scholarship recipients and their 

12 respective qualifying institutions; and 

13 (C) any recent statistics regarding the size, 

14 composition, and educational requirements of 

15 the Federal humanitarian technology workforce. 

16 (3) RESOURCES.—The Director, in coordination 

17 with the Director of the Office of Personnel Manage18 ment, shall provide consolidated and user-friendly 

19 online resources for prospective scholarship recipi20 ents, including, to the extent practicable— 

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

22 information about participating qualifying insti23 tutions and job opportunities related to Hu24 manitarian Tech Corps scholarships; and 


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1 (B) a description of humanitarian careers 

2 for science, technology, mathematics, or engi3 neering students. 

4 (j) ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

5 (1) USAID ADMINISTRATOR DUTIES.— 

6 (A) DECISIONS REGARDING HUMANI7 TARIAN OPERATIONS.—By not later than 180 

8 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

9 the Administrator, after consultation with the 

10 Director, shall— 

11 (i) define the concepts of ‘‘humani12 tarian operations’’ and ‘‘technological mod13 ernization efforts’’ for purposes of sub14 section (a)(2)(C); 

15 (ii) determine which positions directly 

16 support humanitarian operations for pur17 poses of subsection (a)(3)(B)(ii); and 

18 (iii) identify the covered degrees that 

19 the Administrator determines meet the re20 quirements of subsection (a)(2)(C). 

21 (B) IDENTIFICATION OF QUALIFYING

22 AGENCIES.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—By not later than 

24 180 days after the date of enactment of 

25 this Act, the Administrator, after consultaVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:02 Nov 15, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5331.IS S5331

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1 tion with the Director, shall identify any 

2 other agency, entity, office, or commission 

3 that the Administrator determines is a 

4 qualifying agency for purposes of sub5 section (a)(7)(B). 

6 (ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The Adminis7 trator shall identify an agency, entity, of8 fice, or commission as a qualifying agency 

9 if— 

10 (I) the agency, entity, office or 

11 commission is— 

12 (aa) an Executive agency, as 

13 defined in section 101 of title 5, 

14 United States Code, with human15 itarian initiatives; or 

16 (bb) an agency, entity, of17 fice, or commission with humani18 tarian initiatives that is estab19 lished in the legislative or judicial 

20 branch of the Federal Govern21 ment; and 

22 (II) the Administrator deter23 mines such identification is appro24 priate to meet the humanitarian operVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:02 Nov 15, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5331.IS S5331

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1 ations needs of the Federal Govern2 ment. 

3 (iii) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—In 

4 making the determination under clause 

5 (ii)(II) with respect to an agency, entity, 

6 office, or commission, the Administrator 

7 shall give special consideration to the do8 mestic relief work carried out by the agen9 cy, entity, office, or commission. 

10 (C) IDENTIFICATION OF QUALIFYING OR11 GANIZATIONS OR NONGOVERNMENTAL AGEN12 CIES.— 

13 (i) IN GENERAL.—By not later than 

14 180 days after the date of enactment of 

15 this Act, the Administrator, after consulta16 tion with the Director, shall identify orga17 nizations and nonprofit agencies that qual18 ify to participate in the Humanitarian 

19 Tech Corps program, in accordance with 

20 subsection (a)(9) and based on the criteria 

21 described in clause (ii). 

22 (ii) REQUIREMENTS.—In order to be 

23 qualified for purposes of clause (i), an or24 ganization or nonprofit agency shall— 


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1 (I) be a partner of the United 

2 States Agency for International Devel3 opment; 

4 (II) serve humanitarian objec5 tives; and 

6 (III) meet any other require7 ments determined necessary by the 

8 Administrator to achieve the purposes 

9 of this section. 

10 (D) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE TO THE

11 DIRECTOR.—By not later than 180 days after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis13 trator shall provide the Director with— 

14 (i) the definitions described in sub15 paragraph (A)(i); 

16 (ii) a list of the covered degrees in ac17 cordance with subparagraph (A)(iii); 

18 (iii) a list of the qualifying agencies 

19 identified under subparagraph (B); and 

20 (iv) a list of the organizations and 

21 nonprofit agencies identified as qualifying 

22 organizations or nongovernmental agencies 

23 under subparagraph (C). 

24 (E) UPDATES.—On not less than an an25 nual basis, the Administrator shall— 


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1 (i) review the determinations made 

2 under subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C); 

3 (ii) update any such determinations as 

4 needed; and 

5 (iii) provide any such updated deter6 minations, or updated definitions or lists 

7 described in subparagraph (D), to the Di8 rector. 

9 (F) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE.—In addi10 tion to the assistance provided under subpara11 graphs (A) through (E), the Administrator 

12 shall, upon request by the Director, assist the 

13 Director with respect to any other aspects of 

14 the Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship pro15 gram that relate to humanitarian operations, in 

16 order to enable the Director to be able to focus 

17 on technology talent pipeline development 

18 through the program. 

19 (2) DIRECTOR DUTIES.—The Director shall an20 nually consult with the Administrator— 

21 (A) regarding the implementation of the 

22 Humanitarian Tech Corps scholarship program; 

23 and 

24 (B) to review— 


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1 (i) the scholarship recipient selection 

2 process for the preceding year; and 

3 (ii) the ability of the United States 

4 Agency for International Development to 

5 provide recommendations regarding the 

6 Humanitarian Tech Corps program to the 

7 National Science Foundation for future se8 lection cycles. 

Æ 


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