117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 210 

AN ACT 

To coordinate Federal research and development efforts focused on STEM education and workforce development 

in rural areas, including the development and application 

of new technologies to support and improve rural STEM 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural STEM Edu3 cation Research Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The supply of STEM workers is not keeping 

7 pace with the rapidly evolving needs of the public 

8 and private sector, resulting in a deficit often re9 ferred to as a STEM skills shortage. 

10 (2) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis11 tics, the United States will need one million addi12 tional STEM professionals than it is on track to 

13 produce in the coming decade. 

14 (3) Many STEM occupations offer higher 

15 wages, more opportunities for advancement, and a 

16 higher degree of job security than non-STEM jobs. 

17 (4) The 60,000,000 individuals in the United 

18 States who live in rural settings are significantly 

19 under-represented in STEM. 

20 (5) According to the National Center for Edu21 cation Statistics, nine million students in the United 

22 States—nearly 20 percent of the total K–12 popu23 lation—attend rural schools, and for reasons rang24 ing from teacher quality to shortages of resources, 

25 these students often have fewer opportunities for 
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1 high-quality STEM learning than their peers in the 

2 Nation’s urban and suburban schools. 

3 (6) Rural areas represent one of the most 

4 promising, yet underutilized, opportunities for 

5 STEM education to impact workforce development 

6 and regional innovation, including agriculture. 

7 (7) The study of agriculture, food, and natural 

8 resources involves biology, engineering, physics, 

9 chemistry, math, geology, computer science, and 

10 other scientific fields. 

11 (8) Employment in computer and information 

12 technology occupations is projected to grow 11 per13 cent from 2019 to 2029. To help meet this demand, 

14 it is important rural students have the opportunity 

15 to acquire computing skills through exposure to com16 puter science learning in grades Pre-K through 12 

17 and in informal learning settings. 

18 (9) More than 293,000,000 individuals in the 

19 United States use high-speed broadband to work, 

20 learn, access healthcare, and operate their busi21 nesses, while 19,000,000 individuals in the United 

22 States still lack access to high-speed broadband. 

23 Rural areas are hardest hit, with over 26 percent of 

24 individuals in rural areas in the United States lack25 ing access to high-speed broadband compared to 1.7 
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1 percent of individuals in urban areas in the United 

2 States. 

3 SEC. 3. NIST ENGAGEMENT WITH RURAL COMMUNITIES. 

4 (a) MEP OUTREACH.—Section 25 of the National 

5 Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 278k) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (c)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘commu9 nity colleges and area career and technical edu10 cation schools’’ and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘secondary schools (as defined in section 8101 

12 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

13 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)), community col14 leges, and area career and technical education 

15 schools, including those in underserved and 

16 rural communities,’’; and 

17 (B) in paragraph (7)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘and local colleges’’ 

19 and inserting the following: ‘‘local high 

20 schools and local colleges, including those 

21 in underserved and rural communities,’’; 

22 and 

23 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or other applied 

24 learning opportunities’’ after ‘‘apprentice25 ships’’; and 
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1 (2) in subsection (d)(3) by striking ‘‘, commu2 nity colleges, and area career and technical edu3 cation schools,’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘and 

4 local high schools, community colleges, and area ca5 reer and technical education schools, including those 

6 in underserved and rural communities,’’. 

7 (b) RURAL CONNECTIVITY PRIZE COMPETITION.— 

8 (1) PRIZE COMPETITION.—Pursuant to section 

9 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation 

10 Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719), the Secretary of 

11 Commerce, acting through the Under Secretary of 

12 Commerce for Standards and Technology (referred 

13 to in this subsection as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall, sub14 ject to appropriations, carry out a program to award 

15 prizes competitively to stimulate research and devel16 opment of creative technologies in order to deploy 

17 affordable and reliable broadband connectivity to un18 derserved rural communities. 

19 (2) PLAN FOR DEPLOYMENT IN RURAL COMMU20 NITIES.—Each proposal submitted pursuant to para21 graph (1) shall include a plan for deployment of the 

22 technology that is the subject of such proposal in an 

23 underserved rural community. 

24 (3) PRIZE AMOUNT.—In carrying out the pro25 gram under paragraph (1), the Secretary may award 
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1 not more than a total of $5,000,000 to one or more 

2 winners of the prize competition. 

3 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the 

4 date on which a prize is awarded under the prize 

5 competition, the Secretary shall submit to the rel6 evant committees of Congress a report that describes 

7 the winning proposal of the prize competition. 

8 (5) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the pro9 gram under subsection (a), the Secretary may con10 sult with the heads of relevant departments and 

11 agencies of the Federal Government. 

12 SEC. 4. NITR-D BROADBAND WORKING GROUP. 

13 Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of 

14 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

15 the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 103. BROADBAND RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

17 WORKING GROUP. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish a 

19 broadband research and development working group to ad20 dress national research challenges and opportunities for 

21 improving broadband access and adoption across the 

22 United States. 

23 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—The working group shall identify 

24 and coordinate key research priorities for addressing 

25 broadband access and adoption, including— 
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1 ‘‘(1) promising research areas; 

2 ‘‘(2) requirements for data collection and shar3 ing; 

4 ‘‘(3) opportunities for better alignment and co5 ordination across Federal agencies and external 

6 stakeholders; and 

7 ‘‘(4) input on the development of new Federal 

8 policies and programs to enhance data collection and 

9 research. 

10 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—The working group shall co11 ordinate, as appropriate, with the Rural Broadband Inte12 gration Working Group established under section 6214 of 

13 the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 

14 115–334) and the National Institute of Food and Agri15 culture of the Department of Agriculture. 

16 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—The working group shall report to 

17 Congress on their activities as part of the annual report 

18 submitted under section 101(a)(2)(D). 

19 ‘‘(e) SUNSET.—The authority to carry out this sec20 tion shall terminate on the date that is 5 years after the 

21 date of enactment of the Rural STEM Education Act.’’. 

22 SEC. 5. NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES EVALUATION. 

23 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 12 months after the date 

24 of enactment of this Act, the Director shall enter into an 

25 agreement with the National Academy of Sciences under 
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1 which the National Academy agrees to conduct an evalua2 tion and assessment that— 

3 (1) evaluates the quality and quantity of cur4 rent Federal programming and research directed at 

5 examining STEM education for students in grades 

6 Pre-K through 12 and workforce development in 

7 rural areas; 

8 (2) assesses the impact of the scarcity of 

9 broadband connectivity in rural communities has on 

10 STEM and technical literacy for students in grades 

11 Pre-K through 12 in rural areas; 

12 (3) assesses the core research and data needed 

13 to understand the challenges rural areas are facing 

14 in providing quality STEM education and workforce 

15 development; and 

16 (4) makes recommendations for action at the 

17 Federal, State, and local levels for improving STEM 

18 education for students in grades Pre-K through 12 

19 and workforce development in rural areas. 

20 (b) REPORT TO DIRECTOR.—The agreement entered 

21 into under subsection (a) shall require the National Acad22 emy of Sciences, not later than 24 months after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, to submit to the Director a re24 port on the study conducted under such subsection, includ-
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1 ing the National Academy’s findings and recommenda2 tions. 

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director to carry 

5 out this section $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 

6 SEC. 6. GAO REVIEW. 

7 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

9 shall conduct a study on the engagement of rural popu10 lations in Federal STEM programs and submit to Con11 gress a report that includes— 

12 (1) an assessment of how Federal STEM edu13 cation programs are serving rural populations; 

14 (2) a description of initiatives carried out by 

15 Federal agencies that are targeted at supporting 

16 STEM education in rural areas; 

17 (3) an assessment of what is known about the 

18 impact and effectiveness of Federal investments in 

19 STEM education programs that are targeted to 

20 rural areas; and 

21 (4) an assessment of challenges that state and 

22 Federal STEM education programs face in reaching 

23 rural population centers. 
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1 SEC. 7. CAPACITY BUILDING THROUGH EPSCOR. 

2 Section 517(f)(2) of the America COMPETES Reau3 thorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p–9(f)(2)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

6 the end; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(C) to increase the capacity of rural com9 munities to provide quality STEM education 

10 and STEM workforce development program11 ming to students, and teachers; and’’. 

12 SEC. 8. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RURAL STEM RE13 SEARCH ACTIVITIES. 

14 (a) PREPARING RURAL STEM EDUCATORS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 

16 grants on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to in17 stitutions of higher education or nonprofit organiza18 tions (or a consortium thereof) for research and de19 velopment to advance innovative approaches to sup20 port and sustain high-quality STEM teaching in 

21 rural schools. 

22 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under 

24 this section shall be used for the research and 

25 development activities referred to in paragraph 

26 (1), which may include— 
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1 (i) engaging rural educators of stu2 dents in grades Pre-K through 12 in pro3 fessional learning opportunities to enhance 

4 STEM knowledge, including computer 

5 science, and develop best practices; 

6 (ii) supporting research on effective 

7 STEM teaching practices in rural settings, 

8 including the use of rubrics and mastery9 based grading practices to assess student 

10 performance when employing the transdis11 ciplinary teaching approach for STEM dis12 ciplines; 

13 (iii) designing and developing pre14 service and in-service training resources to 

15 assist such rural educators in adopting 

16 transdisciplinary teaching practices across 

17 STEM courses; 

18 (iv) coordinating with local partners 

19 to adapt STEM teaching practices to lever20 age local natural and community assets in 

21 order to support in-place learning in rural 

22 areas; 

23 (v) providing hands-on training and 

24 research opportunities for rural educators 

25 described in clause (i) at Federal Labora-
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1 tories, institutions of higher education, or 

2 in industry; 

3 (vi) developing training and best prac4 tices for educators who teach multiple 

5 grade levels within a STEM discipline; 

6 (vii) designing and implementing pro7 fessional development courses and experi8 ences, including mentoring, for rural edu9 cators described in clause (i) that combine 

10 face-to-face and online experiences; and 

11 (viii) any other activity the Director 

12 determines will accomplish the goals of this 

13 subsection. 

14 (B) RURAL STEM COLLABORATIVE.—The 

15 Director may establish a pilot program of re16 gional cohorts in rural areas that will provide 

17 peer support, mentoring, and hands-on research 

18 experiences for rural STEM educators of stu19 dents in grades Pre-K through 12, in order to 

20 build an ecosystem of cooperation among edu21 cators, researchers, academia, and local indus22 try. 

23 (b) BROADENING PARTICIPATION OF RURAL STU24 DENTS IN STEM.— 
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide 

2 grants on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to in3 stitutions of higher education or nonprofit organiza4 tions (or a consortium thereof) for— 

5 (A) research and development of program6 ming to identify the barriers rural students face 

7 in accessing high-quality STEM education; and 

8 (B) development of innovative solutions to 

9 improve the participation and advancement of 

10 rural students in grades Pre-K through 12 in 

11 STEM studies. 

12 (2) USE OF FUNDS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under 

14 this section shall be used for the research and 

15 development activities referred to in paragraph 

16 (1), which may include— 

17 (i) developing partnerships with com18 munity colleges to offer advanced STEM 

19 course work, including computer science, to 

20 rural high school students; 

21 (ii) supporting research on effective 

22 STEM practices in rural settings; 

23 (iii) implementing a school-wide 

24 STEM approach; 
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1 (iv) improving the National Science 

2 Foundation’s Advanced Technology Edu3 cation program’s coordination and engage4 ment with rural communities; 

5 (v) collaborating with existing commu6 nity partners and networks, such as the co7 operative research and extension services 

8 of the Department of Agriculture and 

9 youth serving organizations like 4–H, after 

10 school STEM programs, and summer 

11 STEM programs, to leverage community 

12 resources and develop place-based pro13 gramming; 

14 (vi) connecting rural school districts 

15 and institutions of higher education, to im16 prove precollegiate STEM education and 

17 engagement; 

18 (vii) supporting partnerships that 

19 offer hands-on inquiry-based science activi20 ties, including coding, and access to lab re21 sources for students studying STEM in 

22 grades Pre-K through 12 in a rural area; 

23 (viii) evaluating the role of broadband 

24 connectivity and its associated impact on 
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1 the STEM and technology literacy of rural 

2 students; 

3 (ix) building capacity to support ex4 tracurricular STEM programs in rural 

5 schools, including mentor-led engagement 

6 programs, STEM programs held during 

7 nonschool hours, STEM networks, maker8 spaces, coding activities, and competitions; 

9 and 

10 (x) any other activity the Director de11 termines will accomplish the goals of this 

12 subsection. 

13 (c) APPLICATION.—An applicant seeking a grant 

14 under subsection (a) or (b) shall submit an application at 

15 such time, in such manner, and containing such informa16 tion as the Director may require. The application may in17 clude the following: 

18 (1) A description of the target population to be 

19 served by the research activity or activities for which 

20 such grant is sought. 

21 (2) A description of the process for recruitment 

22 and selection of students, educators, or schools from 

23 rural areas to participate in such activity or activi24 ties. 
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1 (3) A description of how such activity or activi2 ties may inform efforts to promote the engagement 

3 and achievement of rural students in grades Pre-K 

4 through 12 in STEM studies. 

5 (4) In the case of a proposal consisting of a 

6 partnership or partnerships with one or more rural 

7 schools and one or more researchers, a plan for es8 tablishing a sustained partnership that is jointly de9 veloped and managed, draws from the capacities of 

10 each partner, and is mutually beneficial. 

11 (d) PARTNERSHIPS.—In awarding grants under sub12 section (a) or (b), the Director shall— 

13 (1) encourage applicants which, for the purpose 

14 of the activity or activities funded through the grant, 

15 include or partner with a nonprofit organization or 

16 an institution of higher education (or a consortium 

17 thereof) that has extensive experience and expertise 

18 in increasing the participation of rural students in 

19 grades Pre-K through 12 in STEM; 

20 (2) encourage applicants which, for the purpose 

21 of the activity or activities funded through the grant, 

22 include or partner with a consortium of rural schools 

23 or rural school districts; and 

24 (3) encourage applications which, for the pur25 pose of the activity or activities funded through the 
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1 grant, include commitments from school principals 

2 and administrators to making reforms and activities 

3 proposed by the applicant a priority. 

4 (e) EVALUATIONS.—All proposals for grants under 

5 subsections (a) and (b) shall include an evaluation plan 

6 that includes the use of outcome oriented measures to as7 sess the impact and efficacy of the grant. Each recipient 

8 of a grant under this section shall include results from 

9 these evaluative activities in annual and final projects. 

10 (f) ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISSEMINATION.— 

11 (1) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Director 

12 shall evaluate the portfolio of grants awarded under 

13 subsections (a) and (b). Such evaluation shall— 

14 (A) use a common set of benchmarks and 

15 tools to assess the results of research conducted 

16 under such grants and identify best practices; 

17 and 

18 (B) to the extent practicable, integrate the 

19 findings of research resulting from the activity 

20 or activities funded through such grants with 

21 the findings of other research on rural student’s 

22 pursuit of degrees or careers in STEM. 

23 (2) REPORT ON EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 

24 180 days after the completion of the evaluation 

25 under paragraph (1), the Director shall submit to 
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1 Congress and make widely available to the public a 

2 report that includes— 

3 (A) the results of the evaluation; and 

4 (B) any recommendations for administra5 tive and legislative action that could optimize 

6 the effectiveness of the grants awarded under 

7 this section. 

8 (g) REPORT BY COMMITTEE ON EQUAL OPPORTUNI9 TIES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the first report 

11 required by section 36(e) of the Science and Engi12 neering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 1885c(e)) transmitted to Congress after the date of 

14 enactment of this Act, the Committee on Equal Op15 portunities in Science and Engineering shall in16 clude— 

17 (A) a description of past and present poli18 cies and activities of the Foundation to encour19 age full participation of students in rural com20 munities in science, mathematics, engineering, 

21 and computer science fields; and 

22 (B) an assessment of trends in participa23 tion of rural students in grades Pre-K through 

24 12 in Foundation activities, and an assessment 

25 of the policies and activities of the Foundation, 
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1 along with proposals for new strategies or the 

2 broadening of existing successful strategies to3 wards facilitating the goals of this Act. 

4 (2) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 313 of the 

6 American Innovation and Competitiveness Act 

7 (Public Law 114–329) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘Section 204(e) of the National Science Foun9 dation Authorization Act of 1988’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘Section 36(e) of the Science and Engineer11 ing Equal Opportunities Act’’. 

12 (B) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment 

13 made by paragraph (1) shall take effect as if 

14 included in the enactment of section 313 of the 

15 American Innovation and Competitiveness Act 

16 (Public Law 114–329). 

17 (h) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

18 Director shall, for purposes of enhancing program effec19 tiveness and avoiding duplication of activities, consult, co20 operate, and coordinate with the programs and policies of 

21 other relevant Federal agencies. 

22 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director— 
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1 (1) $8,000,000 to carry out the activities under 

2 subsection (a) for each of fiscal years 2022 through 

3 2026; and 

4 (2) $12,000,000 to carry out the activities 

5 under subsection (b) for each of fiscal years 2022 

6 through 2026. 

7 SEC. 9. RESEARCHING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ONLINE EDU8 CATION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall, subject to ap10 propriations, award competitive grants to institutions of 

11 higher education or nonprofit organizations (or a consor12 tium thereof, which may include a private sector partner) 

13 to conduct research on online STEM education courses for 

14 rural communities. 

15 (b) RESEARCH AREAS.—The research areas eligible 

16 for funding under this subsection shall include— 

17 (1) evaluating the learning and achievement of 

18 rural students in grades Pre-K through 12 in STEM 

19 subjects; 

20 (2) understanding how computer-based and on21 line professional development courses and mentor ex22 periences can be integrated to meet the needs of 

23 educators of rural students in grades Pre-K through 

24 12; 
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1 (3) combining computer-based and online 

2 STEM education and training with apprenticeships, 

3 mentoring, or other applied learning arrangements; 

4 (4) leveraging online programs to supplement 

5 STEM studies for rural students that need physical 

6 and academic accommodation; and 

7 (5) any other activity the Director determines 

8 will accomplish the goals of this subsection. 

9 (c) EVALUATIONS.—All proposals for grants under 

10 this section shall include an evaluation plan that includes 

11 the use of outcome oriented measures to assess the impact 

12 and efficacy of the grant. Each recipient of a grant under 

13 this section shall include results from these evaluative ac14 tivities in annual and final projects. 

15 (d) ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISSEMINATION.— 

16 (1) EVALUATION REQUIRED.—The Director 

17 shall evaluate the portfolio of grants awarded under 

18 this section. Such evaluation shall— 

19 (A) use a common set of benchmarks and 

20 tools to assess the results of research conducted 

21 under such grants and identify best practices; 

22 and 

23 (B) to the extent practicable, integrate 

24 findings from activities carried out pursuant to 

25 research conducted under this section, with re-
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1 spect to the pursuit of careers and degrees in 

2 STEM, with those activities carried our pursu3 ant to other research on serving rural students 

4 and communities. 

5 (2) REPORT ON EVALUATIONS.—Not later than 

6 180 days after the completion of the evaluation 

7 under paragraph (1), the Director shall submit to 

8 Congress and make widely available to the public a 

9 report that includes— 

10 (A) the results of the evaluation; and 

11 (B) any recommendations for administra12 tive and legislative action that could optimize 

13 the effectiveness of the grants awarded under 

14 this section. 

15 (e) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this section, the 

16 Director shall, for purposes of enhancing program effec17 tiveness and avoiding duplication of activities, consult, co18 operate, and coordinate with the programs and policies of 

19 other relevant Federal agencies. 

20 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

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

23 the Director of the National Science Foundation es24 tablished under section 2 of the National Science 

25 Foundation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861). 
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1 (2) FEDERAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Fed2 eral laboratory’’ has the meaning given such term in 

3 section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno4 vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703). 

5 (3) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

6 means the National Science Foundation established 

7 under section 2 of the National Science Foundation 

8 Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861). 

9 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

10 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

11 meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the 

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

13 (5) STEM.—The term ‘‘STEM’’ has the mean14 ing given the term in section 2 of the America COM15 PETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 

16 6621 note). 

17 (6) STEM EDUCATION.—The term ‘‘STEM 

18 education’’ has the meaning given the term in sec19 tion 2 of the STEM Education Act of 2015 (42 

20 U.S.C. 6621 note). 

Passed the House of Representatives May 18, 2021. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 
117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 210 

AN ACT 

To coordinate Federal research and development effor other purposes. support and improve rural STEM education, and opment and application of new technologies to development in rural areas, including the devel- forts focused on STEM education and workforce