I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5119 

To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a STEM grant program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2018 

Mr. FOSTER (for himself, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, 

and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to carry out a STEM 

grant 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 ‘‘Partnerships for 

5 Progress and Prosperity Act’’ or the ‘‘P3 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) As part of their Blueprint for Action re9 searchers at Harvard Graduate School of Education 

10 and the Pathways to Prosperity Network recommend 


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1 creating programs designed to ‘‘combine work and 

2 academic learning in post-secondary career prepara3 tion’’. In a follow-up study to the original ‘‘Path4 ways to Prosperity’’ published by Harvard’s Grad5 uate School of Education in 2011, the same re6 searchers released ‘‘A Blueprint for Action’’ in June 

7 2014. 

8 (2) The Executive Office of Science and Tech9 nology Policy have explicitly stated a goal of 

10 strengthening America’s STEM workforce. 

11 (3) According to a study by the Manufacturing 

12 Institute, a national survey of United States manu13 facturing executives found that 83 percent of Amer14 ican manufacturers reported a moderate or severe 

15 shortage of skilled workers. 

16 (4) The American Enterprise Institute further 

17 states that, ‘‘According to the U.S. Department of 

18 Labor, the percentage of manufacturing workers 

19 aged 55 to 64 and the share of workers older than 

20 65 have both significantly increased since 2000. 

21 Moreover, they also report that the median age of 

22 the manufacturing workforce increased from 40.5 in 

23 2000 to 44.1 in 2011. The Society of Manufacturing 

24 Engineers predicts that the shortfall of skilled fac25 tory workers could increase to 3 million jobs by 


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1 2015 due to the aging manufacturing workforce and 

2 the resulting retirements of older workers, at the 

3 same time that an anticipated manufacturing re4 bound will increase demand for skilled workers.’’. 

5 (5) The 2012 Program for International Stu6 dent Assessment found the United States below the 

7 average score of participating countries in mathe8 matics and science. Furthermore, the United States 

9 has dropped in the rankings for mathematics 

10 achievement from 25th in 2009 to 36th in 2012. 

11 (6) NAE, along with other peer reviewed publi12 cations and studies from universities around the 

13 country have examined the benefits of partnerships 

14 between schools and outside organizations. Partner15 ships for Progress and Prosperity Act programs as 

16 well as experiential learning play an important role 

17 in training students for the jobs of the future. 

18 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

20 under subsection (h), the Secretary of Education shall 

21 award grants to eligible entities to improve the education 

22 of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathe23 matics (in this section referred to as ‘‘STEM’’) and pre24 pare such students to pursue undergraduate and graduate 

25 degrees and careers in such fields. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this sec2 tion, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the 

3 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

4 such information as the Secretary may require, which shall 

5 include a description of— 

6 (1) the local, regional, or national employer in 

7 a STEM field with which the eligible entity will 

8 partner or collaborate to carry out activities under 

9 subsection (c)(2); and 

10 (2) the activities the eligible entity will carry 

11 out under subsection (c)(2) with the grant. 

12 (c) USES OF FUNDS.— 

13 (1) PARTNERSHIP OR COLLABORATION.—An el14 igible entity receiving a grant under this section 

15 shall carry out at least one of the activities described 

16 in paragraph (2) in partnership or collaboration 

17 with— 

18 (A) the local, regional, or national em19 ployer described in the agency’s application 

20 under subsection (b)(1); and 

21 (B) an institution of higher education, in 

22 the case of an eligible entity that is a local edu23 cational agency, or a local educational agency, 

24 in the case of an eligible entity that is an insti25 tution of higher education. 


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1 (2) ACTIVITIES.—The activities referred to in 

2 paragraph (1) are as follows: 

3 (A) Assist students in being placed in in4 ternships or apprenticeships with the employers 

5 with whom the eligible entity is partnering or 

6 collaborating under paragraph (1)(A). 

7 (B) Develop the curriculum and metrics of 

8 STEM coursework. 

9 (C) Carry out dual-credit courses that 

10 offer both secondary school credit and college 

11 credit, and incorporate STEM education and 

12 STEM workplace training. 

13 (D) Provide tutoring in STEM coursework 

14 and mentoring programs for academic advice 

15 and assistance in discussing future career op16 portunities in STEM fields. 

17 (E) Enable students and their teachers to 

18 attend STEM events outside the classroom. 

19 (F) Provide after-school and summer 

20 STEM programs for students. 

21 (G) Purchase education materials or equip22 ment to facilitate STEM instruction. 

23 (d) AWARDING OF GRANTS.—In awarding grants 

24 under this section, the Secretary shall— 


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1 (1) carry out a rigorous evaluation of each eligi2 ble entity’s application under subsection (b) being 

3 considered for a grant under this section to deter4 mine whether the eligible entity demonstrates a ra5 tionale based on high-quality research findings or 

6 positive evaluation that the activity proposed to be 

7 funded with the grant is likely to improve student 

8 outcomes or other relevant outcomes; and 

9 (2) give special consideration to eligible entities 

10 that— 

11 (A) promote in-classroom engagement be12 tween STEM professionals and students, cre13 ating co-teaching and guest-teaching opportuni14 ties; 

15 (B) use technology-based instructional ma16 terials and content; 

17 (C) pair mentors and tutors with students 

18 struggling to meet curriculum benchmarks; 

19 (D) in the case of eligible entities that are 

20 local educational agencies, serve schools in 

21 which the majority of students are eligible to 

22 receive free or reduced price lunch under the 

23 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 

24 (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); and 


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1 (E) propose to use the grant to target 

2 interventions for populations that are tradition3 ally underrepresented in STEM fields, including 

4 women, minorities, and low-income students. 

5 (e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible entity that re7 ceives a grant under this section shall provide, from 

8 non-Federal sources, an amount equal to 50 percent 

9 of the grant. Such non-Federal contribution may be 

10 provided in cash or in kind. 

11 (2) PARTNERSHIP AUTHORIZED.—An eligible 

12 entity may partner with a public and private entity 

13 that may assist the eligible entity in meeting the 

14 matching requirement under paragraph (1). 

15 (3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive all or 

16 part of the matching requirement under paragraph 

17 (1) for an eligible entity if the entity demonstrates 

18 that such requirement would result in a serious fi19 nancial hardship or a financial inability to carry out 

20 the goals of the grant. 

21 (f) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

22 provided to an eligible entity under this section shall be 

23 used to supplement, and not supplant, funds that would 

24 otherwise be used for activities authorized under this sec25 tion. 


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1 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

2 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti3 ty’’ means a local educational agency or an institu4 tion of higher education. 

5 (2) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘local edu6 cational agency’’, ‘‘poverty line’’, ‘‘secondary 

7 school’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the mean8 ings given the terms in section 8101 of the Elemen9 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

10 U.S.C. 7801). 

11 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

13 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

14 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

15 (4) LOW-INCOME STUDENT.—The term ‘‘low-in16 come student’’ means a student whose family’s tax17 able income for the preceding year did not exceed 

18 150 percent of the poverty line. 

19 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

21 necessary to carry out this section for fiscal year 2018 

22 and each succeeding fiscal year. 

Æ 


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