I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3142 

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

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 

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 ‘‘STEM Readiness Act 

5 of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEACHER RECRUITING. 

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

8 encourage individuals educated in science, technology, en9 gineering, and mathematics to enter and continue in the 

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


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1 America’s brightest students to the teaching profession 

2 over the next 5 years. 

3 (b) SCHOLARSHIPS.—Title II of the Higher Edu4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1021 et seq.) is amended— 

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

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

7 and 

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

9 part: 

10 ‘‘PART C—STEM TEACHER SCHOLARSHIPS 

11 ‘‘SEC. 261. PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. 

12 ‘‘The Secretary shall award scholarships, on a com13 petitive basis and in accordance with this part, to students 

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

15 with concurrent certification as kindergarten, elementary, 

16 and secondary school teachers, in science, technology, en17 gineering, and mathematics, and who have agreed to per18 form qualified service. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 262. SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS. 

20 ‘‘(a) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall de21 velop selection criteria that the Secretary will use to award 

22 scholarships, and to renew those awards, based on estab23 lished measurements of merit available to secondary stu24 dents who wish to pursue degrees in science, technology, 

25 engineering, and mathematics. 


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

2 a scholarship under this part shall submit an application 

3 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con4 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

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

6 Scholarships shall be awarded for only one academic year 

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

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

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

10 shall condition the renewal of scholarships on measures 

11 of academic progress and achievement. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 263. QUALIFIED SERVICE REQUIREMENT. 

13 ‘‘(a) QUALIFIED SERVICE AGREEMENT.—Any stu14 dent who receives a scholarship under this part shall enter 

15 into an agreement with the Secretary to complete no less 

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

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

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

19 engineering, or mathematics. 

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

21 shall establish such requirements as the Secretary finds 

22 necessary to ensure that recipients of scholarships under 

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

24 technology, engineering, and mathematics, with teacher 

25 certification, subsequently perform 5 academic years of 


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1 qualified service during a 7-year period, or repay the por2 tion of the scholarship received for which the recipient did 

3 not perform the required qualified service, as determined 

4 by the Secretary. The Secretary shall use any such repay5 ments to carry out additional activities under this part. 

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

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

8 a public or private kindergarten, elementary school, or sec9 ondary school as a teacher of a course in a science, tech10 nology, engineering, or mathematics field. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 264. AWARDS. 

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

13 provide each recipient with a scholarship in the amount 

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

15 student for each academic year the student is eligible to 

16 receive the scholarship. The Secretary shall transfer such 

17 funds to the institution of higher education at which the 

18 recipient is enrolled. 

19 ‘‘(b) BONUS AWARD.— 

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

21 who receives a scholarship under this part may elect 

22 to enter into a bonus agreement with the Secretary, 

23 in accordance with this subsection, for any academic 

24 year during which the student receives a scholarship 

25 under this part. 


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

2 under paragraph (1) shall provide that— 

3 ‘‘(A) the student shall perform one aca4 demic year of the qualified service agreed to 

5 under section 263(a) in a high-need local edu6 cational agency, as defined in section 200; and 

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

8 in addition to the amount the student receives 

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

10 which the student enters into such bonus agree11 ment. 

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

13 Secretary shall establish such requirements as the 

14 Secretary finds necessary to ensure that recipients 

15 of bonuses under this subsection fulfill the qualified 

16 service requirement in a high-need local educational 

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

18 time equivalent to the period for which the recipient 

19 receives the bonus, or repays the portion of the 

20 bonus received for which the recipient did not per21 form the required qualified service in a high-need 

22 local educational agency, as determined by the Sec23 retary. The Secretary shall use any such repayments 

24 to carry out additional activities under this sub25 section. 


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

2 student may receive under this section for an academic 

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

4 grant aid such student receives from sources other than 

5 this section. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 265. REGULATIONS. 

7 ‘‘The Secretary is authorized to issue such regula8 tions as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of 

9 this part.’’. 

10 (c) INSTITUTIONAL GRANTS FOR INTEGRATED DE11 GREE PROGRAMS.—Title II of the Higher Education Act 

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

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

14 section, the following new part: 

15 ‘‘PART D—INTEGRATED DEGREE PROGRAMS 

16 ‘‘SEC. 271. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

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

18 award grants to institutions of higher education, on a 

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

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

21 4-year undergraduate degree programs through which stu22 dents may concurrently— 

23 ‘‘(1) earn a bachelor’s degree in science, tech24 nology, engineering, or mathematics; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) be certified to teach kindergarten, elemen2 tary, or secondary school. 

3 ‘‘(b) GRANT AMOUNT; AWARD PERIOD.—The Sec4 retary may award grants to no more than 50 institutions 

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

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

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

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

9 years. 

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

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

12 evaluate the applications for grants under this part and 

13 the projects proposed to establish, strengthen, and operate 

14 4-year integrated undergraduate degree programs. 

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

16 the extent practicable and consistent with the criteria 

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

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

19 distribution of the grant funds throughout the United 

20 States, considering geographic distribution, rural and 

21 urban areas, and range and type of institutions. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 273. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS. 

23 ‘‘In order to receive a grant under this part, an insti24 tution of higher education shall submit an application to 

25 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and conVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:29 Sep 25, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3142.IH H3142

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1 taining such information as the Secretary may require. 

2 Such application shall include the following: 

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

4 ‘‘(2) A demonstration of— 

5 ‘‘(A) the commitment, including the finan6 cial commitment, of the institution for the pro7 posed project; and 

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

9 the institution for the proposed project. 

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

11 will be continued after Federal funds are no longer 

12 awarded under this part for the project. 

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

14 which shall include benchmarks to monitor progress 

15 toward specific project objectives. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 274. MATCHING REQUIREMENT. 

17 ‘‘Each institution of higher education receiving a 

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

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

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

21 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 2014 

4 through 2019.’’. 

Æ 


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