I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3099 

To provide for loan forgiveness for STEM teachers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2019 

Mr. SWALWELL of California (for himself, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. THOMPSON of 

Mississippi, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. RUSH, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. COHEN) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and 

Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for loan forgiveness for STEM teachers, 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 K to Career 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR STEM TEACHERS. 

2 Part G of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 493E. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR STEM TEACHERS. 

6 ‘‘(a) LOAN FORGIVENESS AUTHORIZED.—The Sec7 retary shall forgive, in accordance with this section, the 

8 qualified loan amount described in subsection (c) of the 

9 student loan obligation of a borrower who— 

10 ‘‘(1) is employed as a full-time STEM teacher 

11 for service in an academic year (including such a 

12 STEM teacher employed by an educational service 

13 agency)— 

14 ‘‘(A) in a public or other nonprofit private 

15 elementary school or secondary school, which, 

16 for the purpose of this paragraph and for that 

17 year— 

18 ‘‘(i) has been determined by the Sec19 retary (pursuant to regulations of the Sec20 retary and after consultation with the 

21 State educational agency of the State in 

22 which the school is located) to be a school 

23 in which the number of children meeting a 

24 measure of poverty under section 

25 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Sec26 ondary Education Act of 1965, exceeds 30 


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1 percent of the total number of children en2 rolled in such school; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) is in the school district of a local 

4 educational agency which is eligible in such 

5 year for assistance pursuant to part A of 

6 title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

7 Education Act of 1965; or 

8 ‘‘(B) in one or more public, or nonprofit 

9 private, elementary schools or secondary schools 

10 or locations operated by an educational service 

11 agency that have been determined by the Sec12 retary (pursuant to regulations of the Secretary 

13 and after consultation with the State edu14 cational agency of the State in which the edu15 cational service agency operates) to be a school 

16 or location at which the number of children 

17 taught who meet a measure of poverty under 

18 section 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Sec19 ondary Education Act of 1965, exceeds 30 per20 cent of the total number of children taught at 

21 such school or location; and 

22 ‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the 

23 borrower seeks forgiveness. 


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1 ‘‘(b) METHOD OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—To provide 

2 loan forgiveness under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

3 carry out a program— 

4 ‘‘(1) through the holder of the loan, to assume 

5 the obligation to repay a qualified loan amount for 

6 a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part B 

7 (other than an excepted PLUS loan or an excepted 

8 consolidation loan (as such terms are defined in sec9 tion 493C(a))); and 

10 ‘‘(2) to cancel a qualified loan amount for a 

11 loan made under part D (other than an excepted 

12 PLUS loan or an excepted consolidation loan). 

13 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.— 

14 ‘‘(1) FORGIVENESS OF PERCENTAGE OF DEBT

15 BASED ON YEARS OF SERVICE.—For each complete 

16 year of service by a borrower as a STEM teacher in 

17 accordance with this section after the date of enact18 ment of the STEM K to Career Act, the Secretary 

19 shall forgive the student loan obligation of the bor20 rower at the rate of 15 percent of such obligation for 

21 the first or second year of such service, 20 percent 

22 of such obligation for the third or fourth year of 

23 such service, and 30 percent of such obligation for 

24 the fifth year of such service. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST FORGIVEN.—If 

2 a portion of a loan is forgiven under this section for 

3 any year, the entire amount of interest on such loan 

4 which accrues for such year shall be forgiven. 

5 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) LIST OF SCHOOLS.—If the list of schools 

7 in which a STEM teacher may perform service pur8 suant to subsection (a)(1) is not available before 

9 May 1 of any year, the Secretary may use the list 

10 for the year preceding the year for which the deter11 mination is made to make such service determina12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.—Any teacher 

14 who performs service in a school which— 

15 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of subsection 

16 (a)(1) in any year; and 

17 ‘‘(B) in a subsequent year fails to meet the 

18 requirements of such subsection, 

19 may continue to teach in such school and shall be 

20 eligible for loan forgiveness pursuant to this section 

21 such subsequent years. 

22 ‘‘(3) PROMISSORY NOTE CONFLICTS.—An indi23 vidual with an outstanding student loan obligation 

24 who performs service described in subsection (a)(1) 

25 in accordance with this section shall be eligible for 


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1 forgiveness under this section for such service not2 withstanding any contrary provision of the promis3 sory note under which the loan or loans were made. 

4 ‘‘(4) FORGIVENESS NOT CONSIDERED IN5 COME.—The amount of a loan, and interest on a 

6 loan, which is forgiven under this section shall not 

7 be considered income for purposes of the Internal 

8 Revenue Code of 1986. 

9 ‘‘(5) NO REFUNDS.—Nothing in this subsection 

10 shall be construed to authorize refunding of any re11 payment of a loan. 

12 ‘‘(6) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No borrower may, 

13 for the same service, receive a benefit under both 

14 this section and subtitle D of title I of the National 

15 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

16 12601 et seq.). 

17 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

18 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

19 this section. 

20 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec21 tion— 

22 ‘‘(1) the term ‘year’ where applied to service as 

23 a STEM teacher means academic year as defined by 

24 the Secretary; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘STEM teacher’ means a teacher 

2 of science, technology, engineering, or mathe3 matics.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. ABOVE-THE-LINE-DEDUCTION FOR STEM EDU5 CATION MATERIALS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 62(a)(2)(D) of the Inter7 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following flush matter: 

9 ‘‘In the case of taxable years beginning after 

10 December 31, 2018, the $250 amount in clause 

11 (i) shall be increased by an amount equal to so 

12 much of the amounts paid or incurred by the el13 igible educator for STEM education supplies as 

14 does not exceed $250.’’. 

15 (b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Section 62(d)(3) of 

16 such Code is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(3) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 

19 taxable year beginning after 2015, the first 

20 $250 amount in subsection (a)(2)(D) shall be 

21 increased by an amount equal to— 

22 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

23 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de24 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal25 endar year in which the taxable year beVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:14 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3099.IH H3099

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1 gins, determined by substituting ‘calendar 

2 year 2014’ for ‘calendar year 2016’ in sub3 paragraph (A)(ii) thereof. 

4 ‘‘(B) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES.—In 

5 the case of any taxable year beginning after 

6 2019, the $250 amount in subsection (a)(2)(D) 

7 shall be increased by an amount equal to— 

8 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

9 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de10 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal11 endar year in which the taxable year be12 gins, determined by substituting ‘calendar 

13 year 2018’ for ‘calendar year 2016’ in sub14 paragraph (A)(ii) thereof. 

15 ‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—Any increase deter16 mined under subparagraph (A) or (B) shall be 

17 rounded to the nearest multiple of $50.’’. 

18 (c) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES DEFINED.—Sec19 tion 62(d) of such Code, as amended by subsection (b), 

20 is amended by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 

21 paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively, and by inserting 

22 after paragraph (1) the following new paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(2) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES.—For pur24 poses of subsection (a)(2)(D), the term ‘STEM edu25 cation supplies’ means expenses for books, supplies, 


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1 equipment, and other materials used in connection 

2 with teaching science, technology, engineering, or 

3 math.’’. 

4 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The heading for sec5 tion 62(d) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘DEFINI6 TION; SPECIAL RULES’’ and inserting ‘‘ELEMENTARY AND

7 SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’’. 

8 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

10 December 31, 2018. 

11 SEC. 4. STEM INTERNSHIP TAX CREDIT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub13 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

14 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

15 section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 45T. STEM INTERNSHIP CREDIT. 

17 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 

18 in the case of an eligible employer, the STEM internship 

19 credit determined under this section for the taxable year 

20 is equal to $2,000 for each qualified STEM intern em21 ployed by the employer during the taxable year. 

22 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The total amount of the credit al23 lowed under subsection (a) to a taxpayer for a taxable year 

24 may not exceed $50,000. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 

2 (a)— 

3 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED STEM INTERN.—The term 

4 ‘qualified STEM intern’ means an individual who is 

5 employed under an internship program of an eligible 

6 employer under which— 

7 ‘‘(A) each intern is paid not less than the 

8 wage in effect under section 6(a) of the Fair 

9 Labor Standards Act of 1938, 

10 ‘‘(B) each intern is employed for not less 

11 than 20 hours per week by the eligible employer 

12 in a position related to the career goals of the 

13 intern, 

14 ‘‘(C) each intern completes not less than 6 

15 weeks of employment with the eligible employer 

16 as an intern, and 

17 ‘‘(D) each intern is a student who is en18 rolled full-time in a science, technology, engi19 neering, or math program (including a program 

20 of study abroad approved for credit by the eligi21 ble institution at which such student is en22 rolled) leading to a recognized undergraduate or 

23 graduate degree at an institution of higher edu24 cation that is an eligible institution in accord25 ance with the provisions of section 487 of the 


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1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

2 1094) and is not enrolled in an elementary or 

3 secondary school. 

4 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible em6 ployer’ means an employer who employed on av7 erage not more than 500 full-time employees on 

8 business days during the preceding calendar 

9 year. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 

10 any individual with respect to whom a credit is 

11 allowed under this section shall not be taken 

12 into account. 

13 ‘‘(B) RULES FOR DETERMINING EM14 PLOYER SIZE.—For purposes of subparagraph 

15 (A)— 

16 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION OF AGGREGATION

17 RULE FOR EMPLOYERS.—All persons treat18 ed as a single employer under subsection 

19 (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 shall be 

20 treated as 1 employer. 

21 ‘‘(ii) EMPLOYERS NOT IN EXISTENCE

22 IN PRECEDING YEAR.—In the case of an 

23 employer which was not in existence 

24 throughout the preceding calendar year, 

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1 ployer is an eligible employer shall be 

2 based on the average number of employees 

3 that it is reasonably expected such em4 ployer will employ on business days in the 

5 current calendar year. 

6 ‘‘(iii) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference 

7 in this paragraph to an employer shall in8 clude a reference to any predecessor of 

9 such employer.’’. 

10 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

11 CREDIT.—Section 38(b) of such Code is amended by strik12 ing ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (31), by striking the 

13 period at the end of paragraph (32) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, 

14 and by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

15 ‘‘(33) the STEM internship credit determined 

16 under section 45T(a).’’. 

17 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 280C(a) 

18 of such Code is amended by inserting ‘‘45T(a),’’ after 

19 ‘‘45S(a),’’. 

20 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

22 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add23 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45T. STEM internship credit.’’. 


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1 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

3 December 31, 2018. 

4 SEC. 5. STEM APPRENTICESHIP TAX CREDIT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub6 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986, as amended by section 4, is amended by adding at 

8 the end the following new section: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 45U. STEM APPRENTICESHIP CREDIT. 

10 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 

11 in the case of an eligible employer the STEM apprentice12 ship credit determined under this section for the taxable 

13 year is an amount equal to the taxpayer’s aggregate 

14 STEM credit amount for the taxable year. 

15 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The total amount of the credit al16 lowed under subsection (a) to a taxpayer for a taxable year 

17 may not exceed $50,000. 

18 ‘‘(c) STEM CREDIT AMOUNT.—For purposes of sub19 section (a), the STEM credit amount with respect to an 

20 individual shall be— 

21 ‘‘(1) $2,000 in the case of a new apprentice, 

22 ‘‘(2) $3,000 in the case of a mid-career appren23 tice, 

24 ‘‘(3) $3,000 in the case of a unemployed ap25 prentice, and 


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1 ‘‘(4) 5,000 in the case of a completed appren2 ticeship employee. 

3 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 

4 (a)— 

5 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible em7 ployer’ means an employer who employed on av8 erage not more than 500 full-time employees on 

9 business days during the preceding calendar 

10 year. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 

11 any individual with respect to whom a credit is 

12 allowed under this section shall not be taken 

13 into account. 

14 ‘‘(B) RULES FOR DETERMINING EM15 PLOYER SIZE.—For purposes of subparagraph 

16 (A)— 

17 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION OF AGGREGATION

18 RULE FOR EMPLOYERS.—All persons treat19 ed as a single employer under subsection 

20 (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 shall be 

21 treated as 1 employer. 

22 ‘‘(ii) EMPLOYERS NOT IN EXISTENCE

23 IN PRECEDING YEAR.—In the case of an 

24 employer which was not in existence 

25 throughout the preceding calendar year, 


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1 the determination of whether such em2 ployer is an eligible employer shall be 

3 based on the average number of employees 

4 that it is reasonably expected such em5 ployer will employ on business days in the 

6 current calendar year. 

7 ‘‘(iii) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference 

8 in this paragraph to an employer shall in9 clude a reference to any predecessor of 

10 such employer. 

11 ‘‘(2) NEW APPRENTICE.—The term ‘new ap12 prentice’ means an employee who, with respect to an 

13 eligible employer— 

14 ‘‘(A) completed during the taxable year a 

15 qualified apprenticeship program, and 

16 ‘‘(B) prior to beginning the qualified ap17 prenticeship program, has not received com18 pensation during the preceding 1-year period 

19 for services provided to the eligible employer. 

20 ‘‘(3) MID-CAREER APPRENTICE.—The term 

21 ‘mid-career apprentice’ means an employee who— 

22 ‘‘(A) prior to being employed by the eligi23 ble employer was either— 

24 ‘‘(i) employed in an industry sector 

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1 gible employer is in, as determined under 

2 regulations of the Secretary, or 

3 ‘‘(ii) or was unemployed, and 

4 ‘‘(B) completed during the taxable year a 

5 qualified apprenticeship program. 

6 ‘‘(4) COMPLETED APPRENTICESHIP EM7 PLOYEE.—The term ‘completed apprenticeship em8 ployee’ means an employee who, with respect to an 

9 eligible employer, completed 1 year of service with 

10 the eligible employer during the taxable year after 

11 completing a qualified apprenticeship program. 

12 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.— 

13 The term ‘qualified apprenticeship program’ means 

14 an apprenticeship program in a field of science, tech15 nology, engineering, or math that is recognized 

16 under any program administered by the Secretary of 

17 Labor. 

18 ‘‘(6) UNEMPLOYED.—An individual is unem19 ployed if the individual is certified by the designated 

20 local agency as being in receipt of unemployment 

21 compensation under State or Federal law for not 

22 less than 4 weeks during the 1-year period ending 

23 on the hiring date. 

24 ‘‘(7) HIRING DATE; DESIGNATED LOCAL AGEN25 CY.—The terms ‘hiring date’ and ‘designated local 


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1 agency’ have the meanings given such terms by sec2 tion 51(d)(11) and (12), respectively. 

3 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 

4 or credit shall be allowed under any other provision of this 

5 chapter for any expenses paid or incurred with respect to 

6 an individual to the extent of the credit allowed under this 

7 section with respect to the individual.’’. 

8 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

9 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code, as 

10 amended by section 4, is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at 

11 the end of paragraph (32), by striking the period at the 

12 end of paragraph (33) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add13 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(34) the STEM apprenticeship credit deter15 mined under section 45U(a).’’. 

16 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 280C(a) 

17 of such Code is amended by inserting ‘‘45U(a),’’ after 

18 ‘‘45T(a),’’. 

19 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

20 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add22 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45U. STEM apprenticeship credit.’’. 

23 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

25 December 31, 2018. 


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1 SEC. 6. MANDATORY MINIMUM ALLOCATION OF PORTION 

2 OF FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM FUNDS 

3 FOR STEM EMPLOYMENT. 

4 (a) MANDATORY MINIMUM ALLOCATION FOR STEM 

5 EMPLOYMENT.—Section 443(b)(2) of the Higher Edu6 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 2753(b)(2)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara8 graph (A); 

9 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub10 paragraph (C); and 

11 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol12 lowing new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 2020 and succeeding 

14 fiscal years, an institution shall use at least 7 

15 percent of the total amount of funds granted to 

16 such institution under this section for such fis17 cal year to compensate students employed in 

18 science, technology, engineering, or mathe19 matics, except that the Secretary may waive 

20 this subparagraph if the Secretary determines 

21 that enforcing this subparagraph would cause 

22 hardship for students at the institution.’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO OFF24 CAMPUS STEM EMPLOYMENT FOR STUDENTS AT PRO25 PRIETARY INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:42 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3099.IH H3099

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1 tion 443(b)(8) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 2753(b)(8)) is 

2 amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

4 (A); 

5 (2) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

6 (B); and 

7 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(C) in science, technology, engineering, or 

10 mathematics, in accordance with paragraph 

11 (2)(B) of this subsection;’’. 

Æ 


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