I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5142 

To provide for the establishment of a program at the National Science 

Foundation to increase the population of science, technology, engineering, 

and mathematics undergraduate students through a scholarship program 

to increase the business, industrial, academic, and scientific workforce, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2006 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. ZOE

LOFGREN of California, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SMITH of 

Washington, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. OWENS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. GRIJALVA, 

Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MCINTYRE, and 

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

Committee on Science 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of a program at the National Science Foundation to increase the population of 

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics undergraduate students through a scholarship program to increase the business, industrial, academic, and scientific 

workforce, 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 ‘‘National Science 

3 Foundation Scholars Program Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish a 

6 program to provide scholarships to students in science, 

7 technology, engineering, or mathematics programs at in8 stitutions of higher education in the United States. 

9 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

10 (1) PREAPPLICATION INFORMATION.—The Di11 rector shall make available to potential scholarship 

12 applicants information relating to the scholarship 

13 program, including— 

14 (A) a description of expectations for the 

15 success of scholarship recipients in school; and 

16 (B) any other information the Director 

17 considers appropriate. 

18 (2) DEADLINE.—Complete applications shall be 

19 due by January 1 of each year. No applications re20 ceived after such date shall be considered. 

21 (3) SELECTION.—The Director shall select 

22 scholarship recipients not later than April 15 of each 

23 year. 

24 (4) NOTIFICATION.—The Director shall develop 

25 a system to ensure prompt notification to applicants 


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1 of their selection for a scholarship, including notifi2 cation by at least 2 of the following methods: 

3 (A) E-mail. 

4 (B) Telephone. 

5 (C) Mail. 

6 (c) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Scholarships shall be 

7 awarded under this section on the basis of merit, high 

8 school class rank, a personal essay on a topic chosen by 

9 the Director, and letters of recommendation of a number 

10 and type determined by the Director, with consideration 

11 given to financial need and the goal of providing support 

12 to members of underrepresented groups, within the mean13 ing of the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities 

14 Act (42 U.S.C. 1885 et seq.). 

15 (d) AMOUNT OF SCHOLARSHIP.—A scholarship 

16 award under this section shall be in an amount sufficient 

17 to cover the cost of tuition, room and board, and fees at 

18 the institution of higher education the student is attend19 ing, not to exceed $20,000 per year. 

20 (e) LIMITATION.—A student may not receive scholar21 ships under this section for more than 5 years of under22 graduate study. 

23 (f) TERMINATION.—A student who has received 

24 scholarship support under this section for a year who fails 

25 to maintain appropriate academic achievement, as deterVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:49 Apr 13, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5142.IH H5142

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1 mined by the Director on the basis of the student’s tran2 script and a letter written by the student’s advisor assess3 ing in detail the progress of the student, shall not have 

4 the scholarship renewed for subsequent years. 

5 (g) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—To the extent pos6 sible, the Director shall ensure that scholarships under 

7 this section are distributed among the States, including 

8 commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United 

9 States, proportionally to the size of their congressional del10 egations. 

11 SEC. 3. UNIVERSITY GRANTS. 

12 The Director shall establish a program to award an13 nual grants of $5,000 to institutions of higher education 

14 at which 10 or more undergraduates are receiving a schol15 arship under this Act to develop and implement programs 

16 for— 

17 (1) monthly gathering of such scholarship re18 cipients to hear and ask questions of a speaker in 

19 a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics 

20 discipline working in business, industry, elementary 

21 or secondary education, or at a museum or other in22 formal educational organization; 

23 (2) annual poster sessions in which such schol24 arship recipients present their research experience 


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1 to, among others, high school students who are po2 tential applicants for a scholarship under this Act; 

3 (3) other outreach to middle school and high 

4 school students; and 

5 (4) mentoring for the scholarship recipients. 

6 SEC. 4. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION RESPONSIBIL7 ITIES. 

8 The Director shall— 

9 (1) annually report to the Congress on the sta10 tus of programs implemented under this Act, includ11 ing— 

12 (A) aggregate data on scholarship recipi13 ents, not including any personally identifying 

14 data; 

15 (B) the geographic distribution of scholar16 ship awards; 

17 (C) activities of scholarship recipients after 

18 receiving their undergraduate degree; 

19 (D) any changes made to those programs; 

20 and 

21 (E) responses to any other congressional 

22 inquiries; and 

23 (2) establish and maintain a website for cur24 rent, former, and potential scholarship recipients to 


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1 share ideas, contribute to issue forums, present 

2 work, and learn about research opportunities. 

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na5 tional Science Foundation for carrying out this Act— 

6 (1) $242,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; 

7 (2) $726,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

8 (3) $1,695,500,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

9 (4) $2,180,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and 

10 (5) $2,664,500,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

11 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

12 For purposes of this Act— 

13 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 

14 the National Science Foundation; and 

15 (2) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ 

16 has the meaning given that term in section 101 of 

17 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1001). 

Æ 


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