II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3214 

To strengthen entrepreneurial education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 22, 2012 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. KERRY, and Mr. HARKIN) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To strengthen entrepreneurial 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 ‘‘Today’s Entrepreneurs 

5 are America’s Mentors Act’’ or the ‘‘TEAM Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ mean the Small Business Administration 

10 and the Administrator thereof, respectively; and 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

2 meaning given that term under section 3 of the 

3 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

4 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Small Business Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating section 45 (15 U.S.C. 631 

8 note) as section 46; and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 44 (15 U.S.C. 

10 657q) the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 45. ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION. 

12 ‘‘(a) OFFICE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is in the Administra14 tion an Office of Entrepreneurial Education, which 

15 shall develop and provide innovative entrepreneurial 

16 information, education, and resources, to promote 

17 prospective entrepreneurs and successful small busi18 ness concerns. 

19 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The head of the Office of En20 trepreneurial Education is the Director of the Office 

21 of Entrepreneurial Education, who shall report to 

22 the Associate Administrator for Entrepreneurial De23 velopment. 

24 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The Director of the Office of 

25 Entrepreneurial Education shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) manage the online courses, online 

2 publications, and other online resources pro3 vided by the Administration to entrepreneurs 

4 and small business concerns; 

5 ‘‘(B) manage the youth entrepreneurship 

6 programs of the Administration, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) online resources for youth entre8 preneurs; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) coordination and outreach with 

10 entrepreneurial development service pro11 viders that provide counseling and training 

12 to youth entrepreneurs desiring to start or 

13 expand small business concerns; 

14 ‘‘(C) coordinate with nonprofit and other 

15 private sector partners to share educational ma16 terials on money management and financial lit17 eracy for entrepreneurs and small business con18 cerns; and 

19 ‘‘(D) provide assistance and courtesy serv20 ices to individuals and foreign dignitaries vis21 iting the United States who are interested in 

22 issues relating to entrepreneurs and small busi23 ness concerns. 

24 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL

25 ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION PROGRAM.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

2 the date of enactment of the Today’s Entrepreneurs 

3 are America’s Mentors Act, the Associate Adminis4 trator for Entrepreneurial Development (referred to 

5 in this subsection as the ‘Associate Administrator’) 

6 shall establish a program under which the Associate 

7 Administrator may make grants to nonprofit organi8 zations, including small business development cen9 ters, SCORE chapters, women’s business centers, 

10 and other resource partners of the Administration, 

11 to provide technical assistance to primary and sec12 ondary schools for the development and implementa13 tion of curricula and mentoring programs designed 

14 to promote entrepreneurship. 

15 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—A nonprofit organization 

16 desiring a grant under this subsection shall submit 

17 to the Associate Administrator an application that 

18 contains— 

19 ‘‘(A) a description of the goals of the 

20 project to be funded using the grant; 

21 ‘‘(B) a list of any partners that plan to 

22 participate in the project to be funded using the 

23 grant; and 

24 ‘‘(C) any other information that the Asso25 ciate Administrator determines is necessary. 


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1 ‘‘(3) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date on which a nonprofit organization receives a 

3 grant under this subsection, the nonprofit organiza4 tion shall submit to the Associate Administrator a 

5 report that describes— 

6 ‘‘(A) the individuals assisted using the 

7 grant; 

8 ‘‘(B) the number of jobs created or saved 

9 through the use of the grant; and 

10 ‘‘(C) any other information concerning the 

11 use of the grant that the Associate Adminis12 trator may require. 

13 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

15 this subsection $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

16 2013, 2014, and 2015.’’. 

17 (b) REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES OF ENTREPRE18 NEURIAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS.— 

19 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 

20 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di21 rector of the Office of Entrepreneurial Education 

22 shall submit to the Committee on Small Business 

23 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Com24 mittee on Small Business of the House of Rep25 resentatives a report that describes best practices of 


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1 entrepreneurial education and training programs 

2 throughout the United States. 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

4 paragraph (1) shall include— 

5 (A) a description of any programs that the 

6 Director of the Office of Entrepreneurial Edu7 cation determines are exemplary, including na8 tional programs, regional programs, State pro9 grams, and local programs; and 

10 (B) a summary of entrepreneurial edu11 cation and training programs carried out by— 

12 (i) the Federal Government; 

13 (ii) State and local governments; and 

14 (iii) as nonprofit organizations and 

15 private sector groups. 

16 SEC. 4. MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION SCHOLAR17 SHIP PILOT PROGRAM. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may award 

19 not more than 100 scholarships of not more than $1,500 

20 on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis to students who are 

21 pursuing a Masters of Business Administration degree. 

22 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

23 (1) AGREEMENT TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE.—A 

24 student receiving a scholarship under subsection (a) 

25 shall enter into an agreement with the Administrator 


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1 under which the student shall, during the fiscal year 

2 during which the student receives the scholarship, 

3 provide free technical assistance, counseling, and 

4 other assistance to small business concerns and en5 trepreneurs on a full-time basis for a period of 1 or 

6 2 weeks. 

7 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator shall 

8 ensure that— 

9 (A) not less than 50 percent of the stu10 dents receiving a scholarship under subsection 

11 (a) are students at an institution of higher edu12 cation (as defined in section 101 of the Higher 

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) 

14 where entrepreneurship opportunities are lim15 ited; 

16 (B) the activities carried out under agree17 ments under paragraph (1) support a variety of 

18 small business concerns and entrepreneurial 

19 projects, including independent investigator-led 

20 projects, interdisciplinary projects, and multi21 institutional projects (including virtual 

22 projects); and 

23 (C) each student receiving a scholarship 

24 under subsection (a) has a mentor to help the 

25 student relate the academic course of study of 


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1 the student to the assistance to be provided 

2 under the agreement under paragraph (1). 

3 (3) DATA COLLECTION.—A student receiving a 

4 scholarship under subsection (a) and a small busi5 ness concern or entrepreneur receiving assistance 

6 under an agreement under paragraph (1) shall agree 

7 to provide to the Administrator information relating 

8 to the use and result of the assistance provided and 

9 employment status until the end of the 3-year period 

10 beginning on the expected graduation date of the 

11 student. 

12 (c) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH AGREEMENT.—If a 

13 student receiving a scholarship under subsection (a) fails 

14 to comply with the agreement entered under subsection 

15 (b)(1), the amount of the scholarship received by the stu16 dent shall, upon a determination of such a failure, be 

17 treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan 

18 under part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

19 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.), and shall be subject to 

20 repayment, together with interest thereon accruing from 

21 the date of the award, in accordance with terms and condi22 tions specified by the Administrator (in consultation with 

23 the Secretary of Education) in regulations under this sec24 tion. 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

3 $200,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2015 to 

4 carry out this section. 

5 (e) SUNSET.—The Administrator may not award a 

6 scholarship under this section after September 30, 2015. 

7 SEC. 5. REGIONAL ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETITIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, acting 

9 through the Associate Administrator for Field Operations, 

10 shall establish a program to host regional competitions 

11 and a national conference to address regional challenges 

12 through entrepreneurial research and business planning. 

13 (b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

14 (1) REGIONAL OFFICES.—The regional adminis15 trator of each regional office of the Administration 

16 shall— 

17 (A) identify a prominent public-private 

18 issue that challenges a broad range of individ19 uals in the region; 

20 (B) sponsor a single regional competition 

21 among local small business concerns, inventors, 

22 and entrepreneurs under which persons or 

23 groups of persons submit research and business 

24 plans to address the issue identified under sub25 paragraph (A); 


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1 (C) provide outreach to universities, col2 leges, business communities, industry leaders 

3 and organizations, and nonprofit organizations 

4 to promote the competition and to request pro5 posals for research and business plans; 

6 (D) in coordination with the Director of 

7 the Office of Entrepreneurship Education, se8 lect the 3 research or business plans that best 

9 address the issue identified under subparagraph 

10 (A); and 

11 (E) submit to the Administrator a report 

12 that contains the research or business plans se13 lected under subparagraph (D). 

14 (2) CONFERENCE.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, act16 ing through the Associate Administrator for 

17 Field Operations, shall organize a single na18 tional conference for the presentation of the re19 search and business plans selected under para20 graph (1)(D) by the regional administrators. 

21 (B) PANEL.— 

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

23 shall designate 11 employees of the Admin24 istration to serve on a panel that shall se25 lect, from among the research and business 


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1 plans presented at the conference, 1 plan 

2 from each region that best addresses the 

3 issue identified under paragraph (1)(A) for 

4 that region. 

5 (ii) MEMBERS.—The Administrator 

6 shall designate as a member of the panel 

7 under clause (i)— 

8 (I) 1 employee of the principal 

9 office of the Administration; and 

10 (II) 1 employee from each of the 

11 regional offices of the Administration. 

12 (3) GRANT.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

14 shall award a grant of $50,000 to each person 

15 or group of persons who submitted a plan se16 lected under paragraph (2)(B). 

17 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

18 the date on which the Administrator awards a 

19 grant under subparagraph (A), the recipient of 

20 the grant shall submit to the Administrator a 

21 report on the use of the grant. 

22 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad24 ministrator $750,000 to carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 6. STUDY ON ENTREPRENEURIAL DEFERMENT OF 

2 STUDENT LOANS. 

3 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the 

5 Secretary of Education, shall submit to Congress a report 

6 that includes detailed recommendations for legislation— 

7 (1) establishing a program to forgive student 

8 loans in a manner that assists youth entrepreneur9 ship by making available capital for business forma10 tion; and 

11 (2) establishing a program to defer student loan 

12 repayments in a manner that assists youth entrepre13 neurship by making available capital for business 

14 formation. 

Æ 


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