117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 848 

AN ACT 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to 

improve the service obligation verification process for 

TEACH Grant recipients, 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 ‘‘Consider Teachers Act 

3 of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TEACH GRANTS. 

5 Section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

6 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b)(1)— 

8 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘(re9 ferred to in this section as the ‘service obliga10 tion window’)’’ after ‘‘under this subpart’’; 

11 (B) in subparagraph (C)(vii), by inserting 

12 ‘‘or geographic area’’ after ‘‘field’’; and 

13 (C) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E) 

14 and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(D) submit a certification of employment 

16 by the chief administrative officer of the school 

17 in accordance with subsection (d)(5); and 

18 ‘‘(E) meet all State certification require19 ments for teaching (which may include meeting 

20 such requirements through a certification ob21 tained through alternative routes to teaching);’’; 

22 (2) in subsection (c)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘In the event’’ and insert24 ing the following: 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the event’’; and 

26 (B) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(2) RECONSIDERATION OF CONVERSION DECI2 SIONS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) REQUEST TO RECONSIDER.—In any 

4 case where the Secretary has determined that a 

5 recipient of a grant under this subpart has 

6 failed or refused to comply with the service obli7 gation in the agreement under subsection (b) 

8 and has converted the grant into a Federal Di9 rect Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D 

10 in accordance with paragraph (1), (including a 

11 TEACH Grant converted to a loan prior to the 

12 date of enactment of the Consider Teachers Act 

13 of 2021 and including cases where such loans 

14 have been fully or partially paid), the recipient 

15 may request that the Secretary reconsider such 

16 initial determination and may submit additional 

17 information to demonstrate satisfaction of the 

18 service obligation. Upon receipt of such a re19 quest, the Secretary shall reconsider the deter20 mination in accordance with this paragraph not 

21 later than 90 days after the date that such re22 quest was received. 

23 ‘‘(B) RECONSIDERATION.—If, in reconsid24 ering an initial determination under subpara25 graph (A) (including reconsideration related to 
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1 a TEACH Grant that was converted to a loan 

2 prior to the date of enactment of the Consider 

3 Teachers Act of 2021 and including cases 

4 where such loans were fully or partially paid), 

5 the Secretary determines that the reason for 

6 such determination was the recipient’s failure to 

7 timely submit a certification required under 

8 subsection (b)(1)(D) (as in effect on the day be9 fore the date of enactment of the Consider 

10 Teachers Act of 2021), an error or processing 

11 delay by the Secretary, a change to the fields 

12 considered eligible for fulfillment of the service 

13 obligation (as described in subsection 

14 (b)(1)(C)), a recipient having previously re15 quested to have the TEACH Grant converted to 

16 a loan, or another valid reason determined by 

17 the Secretary, and that the recipient has, as of 

18 the date of the reconsideration, demonstrated 

19 that the recipient did meet, or is meeting the 

20 service obligation in the agreement under sub21 section (b), the Secretary shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) discharge the Federal Direct Un23 subsidized Stafford Loan under part D, 

24 and reinstate the recipient’s grant under 

25 this subpart; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) discharge any interest or fees 

2 that may have accumulated during the pe3 riod that the grant was converted to a 

4 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

5 Loan under part D; 

6 ‘‘(iii) if the recipient has other loans 

7 under part D, apply any payments made 

8 for the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf9 ford Loan under part D during such pe10 riod to those other loans under part D; 

11 ‘‘(iv) if the recipient does not have 

12 other loans under part D, reimburse the 

13 recipient for any amounts paid on the Fed14 eral Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan 

15 under part D during such period; 

16 ‘‘(v) request that consumer reporting 

17 agencies remove any negative credit report18 ing due to the conversion of the TEACH 

19 Grant to a loan; and 

20 ‘‘(vi) use the additional information 

21 provided under subparagraph (A) to deter22 mine the progress the recipient has made 

23 in meeting the service obligation. 

24 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMPLETE

25 SERVICE OBLIGATION.—In the case of a recipi-
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1 ent whose TEACH Grant was reinstated in ac2 cordance with subparagraph (B), the Secretary 

3 shall, upon such reinstatement— 

4 ‘‘(i) extend the time remaining for the 

5 recipient to fulfill the service obligation de6 scribed in subsection (b)(1) to a period of 

7 time equal to— 

8 ‘‘(I) 8 years; minus 

9 ‘‘(II) the number of full academic 

10 years of teaching that the recipient 

11 completed prior to the reconversion of 

12 the loan to a TEACH Grant under 

13 subparagraph (B), including any 

14 years of qualifying teaching completed 

15 during the period when the TEACH 

16 Grant was in loan status; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) treat any full academic years of 

18 teaching described in clause (i)(II) as years 

19 that count toward the individual’s service 

20 obligation (regardless of whether the 

21 TEACH Grant funds were in grant or loan 

22 status) if that time otherwise meets the re23 quirements of this section.’’; and 

24 (3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the 

25 following: 
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1 ‘‘(3) COMMUNICATION WITH RECIPIENTS.—The 

2 Secretary shall notify TEACH grant recipients not 

3 less than once per calendar year regarding how to 

4 submit the employment certification under sub5 section (b)(1)(D) and the recommendations and re6 quirements for submitting that certification under 

7 subsection (d)(5). 

8 ‘‘(4) QUALIFYING SCHOOLS AND HIGH-NEED

9 FIELDS.—The Secretary shall maintain and annually 

10 update a list of qualifying schools as described in 

11 subsection (b)(1)(B), and a list of high-need fields 

12 as described in subsection (b)(1)(C) and shall make 

13 such lists publicly available on the Department’s 

14 website in a sortable and searchable format.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION. 

16 Section 420N(d) of the Higher Education Act of 

17 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2(d)), as amended by section 2, 

18 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(5) SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFI20 CATION.— 

21 ‘‘(A) RECOMMENDED SUBMISSIONS.—The 

22 Secretary shall notify TEACH Grant recipients 

23 that the Department recommends that TEACH 

24 Grant recipients submit the employment certifi25 cation described in subsection (b)(1)(D) as soon 
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1 as practicable after the completion of each year 

2 of service. 

3 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED SUBMISSION.—A TEACH 

4 Grant recipient shall be required to submit to 

5 the Department employment certification within 

6 the timeframe that would allow that individual 

7 to complete their service obligation before the 

8 end of the service obligation window. 

9 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 

10 notify TEACH Grant recipients of the required 

11 submission deadlines described in this para12 graph. 

13 ‘‘(D) ADJUSTMENT OF DEADLINE.—The 

14 Secretary shall adjust the submission deadline 

15 described in subparagraph (B) to account for a 

16 service obligation window extension. 

17 ‘‘(E) ALTERNATIVE TO CERTIFICATION.— 

18 The Secretary shall provide an alternative to 

19 the certification of employment described in 

20 subsection (b)(1)(D) for recipients who cannot 

21 obtain such required certification of employ22 ment from the chief administrative officer of 

23 the school because the recipient can dem24 onstrate the school is no longer in existence or 

25 the school refuses to cooperate.’’. 
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1 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF TIME TO FULFILL SERVICE OBLIGA2 TION DUE TO COVID–19. 

3 (a) Section 3519(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 

4 116–136; 20 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended— 

5 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

6 striking ‘‘For the purpose of section 420N of the 

7 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g– 

8 2), during a qualifying emergency,’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘Notwithstanding any provision of subpart 9 of part 

10 A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

11 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.),’’; 

12 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

13 the semicolon; 

14 (3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘such section 

15 420N.’’ and inserting ‘‘section 420N of such Act; 

16 and’’; and 

17 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(3) shall extend the service obligation window 

19 (as described in section 420N(b)(1)(A) of such Act) 

20 for a period of not more than 3 years, in addition 

21 to any extensions provided in accordance with sub22 part 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education 

23 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.), in the case 

24 of a grant recipient whose service obligation window 

25 begins during, or includes— 

26 ‘‘(A) the qualifying emergency period; or 
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1 ‘‘(B) a period of recession or economic 

2 downturn related to the qualifying emergency 

3 period, as determined by the Secretary in con4 sultation with the Secretary of Labor.’’. 

5 (b) Section 3519 of the CARES Act (Public Law 

6 116–136; 20 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended by adding at 

7 the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL PERKINS LOANS.—Notwithstanding 

9 section 465 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

10 U.S.C. 1087ee), the Secretary shall waive the require11 ments of such section in regard to full-time service and 

12 shall consider an incomplete year of service of a borrower 

13 as fulfilling the requirement for a complete year of service 

14 under such section, if the service was interrupted due to 

15 a qualifying emergency.’’. 

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

17 this section shall take effect as if included in the enact18 ment of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136). 

19 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION. 

20 In carrying out this Act and any amendments made 

21 by this Act, or any regulations promulgated under this Act 

22 or under such amendments, the Secretary of Education 

23 may waive the application of— 
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1 (1) subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, 

2 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Pa3 perwork Reduction Act’’); 

4 (2) the master calendar requirements under 

5 section 482 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

6 (20 U.S.C. 1089); 

7 (3) negotiated rulemaking under section 492 of 

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

9 1098a); and 

10 (4) the requirement to publish the notices re11 lated to the system of records of the agency before 

12 implementation required under paragraphs (4) and 

13 (11) of section 552a(e) of title 5, United States 

14 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Privacy Act of 

15 1974’’), except that the notices shall be published 

16 not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act. 

Passed the Senate April 27, 2021. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 848 

AN ACT 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in 

and for other purposes. verification process for TEACH Grant recipients, order to improve the service obligation