S. 848 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Sunday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty one 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consider Teachers Act of 2021’’. 

SEC. 2. TEACH GRANTS. 

Section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

1070g–2) is amended— 

(1) in subsection (b)(1)— 

(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘(referred to in 

this section as the ‘service obligation window’)’’ after ‘‘under 

this subpart’’; 

(B) in subparagraph (C)(vii), by inserting ‘‘or 

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

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

the following: 

‘‘(D) submit a certification of employment by the chief 

administrative officer of the school in accordance with subsection (d)(5); and 

‘‘(E) meet all State certification requirements for 

teaching (which may include meeting such requirements 

through a certification obtained through alternative routes 

to teaching);’’; 

(2) in subsection (c)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘In the event’’ and inserting the following: 

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

(B) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(2) RECONSIDERATION OF CONVERSION DECISIONS.— 

‘‘(A) REQUEST TO RECONSIDER.—In any case where the 

Secretary has determined that a recipient of a grant under 

this subpart has failed or refused to comply with the service 

obligation in the agreement under subsection (b) and has 

converted the grant into a Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

Stafford Loan under part D in accordance with paragraph 

(1), (including a TEACH Grant converted to a loan prior 

to the date of enactment of the Consider Teachers Act 

of 2021 and including cases where such loans have been 

fully or partially paid), the recipient may request that 

the Secretary reconsider such initial determination and 
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may submit additional information to demonstrate satisfaction of the service obligation. Upon receipt of such a 

request, the Secretary shall reconsider the determination 

in accordance with this paragraph not later than 90 days 

after the date that such request was received. 

‘‘(B) RECONSIDERATION.—If, in reconsidering an initial 

determination under subparagraph (A) (including 

reconsideration related to a TEACH Grant that was converted to a loan prior to the date of enactment of the 

Consider Teachers Act of 2021 and including cases where 

such loans were fully or partially paid), the Secretary determines that the reason for such determination was the 

recipient’s failure to timely submit a certification required 

under subsection (b)(1)(D) (as in effect on the day before 

the date of enactment of the Consider Teachers Act of 

2021), an error or processing delay by the Secretary, a 

change to the fields considered eligible for fulfillment of 

the service obligation (as described in subsection (b)(1)(C)), 

a recipient having previously requested to have the TEACH 

Grant converted to a loan, or another valid reason determined by the Secretary, and that the recipient has, as 

of the date of the reconsideration, demonstrated that the 

recipient did meet, or is meeting the service obligation 

in the agreement under subsection (b), the Secretary 

shall— 

‘‘(i) discharge the Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

Stafford Loan under part D, and reinstate the recipient’s grant under this subpart; 

‘‘(ii) discharge any interest or fees that may have 

accumulated during the period that the grant was converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan 

under part D; 

‘‘(iii) if the recipient has other loans under part 

D, apply any payments made for the Federal Direct 

Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D during such 

period to those other loans under part D; 

‘‘(iv) if the recipient does not have other loans 

under part D, reimburse the recipient for any amounts 

paid on the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan 

under part D during such period; 

‘‘(v) request that consumer reporting agencies 

remove any negative credit reporting due to the conversion of the TEACH Grant to a loan; and 

‘‘(vi) use the additional information provided under 

subparagraph (A) to determine the progress the 

recipient has made in meeting the service obligation. 

‘‘(C) EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMPLETE SERVICE OBLIGATION.—In the case of a recipient whose TEACH Grant 

was reinstated in accordance with subparagraph (B), the 

Secretary shall, upon such reinstatement— 

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

to fulfill the service obligation described in subsection 

(b)(1) to a period of time equal to— 

‘‘(I) 8 years; minus 

‘‘(II) the number of full academic years of 

teaching that the recipient completed prior to the 

reconversion of the loan to a TEACH Grant under 
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subparagraph (B), including any years of qualifying teaching completed during the period when 

the TEACH Grant was in loan status; and 

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

described in clause (i)(II) as years that count toward 

the individual’s service obligation (regardless of 

whether the TEACH Grant funds were in grant or 

loan status) if that time otherwise meets the requirements of this section.’’; and 

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

‘‘(3) COMMUNICATION WITH RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary 

shall notify TEACH grant recipients not less than once per 

calendar year regarding how to submit the employment certification under subsection (b)(1)(D) and the recommendations and 

requirements for submitting that certification under subsection 

(d)(5). 

‘‘(4) QUALIFYING SCHOOLS AND HIGH-NEED FIELDS.—The 

Secretary shall maintain and annually update a list of qualifying schools as described in subsection (b)(1)(B), and a list 

of high-need fields as described in subsection (b)(1)(C) and 

shall make such lists publicly available on the Department’s 

website in a sortable and searchable format.’’. 

SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION. 

Section 420N(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

1070g–2(d)), as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding 

at the end the following: 

‘‘(5) SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION.— ‘‘(A) RECOMMENDED SUBMISSIONS.—The Secretary shall 

notify TEACH Grant recipients that the Department recommends that TEACH Grant recipients submit the employment certification described in subsection (b)(1)(D) as soon 

as practicable after the completion of each year of service. 

‘‘(B) REQUIRED SUBMISSION.—A TEACH Grant 

recipient shall be required to submit to the Department 

employment certification within the timeframe that would 

allow that individual to complete their service obligation 

before the end of the service obligation window. 

‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall notify TEACH 

Grant recipients of the required submission deadlines 

described in this paragraph. 

‘‘(D) ADJUSTMENT OF DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall 

adjust the submission deadline described in subparagraph 

(B) to account for a service obligation window extension. 

‘‘(E) ALTERNATIVE TO CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary 

shall provide an alternative to the certification of employment described in subsection (b)(1)(D) for recipients who 

cannot obtain such required certification of employment 

from the chief administrative officer of the school because 

the recipient can demonstrate the school is no longer in 

existence or the school refuses to cooperate.’’. 

SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF TIME TO FULFILL SERVICE OBLIGATION DUE 

TO COVID–19. 

(a) Section 3519(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136; 

20 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended— 

(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘For 

the purpose of section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 
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1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2), during a qualifying emergency,’’ and 

inserting ‘‘Notwithstanding any provision of subpart 9 of part 

A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

1070g et seq.),’’; 

(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

(3) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘such section 420N.’’ and 

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

(4) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(3) shall extend the service obligation window (as described 

in section 420N(b)(1)(A) of such Act) for a period of not more 

than 3 years, in addition to any extensions provided in accordance with subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education 

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

recipient whose service obligation window begins during, or 

includes— 

‘‘(A) the qualifying emergency period; or 

‘‘(B) a period of recession or economic downturn related 

to the qualifying emergency period, as determined by the 

Secretary in consultation with the Secretary of Labor.’’. 

(b) Section 3519 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136; 20 

U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(c) FEDERAL PERKINS LOANS.—Notwithstanding section 465 

of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee), the Secretary shall waive the requirements of such section in regard to 

full-time service and shall consider an incomplete year of service 

of a borrower as fulfilling the requirement for a complete year 

of service under such section, if the service was interrupted due 

to a qualifying emergency.’’. 

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section 

shall take effect as if included in the enactment of the CARES 

Act (Public Law 116–136). 

SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION. 

In carrying out this Act and any amendments made by this 

Act, or any regulations promulgated under this Act or under such 

amendments, the Secretary of Education may waive the application 

of— 

(1) subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States 

Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’); 

(2) the master calendar requirements under section 482 

of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089); 

(3) negotiated rulemaking under section 492 of the Higher 

Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098a); and 

(4) the requirement to publish the notices related to the 

system of records of the agency before implementation required 

under paragraphs (4) and (11) of section 552a(e) of title 5, 

United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Privacy Act of 
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1974’’), except that the notices shall be published not later 

than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.