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[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 848 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        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 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 
                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 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 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.
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