I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2082 

To provide for loan forgiveness for STEM teachers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2015 

Mr. SWALWELL of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for loan forgiveness for STEM teachers, 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 ‘‘STEM K to Career 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR STEM TEACHERS. 

7 Part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

9 after section 428L the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 428M. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR STEM TEACHERS. 

2 ‘‘(a) LOAN FORGIVENESS AUTHORIZED.—The Sec3 retary shall forgive, in accordance with this section, the 

4 qualified loan amount described in subsection (c) of the 

5 student loan obligation of a borrower who— 

6 ‘‘(1) is employed as a full-time STEM teacher 

7 for service in an academic year (including such a 

8 STEM teacher employed by an educational service 

9 agency)— 

10 ‘‘(A) in a public or other nonprofit private 

11 elementary school or secondary school, which, 

12 for the purpose of this paragraph and for that 

13 year— 

14 ‘‘(i) has been determined by the Sec15 retary (pursuant to regulations of the Sec16 retary and after consultation with the 

17 State educational agency of the State in 

18 which the school is located) to be a school 

19 in which the number of children meeting a 

20 measure of poverty under section 

21 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Sec22 ondary Education Act of 1965, exceeds 30 

23 percent of the total number of children en24 rolled in such school; and 

25 ‘‘(ii) is in the school district of a local 

26 educational agency which is eligible in such 


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1 year for assistance pursuant to part A of 

2 title I of the Elementary and Secondary 

3 Education Act of 1965; or 

4 ‘‘(B) in one or more public, or nonprofit 

5 private, elementary schools or secondary schools 

6 or locations operated by an educational service 

7 agency that have been determined by the Sec8 retary (pursuant to regulations of the Secretary 

9 and after consultation with the State edu10 cational agency of the State in which the edu11 cational service agency operates) to be a school 

12 or location at which the number of children 

13 taught who meet a measure of poverty under 

14 section 1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Sec15 ondary Education Act of 1965, exceeds 30 per16 cent of the total number of children taught at 

17 such school or location; and 

18 ‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the 

19 borrower seeks forgiveness. 

20 ‘‘(b) METHOD OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—To provide 

21 loan forgiveness under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

22 carry out a program— 

23 ‘‘(1) through the holder of the loan, to assume 

24 the obligation to repay a qualified loan amount for 

25 a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under this part 


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1 (other than an excepted PLUS loan or an excepted 

2 consolidation loan (as such terms are defined in sec3 tion 493C(a))); and 

4 ‘‘(2) to cancel a qualified loan amount for a 

5 loan made under part D of this title (other than an 

6 excepted PLUS loan or an excepted consolidation 

7 loan). 

8 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) FORGIVENESS OF PERCENTAGE OF DEBT

10 BASED ON YEARS OF SERVICE.—For each complete 

11 year of service by a borrower as a STEM teacher in 

12 accordance with this section after the date of enact13 ment of the STEM K to Career Act, the Secretary 

14 shall forgive the student loan obligation of the bor15 rower at the rate of 15 percent of such obligation for 

16 the first or second year of such service, 20 percent 

17 of such obligation for the third or fourth year of 

18 such service, and 30 percent of such obligation for 

19 the fifth year of such service. 

20 ‘‘(2) PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST FORGIVEN.—If 

21 a portion of a loan is forgiven under this section for 

22 any year, the entire amount of interest on such loan 

23 which accrues for such year shall be forgiven. 

24 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) LIST OF SCHOOLS.—If the list of schools 

2 in which a STEM teacher may perform service pur3 suant to subsection (a)(1) is not available before 

4 May 1 of any year, the Secretary may use the list 

5 for the year preceding the year for which the deter6 mination is made to make such service determina7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONTINUING ELIGIBILITY.—Any teacher 

9 who performs service in a school which— 

10 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of subsection 

11 (a)(1) in any year; and 

12 ‘‘(B) in a subsequent year fails to meet the 

13 requirements of such subsection, 

14 may continue to teach in such school and shall be 

15 eligible for loan forgiveness pursuant to this section 

16 such subsequent years. 

17 ‘‘(3) PROMISSORY NOTE CONFLICTS.—An indi18 vidual with an outstanding student loan obligation 

19 who performs service described in subsection (a)(1) 

20 in accordance with this section shall be eligible for 

21 forgiveness under this section for such service not22 withstanding any contrary provision of the promis23 sory note under which the loan or loans were made. 

24 ‘‘(4) FORGIVENESS NOT CONSIDERED IN25 COME.—The amount of a loan, and interest on a 


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1 loan, which is forgiven under this section shall not 

2 be considered income for purposes of the Internal 

3 Revenue Code of 1986. 

4 ‘‘(5) NO REFUNDS.—Nothing in this subsection 

5 shall be construed to authorize refunding of any re6 payment of a loan. 

7 ‘‘(6) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No borrower may, 

8 for the same service, receive a benefit under both 

9 this section and subtitle D of title I of the National 

10 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

11 12601 et seq.). 

12 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

13 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

14 this section. 

15 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec16 tion— 

17 ‘‘(1) the term ‘year’ where applied to service as 

18 a STEM teacher means academic year as defined by 

19 the Secretary; and 

20 ‘‘(2) the term ‘STEM teacher’ means a teacher 

21 of science, technology, engineering, or mathe22 matics.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ABOVE-THE-LINE-DEDUCTION FOR STEM EDU2 CATION MATERIALS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 62(a)(2)(D) of the Inter4 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(D) CERTAIN EXPENSES OF ELEMENTARY

6 AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of tax8 able years beginning after 2001, the de9 ductions allowed by section 162 which con10 sist of expenses, not in excess of $250, 

11 paid or incurred by an eligible educator in 

12 connection with books, supplies (other than 

13 nonathletic supplies for courses of instruc14 tion in health or physical education), com15 puter equipment (including related soft16 ware and services) and other equipment, 

17 and supplementary materials used by the 

18 eligible educator in the classroom. 

19 ‘‘(ii) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES.— 

20 In the case of STEM education supplies, 

21 the amount in clause (i) shall be increased 

22 by $250. 

23 ‘‘(iii) COORDINATION.—Clause (i) 

24 shall be applied without regard to clause 

25 (ii).’’. 


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1 (b) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES DEFINED.—Sec2 tion 62(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend3 ed is amended by redesignating paragraph (2) as para4 graph (3) and by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol5 lowing new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(2) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES.—For pur7 poses of subsection (a)(2)(D), the term ‘STEM edu8 cation supplies’ means expenses for books, supplies, 

9 equipment, and other materials used in connection 

10 with teaching science, technology, engineering, or 

11 math.’’. 

12 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The heading for sec13 tion 62(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend14 ed by striking ‘‘DEFINITION; SPECIAL RULES’’ and insert15 ing ‘‘ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACH16 ERS’’. 

17 SEC. 4. STEM INTERNSHIP TAX CREDIT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub19 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

20 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

21 section: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 45S. STEM INTERNSHIP CREDIT. 

23 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 

24 in the case of an eligible employer the STEM internship 

25 credit determined under this section for the taxable year 


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1 is equal to $2,000 for each qualified STEM intern em2 ployed by the employer during the taxable year. 

3 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The total amount of the credit al4 lowed under subsection (a) to a taxpayer for a taxable year 

5 may not exceed $50,000. 

6 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 

7 (a)— 

8 ‘‘(1) QUALIFIED STEM INTERN.—The term 

9 ‘qualified STEM intern’ means an individual who is 

10 employed under an internship program of an eligible 

11 employer under which— 

12 ‘‘(A) each intern is paid not less than the 

13 wage in effect under section 6(a) of the Fair 

14 Labor Standards Act of 1938, 

15 ‘‘(B) each intern is employed for not less 

16 than 20 hours per week by the eligible employer 

17 in a position related to the career goals of the 

18 intern, 

19 ‘‘(C) each intern completes not less than 6 

20 weeks of employment with the eligible employer 

21 as an intern, and 

22 ‘‘(D) each intern is a student who is en23 rolled full-time in a science, technology, engi24 neering, or math program (including a program 

25 of study abroad approved for credit by the eligiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 May 07, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2082.IH H2082

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1 ble institution at which such student is en2 rolled) leading to a recognized undergraduate or 

3 graduate degree at an institution of higher edu4 cation that is an eligible institution in accord5 ance with the provisions of section 487 of the 

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 1094) and is not enrolled in an elementary or 

8 secondary school. 

9 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible em11 ployer’ means an employer who employed on av12 erage not more than 500 full-time employees on 

13 business days during the preceding calendar 

14 year. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 

15 any individual with respect to whom a credit is 

16 allowed under this section shall not be taken 

17 into account. 

18 ‘‘(B) RULES FOR DETERMINING EM19 PLOYER SIZE.—For purposes of subparagraph 

20 (A)— 

21 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION OF AGGREGATION

22 RULE FOR EMPLOYERS.—All persons treat23 ed as a single employer under subsection 

24 (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 shall be 

25 treated as 1 employer. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EMPLOYERS NOT IN EXISTENCE

2 IN PRECEDING YEAR.—In the case of an 

3 employer which was not in existence 

4 throughout the preceding calendar year, 

5 the determination of whether such em6 ployer is an eligible employer shall be 

7 based on the average number of employees 

8 that it is reasonably expected such em9 ployer will employ on business days in the 

10 current calendar year. 

11 ‘‘(iii) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference 

12 in this paragraph to an employer shall in13 clude a reference to any predecessor of 

14 such employer.’’. 

15 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

16 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (35), 

18 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (36) and 

19 inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the following 

20 new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(37) the STEM internship credit determined 

22 under section 45S(a).’’. 

23 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Subsection (a) 

24 of section 280C of such Code is amended by inserting 

25 ‘‘45S(a),’’ after ‘‘45P(a),’’. 


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1 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

3 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add4 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45S. STEM internship credit.’’. 

5 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

7 December 31, 2015. 

8 SEC. 5. STEM APPRENTICESHIP TAX CREDIT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub10 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

11 1986, as amended by section 3, is amended by adding at 

12 the end the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 45T. STEM APPRENTICESHIP CREDIT. 

14 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 

15 in the case of an eligible employer the STEM apprentice16 ship credit determined under this section for the taxable 

17 year is an amount equal to the taxpayer’s aggregate 

18 STEM credit amount for the taxable year. 

19 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The total amount of the credit al20 lowed under subsection (a) to a taxpayer for a taxable year 

21 may not exceed $50,000. 

22 ‘‘(c) STEM CREDIT AMOUNT.—For purposes of sub23 section (a), the STEM credit amount with respect to an 

24 individual shall be— 

25 ‘‘(1) $2,000 in the case of a new apprentice, 


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1 ‘‘(2) $3,000 in the case of a mid-career appren2 tice, 

3 ‘‘(3) $3,000 in the case of a unemployed ap4 prentice, and 

5 ‘‘(4) 5,000 in the case of a completed appren6 ticeship employee. 

7 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 

8 (a)— 

9 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible em11 ployer’ means an employer who employed on av12 erage not more than 500 full-time employees on 

13 business days during the preceding calendar 

14 year. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 

15 any individual with respect to whom a credit is 

16 allowed under this section shall not be taken 

17 into account. 

18 ‘‘(B) RULES FOR DETERMINING EM19 PLOYER SIZE.—For purposes of subparagraph 

20 (A)— 

21 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION OF AGGREGATION

22 RULE FOR EMPLOYERS.—All persons treat23 ed as a single employer under subsection 

24 (b), (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 shall be 

25 treated as 1 employer. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) EMPLOYERS NOT IN EXISTENCE

2 IN PRECEDING YEAR.—In the case of an 

3 employer which was not in existence 

4 throughout the preceding calendar year, 

5 the determination of whether such em6 ployer is an eligible employer shall be 

7 based on the average number of employees 

8 that it is reasonably expected such em9 ployer will employ on business days in the 

10 current calendar year. 

11 ‘‘(iii) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference 

12 in this paragraph to an employer shall in13 clude a reference to any predecessor of 

14 such employer. 

15 ‘‘(2) NEW APPRENTICE.—The term ‘new ap16 prentice’ means an employee who, with respect to an 

17 eligible employer— 

18 ‘‘(A) completed during the taxable year a 

19 qualified apprenticeship program, and 

20 ‘‘(B) prior to beginning the qualified ap21 prenticeship program, has not received com22 pensation during the preceding 1-year period 

23 for services provided to the eligible employer. 

24 ‘‘(3) MID-CAREER APPRENTICE.—The term 

25 ‘mid-career apprentice’ means an employee who— 


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1 ‘‘(A) prior to being employed by the eligi2 ble employer was either— 

3 ‘‘(i) employed in an industry sector 

4 different from the industry section the eli5 gible employer is in, as determined under 

6 regulations of the Secretary, or 

7 ‘‘(ii) or was unemployed, and 

8 ‘‘(B) completed during the taxable year a 

9 qualified apprenticeship program. 

10 ‘‘(4) COMPLETED APPRENTICESHIP EM11 PLOYEE.—The term ‘completed apprenticeship em12 ployee’ means an employee who, with respect to an 

13 eligible employer, completed 1 year of service with 

14 the eligible employer during the taxable year after 

15 completing a qualified apprenticeship program. 

16 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.— 

17 The term ‘qualified apprenticeship program’ means 

18 an apprenticeship program in a field of science, tech19 nology, engineering, or math that is recognized 

20 under any program administered by the Secretary of 

21 Labor. 

22 ‘‘(6) UNEMPLOYED.—An individual is unem23 ployed if the individual is certified by the designated 

24 local agency as being in receipt of unemployment 

25 compensation under State or Federal law for not 


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1 less than 4 weeks during the 1-year period ending 

2 on the hiring date. 

3 ‘‘(7) HIRING DATE; DESIGNATED LOCAL AGEN4 CY.—The terms ‘hiring date’ and ‘designated local 

5 agency’ have the meanings given such terms by sec6 tion 51(d) (11) and (12), respectively. 

7 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No deduction 

8 or credit shall be allowed under any other provision of this 

9 chapter for any expenses paid or incurred with respect to 

10 an individual to the extent of the credit allowed under this 

11 section with respect to the individual.’’. 

12 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

13 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code, as 

14 amended by section 3, is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at 

15 the end of paragraph (36), by striking the period at the 

16 end of paragraph (37) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add17 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(38) the STEM apprenticeship credit deter19 mined under section 45T(a).’’. 

20 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Subsection (a) 

21 of section 280C of such Code is amended by inserting 

22 ‘‘45T(a),’’ after ‘‘45S(a),’’. 

23 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 


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1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add2 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45T. STEM apprenticeship credit.’’. 

3 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

5 December 31, 2015. 

6 SEC. 6. MANDATORY MINIMUM ALLOCATION OF PORTION 

7 OF FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM FUNDS 

8 FOR STEM EMPLOYMENT. 

9 (a) MANDATORY MINIMUM ALLOCATION FOR STEM 

10 EMPLOYMENT.—Section 443(b)(2) of the Higher Edu11 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 2753(b)(2)) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara13 graph (A); 

14 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub15 paragraph (C); and 

16 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol17 lowing new subparagraph: 

18 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 2016 and succeeding 

19 fiscal years, an institution shall use at least 7 

20 percent of the total amount of funds granted to 

21 such institution under this section for such fis22 cal year to compensate students employed in 

23 science, technology, engineering, or mathe24 matics, except that the Secretary may waive 

25 this subparagraph if the Secretary determines 


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1 that enforcing this subparagraph would cause 

2 hardship for students at the institution.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO OFF4 CAMPUS STEM EMPLOYMENT FOR STUDENTS AT PRO5 PRIETARY INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—Sec6 tion 443(b)(8) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 2753(b)(8)) is 

7 amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

9 (A); 

10 (2) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

11 (B); and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(C) in science, technology, engineering, or 

15 mathematics, in accordance with paragraph 

16 (2)(B) of this subsection;’’. 

Æ 


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