I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4422 

To require the Secretary of Education to award grants for graduate fellowship 

awards. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. NORCROSS (for himself, Ms. ESCOBAR, and Mr. STANTON) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Education to award grants for 

graduate fellowship awards. 

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 ‘‘Fellowships to Prepare 

5 the Next Generation of Teachers Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS TO PREPARE FACULTY 

7 IN HIGH-NEED AREAS AT COLLEGES OF EDU8 CATION. 

9 (a) GRANTS BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall 

10 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible instituVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Sep 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4422.IH H4422

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1 tions to enable such institutions to make graduate fellow2 ship awards to qualified individuals in accordance with the 

3 provisions of this section. 

4 (b) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible institution that de5 sires a grant under this section shall submit an application 

6 to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con7 taining such information as the Secretary may reasonably 

8 require. 

9 (c) TYPES OF FELLOWSHIPS SUPPORTED.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution that 

11 receives a grant under this section shall use the 

12 grant funds to provide graduate fellowships to indi13 viduals who are preparing for the professorate in 

14 order to prepare individuals to become elementary 

15 school and secondary school science, technology, en16 gineering, and math teachers, special education 

17 teachers, and teachers who provide instruction for 

18 English-learners, who meet the applicable State cer19 tification and licensure requirements, including any 

20 requirements for certification obtained through alter21 native routes to certification, or, with regard to spe22 cial education teachers, the qualifications described 

23 in section 612(a)(14)(C) of the Individuals with Dis24 abilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(14)(C)). 


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1 (2) TYPES OF STUDY.—A graduate fellowship 

2 provided under this section shall support an indi3 vidual in pursuing postbaccalaureate study, which 

4 leads to a doctoral degree and may include a mas5 ter’s degree as part of such study, related to teacher 

6 preparation and pedagogy in one of the following 

7 areas: 

8 (A) Science, technology, engineering, math9 ematics, and computer science, and their re10 lated subfields, if the individual has completed 

11 a master’s degree in mathematics, engineering, 

12 science, or computer science and is pursuing a 

13 doctoral degree in mathematics, science, engi14 neering, or education. 

15 (B) Special education. 

16 (C) The instruction of English-learners, in17 cluding postbaccalaureate study in language in18 struction educational programs. 

19 (d) FELLOWSHIP TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

20 (1) SELECTION OF FELLOWS.—The Secretary 

21 shall ensure that an eligible institution that receives 

22 a grant under this section— 

23 (A) shall provide graduate fellowship 

24 awards to individuals who plan to pursue a ca25 reer in instruction at an institution of higher 


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1 education that has a teacher preparation pro2 gram; and 

3 (B) may not provide a graduate fellowship 

4 to an otherwise eligible individual— 

5 (i) during periods in which such indi6 vidual is enrolled at an institution of high7 er education unless such individual is 

8 maintaining satisfactory academic progress 

9 in, and devoting full-time study or research 

10 to, the pursuit of the degree for which the 

11 fellowship support was provided; or 

12 (ii) if the individual is engaged in 

13 gainful employment, other than part-time 

14 employment related to teaching, research, 

15 or a similar activity determined by the in16 stitution to be consistent with and sup17 portive of the individual’s progress toward 

18 the degree for which the fellowship support 

19 was provided. 

20 (2) AMOUNT OF FELLOWSHIP AWARDS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution 

22 that receives a grant under this section shall 

23 award stipends to individuals who are provided 

24 graduate fellowships under this section. 


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1 (B) AWARDS BASED ON NEED.—A stipend 

2 provided under this section shall be in an 

3 amount equal to the level of support provided 

4 by the National Science Foundation graduate 

5 fellowships, except that such stipend shall be 

6 adjusted as necessary so as not to exceed the 

7 fellowship recipient’s demonstrated need, as de8 termined by the institution of higher education 

9 where the fellowship recipient is enrolled. 

10 (3) SERVICE REQUIREMENT.— 

11 (A) TEACHING REQUIRED.—Each indi12 vidual who receives a graduate fellowship under 

13 this section and earns a doctoral degree shall 

14 teach for 1 year at an institution of higher edu15 cation that has a teacher preparation program 

16 for each year of fellowship support received 

17 under this section. 

18 (B) INSTITUTIONAL OBLIGATION.—Each 

19 eligible institution that receives a grant under 

20 this section shall provide an assurance to the 

21 Secretary that the institution has inquired of 

22 and determined the decision of each individual 

23 who has received a graduate fellowship to, with24 in 3 years of receiving a doctoral degree, begin 

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1 cation that has a teacher preparation program, 

2 as required by this section. 

3 (C) AGREEMENT REQUIRED.—Prior to re4 ceiving an initial graduate fellowship award, 

5 and upon the annual renewal of the graduate 

6 fellowship award, an individual selected to re7 ceive a graduate fellowship under this section 

8 shall sign an agreement with the Secretary 

9 agreeing to pursue a career in instruction at an 

10 institution of higher education that has a teach11 er preparation program in accordance with sub12 paragraph (A). 

13 (D) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If an indi14 vidual who receives a graduate fellowship award 

15 under this section fails to comply with the 

16 agreement signed pursuant to subparagraph 

17 (C), the sum of the amounts of any graduate 

18 fellowship award received by such recipient 

19 shall, upon a determination of such a failure, be 

20 treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf21 ford Loan under part D of title IV Higher Edu22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.), 

23 and shall be subject to repayment, together 

24 with interest thereon accruing from the date of 

25 the fellowship award, in accordance with terms 


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1 and conditions specified by the Secretary in reg2 ulations under this section. 

3 (E) MODIFIED SERVICE REQUIREMENT.— 

4 The Secretary may waive or modify the service 

5 requirement of this paragraph in accordance 

6 with regulations promulgated by the Secretary 

7 with respect to the criteria to determine the cir8 cumstances under which compliance with such 

9 service requirement is inequitable or represents 

10 a substantial hardship. The Secretary may 

11 waive the service requirement if compliance by 

12 the fellowship recipient is determined to be in13 equitable or represent a substantial hardship— 

14 (i) because the individual is perma15 nently and totally disabled at the time of 

16 the waiver request; or 

17 (ii) based on documentation presented 

18 to the Secretary of substantial economic or 

19 personal hardship. 

20 (e) INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR FELLOWS.—An el21 igible institution that receives a grant under this section 

22 may reserve not more than ten percent of the grant 

23 amount for academic and career transition support for 

24 graduate fellowship recipients and for meeting the institu25 tional obligation described in subsection (d)(3)(B). 


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1 (f) RESTRICTION ON USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible in2 stitution that receives a grant under this section may not 

3 use grant funds for general operational overhead of the 

4 institution. 

5 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) The term ‘‘eligible institution’’ means an in7 stitution of higher education, or a consortium of 

8 such institutions, that offers a program of 

9 postbaccalaureate study leading to a doctoral degree. 

10 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

11 of Education. 

Æ 


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