116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1387 

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 

3 Act’’. 

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), the recipient 

11 may request that the Secretary reconsider such 

12 initial determination and may submit additional 

13 information to demonstrate satisfaction of the 

14 service obligation. Upon receipt of such a re15 quest, the Secretary shall reconsider the deter16 mination in accordance with this paragraph not 

17 later than 90 days after the date that such re18 quest was received. 

19 ‘‘(B) RECONSIDERATION.—If, in reconsid20 ering an initial determination under subpara21 graph (A), the Secretary determines that the 

22 reason for such determination was the recipi23 ent’s failure to timely submit a certification re24 quired under subsection (b)(1)(D) (as in effect 

25 on the day before the date of enactment of the 
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1 Consider Teachers Act), an error or processing 

2 delay by the Secretary, a change to the fields 

3 considered eligible for fulfillment of the service 

4 obligation (as described in subsection 

5 (b)(1)(C)), a recipient having previously re6 quested to have the TEACH Grant converted to 

7 a loan, or another valid reason determined by 

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

9 the date of the reconsideration, demonstrated 

10 that the recipient did meet, or is meeting the 

11 service obligation in the agreement under sub12 section (b), the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) discharge the Federal Direct Un14 subsidized Stafford Loan under part D, 

15 and reinstate the recipient’s grant under 

16 this subpart; 

17 ‘‘(ii) discharge any interest or fees 

18 that may have accumulated during the pe19 riod that the grant was converted to a 

20 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

21 Loan under part D; 

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

23 under part D, apply any payments made 

24 for the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf-
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1 ford Loan under part D during such pe2 riod to those other loans under part D; 

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

4 other loans under part D, reimburse the 

5 recipient for any amounts paid on the Fed6 eral Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan 

7 under part D during such period; 

8 ‘‘(v) request that consumer reporting 

9 agencies remove any negative credit report10 ing due to the conversion of the TEACH 

11 Grant to a loan; and 

12 ‘‘(vi) use the additional information 

13 provided under subparagraph (A) to deter14 mine the progress the recipient has made 

15 in meeting the service obligation. 

16 ‘‘(C) EXTENSION OF TIME TO COMPLETE

17 SERVICE OBLIGATION.—In the case of a recipi18 ent whose TEACH Grant was reinstated in ac19 cordance with subparagraph (B), the Secretary 

20 shall, upon such reinstatement— 

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

22 recipient to fulfill the service obligation de23 scribed in subsection (b)(1) to a period of 

24 time equal to— 

25 ‘‘(I) 8 years; minus 
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1 ‘‘(II) the number of full academic 

2 years of teaching that the recipient 

3 completed prior to the reconversion of 

4 the loan to a TEACH Grant under 

5 subparagraph (B), including any 

6 years of qualifying teaching completed 

7 during the period when the TEACH 

8 Grant was in loan status; and 

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

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

11 that count toward the individual’s service 

12 obligation (regardless of whether the 

13 TEACH Grant funds were in grant or loan 

14 status) if that time otherwise meets the re15 quirements of this section.’’; and 

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

17 following: 

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

19 Secretary shall notify TEACH grant recipients not 

20 less than once per calendar year regarding how to 

21 submit the employment certification under sub22 section (b)(1)(D) and the recommendations and re23 quirements for submitting that certification under 

24 subsection (d)(5). 
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1 ‘‘(4) QUALIFYING SCHOOLS AND HIGH-NEED

2 FIELDS.—The Secretary shall maintain and annually 

3 update a list of qualifying schools as described in 

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

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

6 such lists publicly available on the Department’s 

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

8 SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION. 

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

10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g–2(d)), as amended by section 2, 

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

12 ‘‘(5) SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFI13 CATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) RECOMMENDED SUBMISSIONS.—The 

15 Secretary shall notify TEACH Grant recipients 

16 that the Department recommends that TEACH 

17 Grant recipients submit the employment certifi18 cation described in subsection (b)(1)(D) as soon 

19 as practicable after the completion of each year 

20 of service. 

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

22 Grant recipient shall be required to submit to 

23 the Department employment certification within 

24 the timeframe that would allow that individual 
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1 to complete their service obligation before the 

2 end of the service obligation window. 

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

4 notify TEACH Grant recipients of the required 

5 submission deadlines described in this para6 graph. 

7 ‘‘(D) ADJUSTMENT OF DEADLINE.—The 

8 Secretary shall adjust the submission deadline 

9 described in subparagraph (B) to account for a 

10 service obligation window extension. 

11 ‘‘(E) ALTERNATIVE TO CERTIFICATION.— 

12 The Secretary shall provide an alternative to 

13 the certification of employment described in 

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

15 obtain such required certification of employ16 ment from the chief administrative officer of 

17 the school because the recipient can dem18 onstrate the school is no longer in existence or 

19 the school refuses to cooperate.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF TIME TO FULFILL SERVICE OBLIGA21 TION DUE TO COVID–19. 

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

23 116–136; 20 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended— 

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

25 striking ‘‘For the purpose of section 420N of the 
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1 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g– 

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

3 ‘‘Notwithstanding any provision of subpart 9 of part 

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

5 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.),’’; 

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

7 the semicolon; 

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

9 420N.’’ and inserting ‘‘section 420N of such Act; 

10 and’’; and 

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

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

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

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

15 to any extensions provided in accordance with sub16 part 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education 

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

18 of a grant recipient whose service obligation window 

19 begins during, or includes— 

20 ‘‘(A) the qualifying emergency period; or 

21 ‘‘(B) a period of recession or economic 

22 downturn related to the qualifying emergency 

23 period, as determined by the Secretary in con24 sultation with the Secretary of Labor.’’. 
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1 (b) Section 3519 of the CARES Act (Public Law 

2 116–136; 20 U.S.C. 1001 note) is amended by adding at 

3 the end the following: 

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

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

6 U.S.C. 1087ee), the Secretary shall waive the require7 ments of such section in regard to full-time service and 

8 shall consider an incomplete year of service of a borrower 

9 as fulfilling the requirement for a complete year of service 

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

11 a qualifying emergency.’’. 

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

13 this section shall take effect as if included in the enact14 ment of the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136). 

15 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION. 

16 In carrying out this Act and any amendments made 

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

18 or under such amendments, the Secretary of Education 

19 may waive the application of— 

20 (1) subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, 

21 United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Pa22 perwork Reduction Act’’); 

23 (2) the master calendar requirements under 

24 section 482 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

25 (20 U.S.C. 1089); 
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1 (3) negotiated rulemaking under section 492 of 

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

3 1098a); and 

4 (4) the requirement to publish the notices re5 lated to the system of records of the agency before 

6 implementation required under paragraphs (4) and 

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

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

9 1974’’), except that the notices shall be published 

10 not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

11 of this Act. 

Passed the Senate December 16, 2020. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1387 

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