I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 56 

To establish a grant program for stipends to assist in the cost of compensation paid by employers to certain recent college graduates and to provide 

funding for their further education in subjects relating to mathematics, 

science, engineering, and technology. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2017 

Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program for stipends to assist in the 

cost of compensation paid by employers to certain recent 

college graduates and to provide funding for their further 

education in subjects relating to mathematics, science, 

engineering, and technology. 

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 ‘‘America Realizing the 

5 Informational Skills and Initiative of New Graduates Act 

6 of 2017’’ or ‘‘America RISING Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis4 tics, in 2012 the national unemployment rate for in5 dividuals ages 25 years and older with a bachelor’s 

6 degree was 4.5 percent and 6.2 percent for individ7 uals with an associate’s degree. For college grad8 uates ages 18 to 25 the national unemployment rate 

9 in 2012 was higher at 7.7 percent. Because the typ10 ical college graduates leaves college owing an aver11 age of $29,400 in student loan debt, a rate that has 

12 increased 6 percent every year since 2008, the cur13 rent job market offers exceedingly few opportunities 

14 for such graduates to obtain employment at a salary 

15 adequate to service their college loan debt. 

16 (2) There are more than 26 million small busi17 nesses in the United States. In the current economic 

18 climate, these small businesses are experiencing dif19 ficulty in finding the resources needed to increase 

20 sales, modernize operations, and hire new employees. 

21 (3) Recent college graduates need the experi22 ence that can be obtained only in the workplace to 

23 refine their skills and develop the entrepreneurial 

24 qualities that can lead to the creation of new busi25 nesses and jobs. 


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1 (4) Existing small businesses and companies 

2 will benefit from the information and technology 

3 skills possessed by many of the Nation’s recent col4 lege graduates. 

5 (5) Enabling recent college graduates to obtain 

6 employment with small businesses benefits the na7 tional economy by providing such businesses the 

8 human capital and technical expertise needed to 

9 compete and win in the global economy of the 21st 

10 century. 

11 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF AMERICA RISING PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Labor and 

13 the Secretary of Education shall, jointly, establish a pro14 gram under which— 

15 (1) grants are paid to eligible employers to de16 fray the cost of compensation paid by such employ17 ers to recent college graduates; and 

18 (2) grants are paid to recent college graduates 

19 to enable such graduates to defray the cost of under20 taking further postsecondary courses at an institu21 tion of higher education for up to 24 months in sub22 jects relating to mathematics, science, engineering, 

23 or technology. 

24 (b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section 

2 may be made on such terms and conditions as the 

3 Secretary may determine. 

4 (2) DEFERRAL OF FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN

5 OBLIGATIONS.—Each recent college graduate partici6 pating in the program under this section (by benefit7 ting from a grant awarded under paragraph (1), or 

8 receiving a grant under paragraph (2), of subsection 

9 (a)) may defer payment on Federal student loans 

10 made to the graduate under title IV of the Higher 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) for 

12 the period of the graduate’s participation in the pro13 gram. 

14 (3) GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE EMPLOYERS.—With 

15 respect to a grant awarded under subsection 

16 (a)(1)— 

17 (A) an eligible employer— 

18 (i) may use the grant to defray the 

19 cost of compensation for not more than 2 

20 recent college graduates; and 

21 (ii) shall provide a compensation 

22 amount to each recent college graduate 

23 participating in the program that is equal 

24 to or greater than the grant amount reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 06, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H56.IH H56

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1 ceived by the employer for the graduate; 

2 and 

3 (B) the Secretary may not award an eligi4 ble employer more than $25,000 per recent col5 lege graduate. 

6 (4) GRANTS TO RECENT COLLEGE GRAD7 UATES.—With respect to a grant awarded under 

8 subsection (a)(2) to a recent college graduate, the 

9 graduate shall be eligible to receive Federal student 

10 aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) without regard to 

12 whether the graduate has been or is delinquent on 

13 any Federal student loans made to the graduate 

14 under such title IV (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 (1) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘eligible 

17 employer’’ means an employer that— 

18 (A) is a small business concern; or 

19 (B) is a major corporation that has an op20 eration located in— 

21 (i) an enterprise zone; or 

22 (ii) an area in which, according to the 

23 most recent data available, the unemploy24 ment rate exceeds the national average unVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jan 06, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H56.IH H56

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1 employment rate by more than two per2 centage points. 

3 (2) ENTERPRISE ZONE.—The term ‘‘enterprise 

4 zone’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘HUBzone’’ 

5 in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 632). 

7 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—Ex8 cept as provided in paragraph (3)(B), the term ‘‘in9 stitution of higher education’’ has the meaning given 

10 the term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act 

11 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

12 (4) MAJOR CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘major 

13 corporation’’ means an employer that earns an an14 nual revenue of not less than $5,000,000 and em15 ploys not less than 50 employees. 

16 (5) RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘recent col18 lege graduate’’ means an individual— 

19 (i) who has received a baccalaureate 

20 or associate degree from an institution of 

21 higher education on or after the date that 

22 is 24 months before the grant benefitting 

23 the graduate is awarded under this section; 

24 and 


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1 (ii) who has not previously received 

2 any such baccalaureate or associate degree. 

3 (B) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU4 CATION.—In subparagraph (A), the term ‘‘insti5 tution of higher education’’ has the meaning 

6 given such term in section 102 of the Higher 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

8 (6) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

9 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given 

10 such term in section 3 of the Small Business Act 

11 (15 U.S.C. 632). 

12 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

14 appropriated to carry out this Act $100,000,000 for 

15 each of the fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020. 

16 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Funds appropriated under 

17 paragraph (1) shall remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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