I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5962 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2018 

Mr. SWALWELL of California (for himself, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. 

GALLEGO, and Ms. TITUS) 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 G of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

8 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

9 the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 493E. 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 part B 


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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 (other than an excepted 

6 PLUS loan or an excepted consolidation loan). 

7 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) FORGIVENESS OF PERCENTAGE OF DEBT

9 BASED ON YEARS OF SERVICE.—For each complete 

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

11 accordance with this section after the date of enact12 ment of the STEM K to Career Act, the Secretary 

13 shall forgive the student loan obligation of the bor14 rower at the rate of 15 percent of such obligation for 

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

16 of such obligation for the third or fourth year of 

17 such service, and 30 percent of such obligation for 

18 the fifth year of such service. 

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

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

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

22 which accrues for such year shall be forgiven. 

23 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.— 

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

25 in which a STEM teacher may perform service purVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jun 04, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5962.IH H5962

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1 suant to subsection (a)(1) is not available before 

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

3 for the year preceding the year for which the deter4 mination is made to make such service determina5 tion. 

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

7 who performs service in a school which— 

8 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of subsection 

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

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

11 requirements of such subsection, 

12 may continue to teach in such school and shall be 

13 eligible for loan forgiveness pursuant to this section 

14 such subsequent years. 

15 ‘‘(3) PROMISSORY NOTE CONFLICTS.—An indi16 vidual with an outstanding student loan obligation 

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

18 in accordance with this section shall be eligible for 

19 forgiveness under this section for such service not20 withstanding any contrary provision of the promis21 sory note under which the loan or loans were made. 

22 ‘‘(4) FORGIVENESS NOT CONSIDERED IN23 COME.—The amount of a loan, and interest on a 

24 loan, which is forgiven under this section shall not 


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1 be considered income for purposes of the Internal 

2 Revenue Code of 1986. 

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

4 shall be construed to authorize refunding of any re5 payment of a loan. 

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

7 for the same service, receive a benefit under both 

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

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

10 12601 et seq.). 

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

12 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

13 this section. 

14 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec15 tion— 

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

17 a STEM teacher means academic year as defined by 

18 the Secretary; and 

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

20 of science, technology, engineering, or mathe21 matics.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. ABOVE-THE-LINE-DEDUCTION FOR STEM EDU23 CATION MATERIALS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 62(a)(2)(D) of the Inter25 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(D) CERTAIN EXPENSES OF ELEMENTARY

2 AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS.— 

3 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of tax4 able years beginning after 2001, the de5 ductions allowed by section 162 which con6 sist of expenses, not in excess of $250, 

7 paid or incurred by an eligible educator in 

8 connection with books, supplies (other than 

9 nonathletic supplies for courses of instruc10 tion in health or physical education), com11 puter equipment (including related soft12 ware and services) and other equipment, 

13 and supplementary materials used by the 

14 eligible educator in the classroom. 

15 ‘‘(ii) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES.— 

16 In the case of STEM education supplies, 

17 the amount in clause (i) shall be increased 

18 by $250. 

19 ‘‘(iii) COORDINATION.—Clause (i) 

20 shall be applied without regard to clause 

21 (ii).’’. 

22 (b) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Paragraph (3) of sec23 tion 62(d) of such Code is amended to read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(3) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 

2 taxable year beginning after 2015, the $250 

3 amount in subsection (a)(2)(D)(i) shall be in4 creased by an amount equal to— 

5 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

6 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de7 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal8 endar year in which the taxable year be9 gins, determined by substituting ‘calendar 

10 year 2014’ for ‘calendar year 2016’ in sub11 paragraph (A)(ii) thereof. 

12 ‘‘(B) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES.—In 

13 the case of any taxable year beginning after 

14 2018, the $250 amount in subsection 

15 (a)(2)(D)(ii) shall be increased by an amount 

16 equal to— 

17 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

18 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de19 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal20 endar year in which the taxable year be21 gins, determined by substituting ‘calendar 

22 year 2017’ for ‘calendar year 2016’ in sub23 paragraph (A)(ii) thereof. 


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1 ‘‘(C) ROUNDING.—Any increase deter2 mined under subparagraph (A) or (B) shall be 

3 rounded to the nearest multiple of $50.’’. 

4 (c) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES DEFINED.—Sec5 tion 62(d) of such Code is amended is amended by redesig6 nating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), 

7 respectively, and by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol8 lowing new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(2) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES.—For pur10 poses of subsection (a)(2)(D), the term ‘STEM edu11 cation supplies’ means expenses for books, supplies, 

12 equipment, and other materials used in connection 

13 with teaching science, technology, engineering, or 

14 math.’’. 

15 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The heading for sec16 tion 62(d) of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘DEFINI17 TION; SPECIAL RULES’’ and inserting ‘‘ELEMENTARY AND

18 SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’’. 

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

20 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

21 December 31, 2017. 

22 SEC. 4. STEM INTERNSHIP TAX CREDIT. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub24 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

2 section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 45T. STEM INTERNSHIP CREDIT. 

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

5 in the case of an eligible employer the STEM internship 

6 credit determined under this section for the taxable year 

7 is equal to $2,000 for each qualified STEM intern em8 ployed by the employer during the taxable year. 

9 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The total amount of the credit al10 lowed under subsection (a) to a taxpayer for a taxable year 

11 may not exceed $50,000. 

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

13 (a)— 

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

15 ‘qualified STEM intern’ means an individual who is 

16 employed under an internship program of an eligible 

17 employer under which— 

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

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

20 Labor Standards Act of 1938, 

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

22 than 20 hours per week by the eligible employer 

23 in a position related to the career goals of the 

24 intern, 


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

2 weeks of employment with the eligible employer 

3 as an intern, and 

4 ‘‘(D) each intern is a student who is en5 rolled full-time in a science, technology, engi6 neering, or math program (including a program 

7 of study abroad approved for credit by the eligi8 ble institution at which such student is en9 rolled) leading to a recognized undergraduate or 

10 graduate degree at an institution of higher edu11 cation that is an eligible institution in accord12 ance with the provisions of section 487 of the 

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

14 1094) and is not enrolled in an elementary or 

15 secondary school. 

16 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible em18 ployer’ means an employer who employed on av19 erage not more than 500 full-time employees on 

20 business days during the preceding calendar 

21 year. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 

22 any individual with respect to whom a credit is 

23 allowed under this section shall not be taken 

24 into account. 


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1 ‘‘(B) RULES FOR DETERMINING EM2 PLOYER SIZE.—For purposes of subparagraph 

3 (A)— 

4 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION OF AGGREGATION

5 RULE FOR EMPLOYERS.—All persons treat6 ed as a single employer under subsection 

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

8 treated as 1 employer. 

9 ‘‘(ii) EMPLOYERS NOT IN EXISTENCE

10 IN PRECEDING YEAR.—In the case of an 

11 employer which was not in existence 

12 throughout the preceding calendar year, 

13 the determination of whether such em14 ployer is an eligible employer shall be 

15 based on the average number of employees 

16 that it is reasonably expected such em17 ployer will employ on business days in the 

18 current calendar year. 

19 ‘‘(iii) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference 

20 in this paragraph to an employer shall in21 clude a reference to any predecessor of 

22 such employer.’’. 

23 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

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

25 amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the end of paragraph (36), 


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1 by striking the period at the end of paragraph (37) and 

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

3 new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(38) the STEM internship credit determined 

5 under section 45T(a).’’. 

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

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

8 ‘‘45T(a),’’ after ‘‘45S(a),’’. 

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

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

11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add12 ing at the end the following new item: 

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

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

14 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

15 December 31, 2017. 

16 SEC. 5. STEM APPRENTICESHIP TAX CREDIT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub18 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

19 1986, as amended by section 4, is amended by adding at 

20 the end the following new section: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 45U. STEM APPRENTICESHIP CREDIT. 

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

23 in the case of an eligible employer the STEM apprentice24 ship credit determined under this section for the taxable 


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

2 STEM credit amount for 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) STEM CREDIT AMOUNT.—For purposes of sub7 section (a), the STEM credit amount with respect to an 

8 individual shall be— 

9 ‘‘(1) $2,000 in the case of a new apprentice, 

10 ‘‘(2) $3,000 in the case of a mid-career appren11 tice, 

12 ‘‘(3) $3,000 in the case of a unemployed ap13 prentice, and 

14 ‘‘(4) 5,000 in the case of a completed appren15 ticeship employee. 

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

17 (a)— 

18 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible em20 ployer’ means an employer who employed on av21 erage not more than 500 full-time employees on 

22 business days during the preceding calendar 

23 year. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 

24 any individual with respect to whom a credit is 


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1 allowed under this section shall not be taken 

2 into account. 

3 ‘‘(B) RULES FOR DETERMINING EM4 PLOYER SIZE.—For purposes of subparagraph 

5 (A)— 

6 ‘‘(i) APPLICATION OF AGGREGATION

7 RULE FOR EMPLOYERS.—All persons treat8 ed as a single employer under subsection 

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

10 treated as 1 employer. 

11 ‘‘(ii) EMPLOYERS NOT IN EXISTENCE

12 IN PRECEDING YEAR.—In the case of an 

13 employer which was not in existence 

14 throughout the preceding calendar year, 

15 the determination of whether such em16 ployer is an eligible employer shall be 

17 based on the average number of employees 

18 that it is reasonably expected such em19 ployer will employ on business days in the 

20 current calendar year. 

21 ‘‘(iii) PREDECESSORS.—Any reference 

22 in this paragraph to an employer shall in23 clude a reference to any predecessor of 

24 such employer. 


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1 ‘‘(2) NEW APPRENTICE.—The term ‘new ap2 prentice’ means an employee who, with respect to an 

3 eligible employer— 

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

5 qualified apprenticeship program, and 

6 ‘‘(B) prior to beginning the qualified ap7 prenticeship program, has not received com8 pensation during the preceding 1-year period 

9 for services provided to the eligible employer. 

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

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

12 ‘‘(A) prior to being employed by the eligi13 ble employer was either— 

14 ‘‘(i) employed in an industry sector 

15 different from the industry section the eli16 gible employer is in, as determined under 

17 regulations of the Secretary, or 

18 ‘‘(ii) or was unemployed, and 

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

20 qualified apprenticeship program. 

21 ‘‘(4) COMPLETED APPRENTICESHIP EM22 PLOYEE.—The term ‘completed apprenticeship em23 ployee’ means an employee who, with respect to an 

24 eligible employer, completed 1 year of service with 


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1 the eligible employer during the taxable year after 

2 completing a qualified apprenticeship program. 

3 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM.— 

4 The term ‘qualified apprenticeship program’ means 

5 an apprenticeship program in a field of science, tech6 nology, engineering, or math that is recognized 

7 under any program administered by the Secretary of 

8 Labor. 

9 ‘‘(6) UNEMPLOYED.—An individual is unem10 ployed if the individual is certified by the designated 

11 local agency as being in receipt of unemployment 

12 compensation under State or Federal law for not 

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

14 on the hiring date. 

15 ‘‘(7) HIRING DATE; DESIGNATED LOCAL AGEN16 CY.—The terms ‘hiring date’ and ‘designated local 

17 agency’ have the meanings given such terms by sec18 tion 51(d) (11) and (12), respectively. 

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

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

21 chapter for any expenses paid or incurred with respect to 

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

23 section with respect to the individual.’’. 

24 (b) CREDIT MADE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

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


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1 amended by section 4, is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at 

2 the end of paragraph (37), by striking the period at the 

3 end of paragraph (38) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add4 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(39) the STEM apprenticeship credit deter6 mined under section 45U(a).’’. 

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

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

9 ‘‘45U(a),’’ after ‘‘45T(a),’’. 

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

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

12 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by add13 ing at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45U. STEM apprenticeship credit.’’. 

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

15 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

16 December 31, 2017. 

17 SEC. 6. MANDATORY MINIMUM ALLOCATION OF PORTION 

18 OF FEDERAL WORK-STUDY PROGRAM FUNDS 

19 FOR STEM EMPLOYMENT. 

20 (a) MANDATORY MINIMUM ALLOCATION FOR STEM 

21 EMPLOYMENT.—Section 443(b)(2) of the Higher Edu22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 2753(b)(2)) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara24 graph (A); 


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1 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub2 paragraph (C); and 

3 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol4 lowing new subparagraph: 

5 ‘‘(B) for fiscal year 2019 and succeeding 

6 fiscal years, an institution shall use at least 7 

7 percent of the total amount of funds granted to 

8 such institution under this section for such fis9 cal year to compensate students employed in 

10 science, technology, engineering, or mathe11 matics, except that the Secretary may waive 

12 this subparagraph if the Secretary determines 

13 that enforcing this subparagraph would cause 

14 hardship for students at the institution.’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATING TO OFF16 CAMPUS STEM EMPLOYMENT FOR STUDENTS AT PRO17 PRIETARY INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—Sec18 tion 443(b)(8) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 2753(b)(8)) is 

19 amended— 

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

21 (A); 

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

23 (B); and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub25 paragraph: 


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

2 mathematics, in accordance with paragraph 

3 (2)(B) of this subsection;’’. 

Æ 


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