II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3398 

To amend the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program 

to promote career awareness in accounting as part of a well-rounded 

STEM educational experience. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 15, 2021 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Student Support and Academic Enrichment 

Grant program to promote career awareness in accounting as part of a well-rounded STEM educational experience. 

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 Education in 

5 Accounting Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) The accounting profession is working to en2 sure that it meets the needs of the public, busi3 nesses, governments, and not-for-profit organizations 

4 in a technology-driven marketplace. 

5 (2) Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion 

6 within the accounting profession fosters a field that 

7 is reflective of the local, regional, and global commu8 nities it serves, and is better positioned to innovate 

9 around the complex issues facing organizations of all 

10 kinds and the evolving public interest. 

11 (3) Early exposure to the accounting profession 

12 through family, friends, and other community inter13 actions, or relevant elementary and secondary course 

14 offerings, increases opportunity for students to rec15 ognize the limitless possibilities of a career in ac16 counting, and therefore inspires that professional 

17 trajectory. 

18 (4) This Act seeks to build on existing financial 

19 literacy initiatives by establishing the significance of 

20 early course offerings in accounting education as 

21 drivers for improving career opportunity and diver22 sity within this STEM profession. 

23 (5) There is a clear and logical integration be24 tween accounting and technology: as the profession 

25 continues to advance its use of technology to serve 


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1 the public interest, accounting professionals, includ2 ing CPAs, are technological leaders who manage and 

3 analyze big data, ensure data security, manage cy4 bersecurity risk, and work alongside Information 

5 Technology professionals. 

6 SEC. 3. ACCOUNTING AS PART OF A WELL-ROUNDED EDU7 CATIONAL EXPERIENCE. 

8 Subpart 1 of part A of title IV of the Elementary 

9 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7111 

10 et seq.) is amended— 

11 (1) in section 4104(b)(3)(A)(i), by— 

12 (A) striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause 

13 (VI); 

14 (B) redesignating subclause (VII) as sub15 clause (VIII); and 

16 (C) inserting after subclause (VI) the fol17 lowing new subclause: 

18 ‘‘(VII) accounting education, in19 cluding accounting career awareness; 

20 or’’; and 

21 (2) in section 4107(a)(3), by— 

22 (A) striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara23 graph (I); 

24 (B) redesignating subparagraph (J) as 

25 subparagraph (K); and 


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1 (C) inserting after subparagraph (I) the 

2 following new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(J) activities to promote the development, 

4 implementation, and strengthening of programs 

5 to teach accounting, including increasing access 

6 to high-quality accounting courses for students 

7 through grade 12 who are members of groups 

8 underrepresented in accounting careers; or’’. 

Æ 


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