I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2733 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide 

grants to States to establish a comprehensive school career counseling 

framework. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 21, 2021 

Mr. LANGEVIN (for himself and Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania) introduced 

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

Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

of 1965 to provide grants to States to establish a comprehensive school career counseling framework. 

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 ‘‘Counseling for Career 

5 Choice Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT. 

7 Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) is amended by add9 ing at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART G—COUNSELING FOR CAREER CHOICE

2 ‘‘SEC. 4701. DEFINITIONS. 

3 ‘‘In this part: 

4 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘com5 munity college’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a junior or community college (as de7 fined in section 312(f) of the Higher Education 

8 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f))); 

9 ‘‘(B) a 4-year public institution of higher 

10 education (as defined in section 101 of the 

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

12 1001)) that awards a significant number of de13 grees and certificates, as determined by the 

14 Secretary, that are not— 

15 ‘‘(i) baccalaureate degrees (or an 

16 equivalent); or 

17 ‘‘(ii) master’s, professional, or other 

18 advanced degrees; or 

19 ‘‘(C) an area career and technical edu20 cation school (as defined in section 3 of the 

21 Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Edu22 cation Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)). 

23 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en24 tity’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an eligible agency, as defined in sec2 tion 3(18) of the Carl D. Perkins Career and 

3 Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 

4 2302(18)); 

5 ‘‘(B) a local educational agency, including 

6 an educational service agency; or 

7 ‘‘(C) a consortium that consists of one 

8 local educational agency in combination with 

9 one or more local educational agencies, edu10 cational service agencies, nonprofit organiza11 tions with demonstrated expertise in counseling 

12 or career and technical education, postsec13 ondary institutions, or tribal organizations. 

14 ‘‘(3) LOCAL WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

15 BOARD.—The term ‘local workforce development 

16 board’ means a local workforce development board 

17 established under section 107 of the Workforce In18 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3122). 

19 ‘‘(4) ONE-STOP CENTER.—The term ‘one-stop 

20 center’ means a site described in section 121(e)(2) 

21 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 

22 (29 U.S.C. 3151). 

23 ‘‘(5) SCHOOL COUNSELOR.—The term ‘school 

24 counselor’ means an individual who holds a valid 


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1 school counseling license or certification from a 

2 State educational agency. 

3 ‘‘(6) STAKEHOLDERS.—The term ‘stakeholders’ 

4 includes local educational agencies, school coun5 selors, secondary schools, institutions of higher edu6 cation (including community colleges), eligible agen7 cies (as defined under section 203 of the Adult Edu8 cation and Family Literacy Act (20 U.S.C. 9202)), 

9 the State workforce development board, the State 

10 agency responsible for labor market information, 

11 other applicable State agencies as determined by the 

12 Secretary, local workforce development boards, area 

13 career and technical education schools (as defined in 

14 section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Tech15 nical Education Act of 2006), local businesses and 

16 industries, organizations offering apprenticeship pro17 grams, tribal organizations, labor organizations, pro18 grams leading to post-secondary credentials, includ19 ing industry-recognized credentials, other programs 

20 for career and technical education (as defined in sec21 tion 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical 

22 Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302)), industry 

23 associations, and any other organizations, individ24 uals or persons that the Secretary determines appro25 priate to carry out the purposes of this part. 


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1 ‘‘(7) STATEWIDE CAREER COUNSELING FRAME2 WORK.—The term ‘statewide career counseling 

3 framework’ means a framework that encompasses 

4 the middle grades through grade 12 and postsec5 ondary education and that includes information on 

6 career awareness, skills assessment, skills training, 

7 student interest surveys, postsecondary education 

8 entrance requirements, secondary school graduation 

9 requirements, high school equivalency, adult edu10 cation programs and services, financial aid, institu11 tions of higher education, community colleges, pro12 grams leading to industry-recognized credentials, ca13 reer and technical education programs, internships, 

14 dual enrollment programs, apprenticeships, and pro15 fessional development opportunities or career devel16 opment training for school counselors. 

17 ‘‘(8) STATE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

18 BOARD.—The term ‘State workforce development 

19 board’ means a State workforce development board 

20 established under section 101 of the Workforce In21 novation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111). 

22 ‘‘(9) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘tribal 

23 organization’ has the meaning given the term in sec24 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu25 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 


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1 ‘‘(10) INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED CREDENTIAL.— 

2 The term ‘industry-recognized,’ used with respect to 

3 a credential, means a credential that— 

4 ‘‘(A) is sought or accepted by employers 

5 within the industry or sector involved as a rec6 ognized, preferred, or required credential for re7 cruitment, screening, hiring, retention, or ad8 vancement purposes; and 

9 ‘‘(B) where appropriate, is endorsed by a 

10 nationally recognized trade association or orga11 nization representing a significant part of the 

12 industry or sector. 

13 ‘‘SEC. 4702. GRANTS AUTHORIZED. 

14 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—From amounts ap15 propriated to carry out this part, the Secretary shall 

16 award grants, on a competitive basis, to State educational 

17 agencies to enable the State educational agencies to carry 

18 out the activities described in section 4704. 

19 ‘‘(b) DURATION; AMOUNT; EXTENSION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) DURATION.—Each grant under this sec21 tion shall be for a period of not more than 2 years. 

22 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—Each grant shall be of an 

23 amount not less than $2,000,000 and not more than 

24 $5,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may extend a 

2 grant awarded under this section for additional 3- 

3 year periods if the State educational agency— 

4 ‘‘(A) is achieving the intended outcomes of 

5 the grant; and 

6 ‘‘(B) shows continued engagement with 

7 stakeholders. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 4703. APPLICATION. 

9 ‘‘A State educational agency desiring a grant under 

10 this part shall submit an application at such time, in such 

11 manner, and containing such information as the Secretary 

12 may require. The application shall include— 

13 ‘‘(1) a description of the statewide career coun14 seling framework and implementation plan sup15 ported by not less than 5 stakeholders, of which at 

16 least 1 stakeholder shall be a local business or indus17 try or statewide industry organization and 1 shall be 

18 a local educational agency or secondary school; and 

19 ‘‘(2) a description of how the State educational 

20 agency will award subgrants and ensure that the ac21 tivities described in section 4704 are carried out. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 4704. ACTIVITIES. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency re24 ceiving a grant under section 4702 shall use grant funds 

25 to— 


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1 ‘‘(1) implement comprehensive school career 

2 counseling programs that align with the statewide 

3 counseling framework described in the State edu4 cational agency’s application; 

5 ‘‘(2) identify and assess school counseling ac6 tivities and postsecondary options available within 

7 the State, and outside the State as applicable; 

8 ‘‘(3) identify regional workforce trends in col9 laboration with entities at the State and regional 

10 level with expertise in identifying such trends, such 

11 as State workforce development boards, local work12 force development boards, regional economic develop13 ment organizations, or State employment agencies; 

14 ‘‘(4) train school counselors effectively to pro15 vide students with current and relevant workforce 

16 information, financial aid assistance, personal coun17 seling, and academic advising relevant to students’ 

18 individual career and postsecondary education goals; 

19 ‘‘(5) develop and implement a process and in20 frastructure for school counselors and school coun21 selor programs to access the statewide career coun22 seling framework and information regarding the re23 gional workforce trends identified in paragraph (4); 

24 ‘‘(6) develop and implement professional devel25 opment or career development training certification 


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1 programs for counselors and other educators in2 volved in preparing students for postsecondary op3 portunities, which may include partnering with an 

4 industry association that provides a nationally recog5 nized certification in career development; 

6 ‘‘(7) develop a searchable method by which 

7 counseling professional development opportunities 

8 from around the State are collected, maintained, and 

9 disseminated to school counselors; 

10 ‘‘(8) establish, improve, or coordinate postsec11 ondary opportunities, which may include individual 

12 career planning, personalized learning plans, reg13 istered apprenticeships, internships, dual enrollment 

14 programs, programs leading to industry-recognized 

15 credentials (including programs at a secondary 

16 school), 2-year degree programs, 4-year degree pro17 grams, and other applicable postsecondary opportu18 nities; 

19 ‘‘(9) provide recommendations and improve a 

20 local educational agency’s and other education serv21 ice program providers to out of school youth and 

22 adults curricula to better align with workforce 

23 trends and available postsecondary opportunities; 

24 ‘‘(10) conduct other activities pertaining to the 

25 administration of the statewide framework; 


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1 ‘‘(11) establish partnerships with one-stop cen2 ters, which may include co-locating a one-stop center 

3 in a high school, transporting students to local one4 stop centers, or having one-stop center career coun5 selors and business liaisons assist school counselors 

6 in hosting job fairs, career days, or other such simi7 lar tasks; 

8 ‘‘(12) leverage resources and emerging tech9 nologies that are being developed by stakeholders to 

10 support the counseling framework; and 

11 ‘‘(13) evaluate secondary and postsecondary 

12 outcomes for individuals served by the career coun13 seling programs, disaggregated by the subgroups of 

14 students described in section 1111(c)(2)(B). 

15 ‘‘(b) SUBGRANTS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A State educational agency 

17 that receives a grant may carry out the activities de18 scribed in subsection (a) directly or through award19 ing subgrants, on a competitive basis, to eligible en20 tities to enable the eligible entities to carry out any 

21 of the activities. 

22 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that de23 sires a subgrant under this subsection shall submit 

24 an application to the State educational agency at 

25 such time, in such manner, and containing such inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:37 Jun 04, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2733.IH H2733

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1 formation as the State educational agency may rea2 sonably require, including a description of the com3 prehensive school career counseling program for par4 ticipating schools and students that the eligible enti5 ty proposes to develop and implement using sub6 grant funds. 

7 ‘‘(c) HIRING OF PERSONNEL.—An eligible entity that 

8 receives a grant under section 4702 may use the grant 

9 funds to hire additional personnel to carry out the activi10 ties described in subsection (a). 

11 ‘‘SEC. 4705. SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT. 

12 ‘‘Funds made available under this part shall be used 

13 to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, 

14 and local funds available to carry out the activities sup15 ported under this part. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 4706. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

17 ‘‘(a) SEA REPORTS.—Not later than 2 years after 

18 receiving a grant under this part, a State educational 

19 agency shall submit a report to the Secretary that in20 cludes, at a minimum— 

21 ‘‘(1) a description of the use of funds received 

22 under this part; and 

23 ‘‘(2) the results of the evaluation conducted 

24 under section 4704(a)(13). 


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1 ‘‘(b) SECRETARY’S REPORTS.—Not later than 3 

2 years after the date of enactment of the Counseling for 

3 Career Choice Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Sec4 retary shall prepare and submit to the appropriate com5 mittees of Congress a report on the progress made by the 

6 eligible entities receiving grants under this part in imple7 menting grant activities, including the contents of the re8 ports under subsection (a). 

9 ‘‘SEC. 4707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this part $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2022 and 

12 $40,000,000 for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

Æ 


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