H. R. 4346—224 
(d) ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENTS.—The Director may enter 
into an agreement with a qualified third-party entity to administer 
the fellowships, subject to the provisions of this section. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized 
to be appropriated to the Director a total of $125,000,000 for fiscal 
years 2023 through 2027, to carry out the activities outlined in 
this section. 
SEC. 10393. SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director, acting through the Directorate, 
shall fund undergraduate scholarships (including at community 
colleges), graduate fellowships and traineeships, and postdoctoral 
awards in the key technology focus areas. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Director may carry out subsection 
(a) by making awards— 
(1) directly to students; and 
(2) to institutions of higher education or consortia of institu-
tions of higher education, including those institutions or con-
sortia involved in operating Regional Innovation Engines estab-
lished under section 10388. 
(c) BROADENING PARTICIPATION.—In carrying out this section, 
the Director shall take steps to increase the participation of popu-
lations that are underrepresented in STEM, which may include— 
(1) establishing or augmenting programs targeted at popu-
lations that are underrepresented in STEM; 
(2) supporting traineeships or other relevant programs at 
historically Black colleges and universities, Tribal Colleges or 
Universities, and minority-serving institutions; 
(3) enabling low-income populations to pursue associate, 
undergraduate, or graduate level degrees in STEM; 
(4) addressing current and expected gaps in the availability 
or skills of the STEM workforce, or addressing needs of the 
STEM workforce, including by increasing educational capacity 
at institutions and by prioritizing awards to United States 
citizens, permanent residents, and individuals that will grow 
the domestic workforce; and 
(5) addressing geographic diversity in the STEM workforce. 
(d) ENCOURAGING INNOVATION.—In carrying out this section, 
the Director shall encourage innovation in graduate education, 
including through encouraging institutions of higher education to 
offer graduate students opportunities to gain experience in industry 
or Government as part of their graduate training, and through 
support for students in professional master’s programs related to 
the key technology focus areas or to the societal, national, and 
geostrategic challenges. 
(e) AREAS OF FUNDING SUPPORT.—Subject to the availability 
of funds to carry out this section, the Director shall— 
(1) issue— 
(A) postdoctoral awards, 
(B) graduate fellowships and traineeships, inclusive 
of the NSF Research Traineeships and fellowships awarded 
under the Graduate Research Fellowship Program; and 
(C) scholarships, including undergraduate scholarships, 
research experiences, and internships, including— 
(i) scholarships to attend community colleges; and 
(ii) research experiences and internships under 
sections 513, 514, and 515 of the America COMPETES
H. R. 4346—225 
Reauthorization Act of 2010 (42 U.S.C. 1862p–5; 
1862p–6; 1862p–7); 
(2) ensure that not less than 10 percent of the funds made 
available to carry out this section are used to support additional 
awards that focus on community college training, education, 
and teaching programs that increase the participation of popu-
lations that are historically underrepresented in STEM, 
including technical programs through programs such as the 
Advanced Technological Education program; and 
(3) if funds remain after carrying out paragraphs (1) and 
(2) make awards to institutions of higher education to enable 
the institutions to fund the development and establishment 
of new or specialized programs of study for graduate, under-
graduate, or technical college students and the evaluation of 
the effectiveness of those programs of study. 
(f) LOW-INCOME SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award scholarships 
to low-income individuals to enable such individuals to pursue 
associate, undergraduate, or graduate level degrees in STEM 
fields. 
(2) ELIGIBILITY.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a scholarship 
under this subsection, an individual— 
(i) must be a citizen of the United States, a 
national of the United States (as defined in section 
1101(a) of title 8), an alien admitted as a refugee 
under section 1157 of title 8, or an alien lawfully 
admitted to the United States for permanent residence; 
(ii) shall prepare and submit to the Director an 
application at such time, in such manner, and con-
taining such information as the Director may require; 
and 
(iii) shall certify to the Director that the individual 
intends to use amounts received under the scholarship 
to enroll or continue enrollment at an institution of 
higher education (as defined in section 1001(a) of title 
20) in order to pursue an associate, undergraduate, 
or graduate level degree in STEM fields designated 
by the Director. 
(B) ABILITY.—Awards of scholarships under this sub-
section shall be made by the Director solely on the basis 
of the ability of the applicant, except that in any case 
in which 2 or more applicants for scholarships are deemed 
by the Director to be possessed of substantially equal 
ability, and there are not sufficient scholarships available 
to award one to each of such applicants, the available 
scholarship or scholarships shall be awarded to the 
applicants in a manner that will tend to result in a geo-
graphically wide distribution throughout the United States 
recipients’ places of permanent residence. 
(3) SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNT AND RENEWAL.—Section 414(d) 
of the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement 
Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 1869c) is amended in paragraph (3) 
by— 
(A) striking ‘‘, except that the Director shall not award 
a scholarship in an amount exceeding $10,000 per year’’; 
and
H. R. 4346—226 
(B) striking ‘‘4 years’’ and inserting ‘‘5 years’’. 
(4) AUTHORIZATION.—Of amounts authorized for the Direc-
torate 
for 
Technology, 
Innovation, 
and 
Partnerships, 
$100,000,000 shall be authorized to carry out this subsection. 
(g) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Director may use or augment 
existing STEM education programs of the Foundation and leverage 
education or entrepreneurial partners to carry out this section. 
SEC. 10394. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AWARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available for the Direc-
torate, the Director shall make awards, on a competitive basis, 
for research and technology development within the key technology 
focus areas, including investments that advance solutions to the 
challenges under section 10387. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the awards under this section 
shall be to accelerate technological advances and technology adop-
tion in the key technology focus areas. 
(c) RECIPIENTS.—Recipients of funds under this section may 
include institutions of higher education, research institutions, non- 
profit organizations, private sector entities, consortia, or other enti-
ties as defined by the Director. 
(d) METRICS.—The Director may set metrics, including goals 
and deadlines, for the development and demonstration of technology 
as determined in the terms of the award, and may use such metrics 
to determine whether an award recipient shall be eligible for contin-
ued or follow-on funding. 
(e) SHORT TERM TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT.—The Director shall 
also make awards, including through the SBIR and STTR programs 
(as defined in section 9(e) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
638(e)), to expedite short-term technology deployment within a 
period of no longer than 24 months. 
(f) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting recipients for an award 
under this section, the Director shall consider, at a minimum— 
(1) the relevance of the project to the challenges and the 
key technology focus areas under section 10387, and the poten-
tial of the project to result in transformational advances for 
such challenges and the key technology focus areas; 
(2) the current status of similar technology, the limits 
of current practice, and the novelty and risks of the proposed 
project; 
(3) the ethical, societal, safety, and security implications 
relevant to the application of the technology; 
(4) the appropriateness of quantitative goals and metrics 
for evaluating the project and a plan for evaluating those 
metrics; and 
(5) the path for developing and, as appropriate, commer-
cializing the technology into products and processes in the 
United States. 
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From within funds 
authorized for the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Part-
nerships, there are authorized to carry out the activities under 
this section $1,000,000,000 for fiscal years 2023 through 2027. 
SEC. 10395. SCALING INNOVATIONS IN PREK–12 STEM EDUCATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Taking into consideration the recommenda-
tions under section 10311(a)(4) of subtitle B, the Director shall 
make awards, on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis, to establish 
multidisciplinary Centers for Transformative Education Research
H. R. 4346—227 
and Translation (in this section referred to as ‘‘Centers’’) to support 
research 
and 
development 
on 
widespread 
and 
sustained 
implementation of STEM education innovations. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—The entity seeking an award for a Center 
under this section must be an institution of higher education, a 
nonprofit organization, or a consortium of such institutions or 
organizations, which may include a STEM ecosystem . 
(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity under subsection (b) 
seeking an award under this section shall submit an application 
to the Director at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Director may require. The application shall 
include, at a minimum, a description of how the proposed Center 
will be used to— 
(1) establish partnerships among academic institutions, 
local or State educational agencies, and other relevant stake-
holders in supporting programs and activities to facilitate the 
widespread and sustained implementation of promising, evi-
dence-based STEM education practices, models, programs, cur-
riculum, and technologies; 
(2) support enhanced STEM education infrastructure, 
including cyberlearning technologies, to facilitate the wide-
spread adoption of promising, evidence-based practices; 
(3) support research and development on scaling practices, 
partnerships, and alternative models to current approaches, 
including approaches sensitive to the unique combinations of 
capabilities, resources, and needs of varying localities, edu-
cators, and learners; 
(4) include a focus on the learning needs of under-resourced 
schools and learners in low-resource or underachieving local 
educational agencies in urban and rural communities and the 
development of high-quality curriculum that engages these 
learners in the knowledge and practices of STEM fields; 
(5) include a focus on the learning needs and unique chal-
lenges facing students with disabilities; 
(6) support research, development, or education on one 
or more of the key technology focus areas; 
(7) support research and development on scaling practices 
and models to support and sustain highly-qualified STEM edu-
cators in urban and rural communities; and 
(8) at the discretion of the Director, any other requirements 
recommended in the study commissioned under section 10311(a) 
of subtitle B. 
(d) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In making an award under 
this section, the Director may also consider the extent to which 
the proposed Center will— 
(1) leverage existing collaborations, tools, and strategies 
supported by the Foundation, including NSF INCLUDES and 
the Convergence Accelerators; 
(2) support research on and the development and scaling 
of innovative approaches to distance learning and education 
for various student populations; 
(3) support education innovations that leverage new tech-
nologies or deepen understanding of the impact of technology 
on educational systems; and 
(4) include a commitment from local or State education 
administrators to making the proposed reforms and activities 
a priority.