I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5540 
To establish a grant program for stipends to assist in the cost of compensa-
tion 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 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 
Ms. JACKSON LEE (for herself and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) introduced the fol-
lowing 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘America Realizing the 
Informational Skills and Initiative of New Graduates Act 
of 2014’’ or ‘‘America RISING Act of 2014’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) According to the Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics, in 2012 the national unemployment rate for in-
dividuals ages 25 years and older with a bachelor’s 
degree was 4.5 percent and 6.2 percent for individ-
uals with an associate’s degree. For college grad-
uates ages 18 to 25 the national unemployment rate 
in 2012 was higher at 7.7 percent. Because the typ-
ical college graduates leaves college owing an aver-
age of $29,400 in student loan debt, a rate that has 
increased 6 percent every year since 2008, the cur-
rent job market offers exceedingly few opportunities 
for such graduates to obtain employment at a salary 
adequate to service their college loan debt. 
(2) There are more than 26 million small busi-
nesses in the United States. In the current economic 
climate, these small businesses are experiencing dif-
ficulty in finding the resources needed to increase 
sales, modernize operations, and hire new employees. 
(3) Recent college graduates need the experi-
ence that can be obtained only in the workplace to 
refine their skills and develop the entrepreneurial 
qualities that can lead to the creation of new busi-
nesses and jobs. 
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(4) Existing small businesses, and companies 
will benefit from the information and technology 
skills possessed by many of the Nation’s recent col-
lege graduates. 
(5) Enabling recent college graduates to obtain 
employment with small businesses benefits the na-
tional economy by providing such businesses the 
human capital and technical expertise needed to 
compete and win in the global economy of the 21st 
century. 
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF AMERICA RISING PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Labor and 
the Secretary of Education shall, jointly, establish a pro-
gram under which— 
(1) grants are paid to eligible employers to de-
fray the cost of compensation paid by such employ-
ers to recent college graduates; and 
(2) grants are paid to recent college graduates 
to enable such graduates to defray the cost of under-
taking further postsecondary courses at an institu-
tion of higher education for up to 24 months in sub-
jects relating to mathematics, science, engineering, 
or technology. 
(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section 
may be made on such terms and conditions as the 
Secretary may determine. 
(2) DEFERRAL
OF
FEDERAL
STUDENT
LOAN 
OBLIGATIONS.—Each recent college graduate partici-
pating in the program under this section (by benefit-
ting from a grant awarded under paragraph (1), or 
receiving a grant under paragraph (2), of subsection 
(a)) may defer payment on Federal student loans 
made to the graduate under title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) for 
the period of the graduate’s participation in the pro-
gram. 
(3) GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE EMPLOYERS.—With 
respect to a grant awarded under subsection 
(a)(1)— 
(A) an eligible employer— 
(i) may use the grant to defray the 
cost of compensation for not more than 2 
recent college graduates; and 
(ii) shall provide a compensation 
amount to each recent college graduate 
participating in the program that is equal 
to or greater than the grant amount re-
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ceived by the employer for the graduate; 
and 
(B) the Secretary may not award an eligi-
ble employer more than $25,000 per recent col-
lege graduate. 
(4) GRANTS
TO
RECENT
COLLEGE
GRAD-
UATES.—With respect to a grant awarded under 
subsection (a)(2) to a recent college graduate, the 
graduate shall be eligible to receive Federal student 
aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) without regard to 
whether the graduate has been or is delinquent on 
any Federal student loans made to the graduate 
under such title IV (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘eligible 
employer’’ means an employer that— 
(A) is a small business concern; or 
(B) is a major corporation that has an op-
eration located in— 
(i) an enterprise zone; or 
(ii) an area in which, according to the 
most recent data available, the unemploy-
ment rate exceeds the national average un-
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