I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3393 
To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having access to a 
well-prepared and diverse educator workforce, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 20, 2021 
Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois (for himself, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 
PANETTA, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. COHEN, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. SMITH of 
Washington, Mr. SOTO, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. 
PRESSLEY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. 
BROWN, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. SIRES, Ms. MENG, Mr. TRONE, Ms. BUSH, 
Ms. TITUS, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. POCAN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. CHU, Mr. WELCH, Mr. NADLER, Ms. 
TLAIB, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. 
KHANNA, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition 
to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To remove college cost as a barrier to every student having 
access to a well-prepared and diverse educator workforce, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Diversifying by Invest-
ing in Educators and Students to Improve Outcomes For 
Youth Act’’ or the ‘‘Diversify Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Schools predominantly enrolling historically 
underserved students are often disproportionately 
impacted by teacher shortages. 
(2) According to Department of Education data 
for the 2020–2021 school year, to date 43 States 
are reporting shortages in mathematics teachers, 42 
in science teachers, and 44 in special education 
teachers. 
(3) Data shows that, between 2009 and 2017, 
teacher education enrollments dropped from 691,000 
to 444,000, a 38-percent reduction. This amounts to 
a decrease of about 340,000 professionals on their 
way to becoming teachers in the year 2017, as com-
pared to 2009. 
(4) Current data show that the impacts of 
COVID–19 may be further exacerbating student ac-
cess to well-prepared and diverse teachers through 
declining higher education enrollments and potential 
increased turnover due to pandemic teaching condi-
tions, among other factors. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
(5) About 80 percent of educators begin teach-
ing with a bachelor’s degree, yet the latest Federal 
data show a nearly 6-percent decline in under-
graduate enrollment in the Spring of 2021. Enroll-
ment declines have inequitably impacted students of 
color. 
(6) In an August 2020 Census Bureau survey, 
respondents cited their inability to pay as a factor 
in their decision to forgo college. 
(7) Research suggests that service scholarship 
programs like the TEACH Grant Program are suc-
cessful when they are both administratively manage-
able and when subsidies are large enough to sub-
stantially offset training costs. Efforts to increase 
the TEACH Grant award amount must be combined 
with efforts to ensure that the program is adminis-
tratively manageable. In order for the TEACH 
Grant Program to meet its full potential, the re-
search is clear that both criteria need to be ad-
dressed. 
(8) The TEACH Grant’s award amount has not 
increased since its creation in the bipartisan College 
Cost Reduction and Access Act (Public Law 110– 
84). In addition, due to the Budget Control Act of 
2011 (Public Law 112–25), the maximum amount 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
of grant aid available under the TEACH Grant Pro-
gram of $4,000 a year has been cut for a majority 
of the program’s existence. This comes at a time 
when the yearly full cost of a public 4-year college 
for an in-State student exceeds $20,000. Further, 
more than two-thirds of individuals entering the field 
of education borrow money to pay for their higher 
education, resulting in an average debt of about 
$20,000 for those with a bachelor’s degree and 
$50,000 for those with a master’s degree. 
(9) Grant programs can eliminate or reduce the 
need to borrow student loans in order to afford a 
college education. This is important because a col-
lege student’s potential debt burden influences the 
student’s decisions about what profession to enter, 
with the result that the student is less likely to pur-
sue a career in education or take other low-paying 
jobs after graduation if the student expects to incur 
more debt. This is especially true for students of 
color, who, according to a recent report, are more 
likely to come from families that are unable to con-
tribute financially to their higher education. 
(10) Students with disabilities, including stu-
dents of color with disabilities, are also likely to ac-
crue significant student loan debt. This often results 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
from limited ability to work while in school due to 
the increased time needed for coursework. 
(11) Teachers of color face unique barriers to 
entering and staying in the profession. For example, 
teachers of color are more likely to enter teaching 
through alternative pathways due to the high cost of 
traditional teacher preparation programs and the 
debt burden faced by college students of color. 
Lower quality pathways can result in less effective 
teaching and high turnover rates. Research shows 
that candidates who receive comprehensive prepara-
tion are 2 to 3 times more likely to stay in teaching 
than those who receive little training. In many cases, 
however, teachers of color are more likely to begin 
teaching without having completed comprehensive 
preparation and entering instead through alternative 
routes that often skip student teaching and key 
coursework, leaving teachers to learn on the job. 
(12) Research shows that recruiting and retain-
ing a diverse teacher workforce is key to improving 
outcomes for all students and for closing achieve-
ment gaps. While White students also benefit by 
learning from teachers of color, the impact is espe-
cially significant for students of color, who have 
higher test scores, are more likely to graduate from 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
high school, and more likely to succeed in college 
when they have had teachers of color who serve as 
role models and support their attachment to school 
and learning. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE TEACH GRANTS PROGRAM 
UNDER THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 
1965. 
Subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in section 420L(1), by inserting ‘‘(except 
that such term does not include an institution de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A) of section 102)’’ after 
‘‘102’’; 
(2) in section 420M— 
(A) in subsection (a)(1), by striking 
‘‘$4,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$8,000’’; 
(B) in subsection (b)(3), by striking the 
second and third sentences and inserting the 
following: ‘‘Any disbursement allowed to be 
made by crediting the teacher candidate’s ac-
count shall be used for the full cost of attend-
ance (as defined in section 472).’’; and 
(C) in subsection (d)— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
(i) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking 
‘‘$16,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$32,000’’; and 
(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking 
‘‘$8,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$16,000’’; and 
(3) in section 420N— 
(A) in subsection (b)— 
(i) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3); 
(ii) by striking ‘‘an agreement’’ and 
all that follows through ‘‘the applicant 
will’’ and inserting ‘‘an agreement by the 
applicant that the applicant will’’; 
(iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 
(A) through (E) as paragraphs (1) through 
(5), respectively, and moving the margins 
of such paragraphs (as so redesignated) 2 
ems to the left; 
(iv) 
by 
redesignating 
clauses 
(i) 
through 
(vii) 
as 
subparagraphs 
(A) 
through (G), respectively, and moving the 
margins of such subparagraphs (as so re-
designated) 2 ems to the left; 
(v) in paragraph (2), as redesignated 
by clause (iii), by striking ‘‘teach in a 
school described in section 465(a)(2)(A)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘teach in a school described 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
in section 465(a)(2)(A) or teach in a high- 
need early childhood education program 
(defined in section 200(9))’’; and 
(vi) in paragraph (3), as redesignated 
by clause (iii)— 
(I) in subparagraph (F), as re-
designated by clause (iv), by striking 
‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; 
(II) in subparagraph (G), as re-
designated by clause (iv), by inserting 
‘‘or’’ after the semicolon; and 
(III) by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(H) early childhood education;’’; and 
(B) by striking subsection (c) and insert-
ing the following: 
‘‘(c) CERTIFICATE.—Upon the completion of the 
service requirement in subsection (b), the Secretary shall 
send to the recipient of a grant under this subpart an elec-
tronic certificate documenting the completion of such serv-
ice.’’; 
(C) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e); 
(D) by inserting after subsection (c) the 
following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
‘‘(d) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary may not institute 
or create a monetary penalty for failure or refusal to com-
plete the service requirement under subsection (b).’’; and 
(E) in subsection (e), as redesignated by 
subparagraph (C)— 
(i) 
by 
striking 
‘‘subsection 
(b)(1)(C)(vii)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 
(b)(3)(G)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)(1)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’. 
SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO THE BALANCED BUDGET AND DEF-
ICIT CONTROL ACT. 
(a) EXEMPTION OF PROGRAM FROM SEQUESTRA-
TION.—Section 255(h) of the Balanced Budget and Emer-
gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 905(h)) is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to ‘‘Supple-
mental Security Income Program (28–0406–0–1–609).’’ 
the following new item: 
‘‘TEACH Grants under subpart 9 of part A of 
title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by this 
section shall apply to any sequestration order issued under 
the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 900 et seq.) on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
20:21 Jun 28, 2021
Jkt 019200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H3393.IH
H3393
pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS