I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2082 
To provide for loan forgiveness for STEM teachers, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 29, 2015 
Mr. SWALWELL of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce, 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 provide for loan forgiveness for STEM teachers, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘STEM K to Career 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR STEM TEACHERS. 
Part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 428L the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:00 May 07, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2082.IH
H2082
Emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘SEC. 428M. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR STEM TEACHERS. 
‘‘(a) LOAN FORGIVENESS AUTHORIZED.—The Sec-
retary shall forgive, in accordance with this section, the 
qualified loan amount described in subsection (c) of the 
student loan obligation of a borrower who— 
‘‘(1) is employed as a full-time STEM teacher 
for service in an academic year (including such a 
STEM teacher employed by an educational service 
agency)— 
‘‘(A) in a public or other nonprofit private 
elementary school or secondary school, which, 
for the purpose of this paragraph and for that 
year— 
‘‘(i) has been determined by the Sec-
retary (pursuant to regulations of the Sec-
retary and after consultation with the 
State educational agency of the State in 
which the school is located) to be a school 
in which the number of children meeting a 
measure 
of 
poverty 
under 
section 
1113(a)(5) of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965, exceeds 30 
percent of the total number of children en-
rolled in such school; and 
‘‘(ii) is in the school district of a local 
educational agency which is eligible in such 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:00 May 07, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2082.IH
H2082
Emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
(other than an excepted PLUS loan or an excepted 
consolidation loan (as such terms are defined in sec-
tion 493C(a))); and 
‘‘(2) to cancel a qualified loan amount for a 
loan made under part D of this title (other than an 
excepted PLUS loan or an excepted consolidation 
loan). 
‘‘(c) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.— 
‘‘(1) FORGIVENESS OF PERCENTAGE OF DEBT 
BASED ON YEARS OF SERVICE.—For each complete 
year of service by a borrower as a STEM teacher in 
accordance with this section after the date of enact-
ment of the STEM K to Career Act, the Secretary 
shall forgive the student loan obligation of the bor-
rower at the rate of 15 percent of such obligation for 
the first or second year of such service, 20 percent 
of such obligation for the third or fourth year of 
such service, and 30 percent of such obligation for 
the fifth year of such service. 
‘‘(2) PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST FORGIVEN.—If 
a portion of a loan is forgiven under this section for 
any year, the entire amount of interest on such loan 
which accrues for such year shall be forgiven. 
‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULES.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:00 May 07, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2082.IH
H2082
Emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
loan, which is forgiven under this section shall not 
be considered income for purposes of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(5) NO REFUNDS.—Nothing in this subsection 
shall be construed to authorize refunding of any re-
payment of a loan. 
‘‘(6) NO DOUBLE BENEFIT.—No borrower may, 
for the same service, receive a benefit under both 
this section and subtitle D of title I of the National 
and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
12601 et seq.). 
‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 
issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 
this section. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec-
tion— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘year’ where applied to service as 
a STEM teacher means academic year as defined by 
the Secretary; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘STEM teacher’ means a teacher 
of science, technology, engineering, or mathe-
matics.’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:00 May 07, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2082.IH
H2082
Emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 3. ABOVE-THE-LINE-DEDUCTION FOR STEM EDU-
CATION MATERIALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 62(a)(2)(D) of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(D) CERTAIN EXPENSES OF ELEMENTARY 
AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of tax-
able years beginning after 2001, the de-
ductions allowed by section 162 which con-
sist of expenses, not in excess of $250, 
paid or incurred by an eligible educator in 
connection with books, supplies (other than 
nonathletic supplies for courses of instruc-
tion in health or physical education), com-
puter equipment (including related soft-
ware and services) and other equipment, 
and supplementary materials used by the 
eligible educator in the classroom. 
‘‘(ii) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES.— 
In the case of STEM education supplies, 
the amount in clause (i) shall be increased 
by $250. 
‘‘(iii) 
COORDINATION.—Clause 
(i) 
shall be applied without regard to clause 
(ii).’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:00 May 07, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2082.IH
H2082
Emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
(b) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES DEFINED.—Sec-
tion 62(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend-
ed is amended by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-
graph (3) and by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(2) STEM EDUCATION SUPPLIES.—For pur-
poses of subsection (a)(2)(D), the term ‘STEM edu-
cation supplies’ means expenses for books, supplies, 
equipment, and other materials used in connection 
with teaching science, technology, engineering, or 
math.’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The heading for sec-
tion 62(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘DEFINITION; SPECIAL RULES’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘ELEMENTARY
AND SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACH-
ERS’’. 
SEC. 4. STEM INTERNSHIP TAX CREDIT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 45S. STEM INTERNSHIP CREDIT. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 
in the case of an eligible employer the STEM internship 
credit determined under this section for the taxable year 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:00 May 07, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2082.IH
H2082
Emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
is equal to $2,000 for each qualified STEM intern em-
ployed by the employer during the taxable year. 
‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The total amount of the credit al-
lowed under subsection (a) to a taxpayer for a taxable year 
may not exceed $50,000. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of subsection 
(a)— 
‘‘(1) QUALIFIED
STEM
INTERN.—The term 
‘qualified STEM intern’ means an individual who is 
employed under an internship program of an eligible 
employer under which— 
‘‘(A) each intern is paid not less than the 
wage in effect under section 6(a) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938, 
‘‘(B) each intern is employed for not less 
than 20 hours per week by the eligible employer 
in a position related to the career goals of the 
intern, 
‘‘(C) each intern completes not less than 6 
weeks of employment with the eligible employer 
as an intern, and 
‘‘(D) each intern is a student who is en-
rolled full-time in a science, technology, engi-
neering, or math program (including a program 
of study abroad approved for credit by the eligi-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:00 May 07, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2082.IH
H2082
Emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
ble institution at which such student is en-
rolled) leading to a recognized undergraduate or 
graduate degree at an institution of higher edu-
cation that is an eligible institution in accord-
ance with the provisions of section 487 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1094) and is not enrolled in an elementary or 
secondary school. 
‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE EMPLOYER.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible em-
ployer’ means an employer who employed on av-
erage not more than 500 full-time employees on 
business days during the preceding calendar 
year. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 
any individual with respect to whom a credit is 
allowed under this section shall not be taken 
into account. 
‘‘(B) RULES
FOR
DETERMINING
EM-
PLOYER SIZE.—For purposes of subparagraph 
(A)— 
‘‘(i) APPLICATION
OF
AGGREGATION 
RULE FOR EMPLOYERS.—All persons treat-
ed as a single employer under subsection 
(b), (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 shall be 
treated as 1 employer. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:00 May 07, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H2082.IH
H2082
Emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS