Title: Consider Teachers Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Consider Teachers Act
This bill revises the service obligation verification process for the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grant program.
For example, the bill provides a process for the Department of Education to reconsider and reverse the conversion of a TEACH grant to a loan.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3926 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3926

   To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve the 
service obligation verification process for TEACH Grant recipients, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 23, 2019

Mr. Visclosky introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve the 
service obligation verification process for TEACH Grant recipients, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Consider Teachers Act''.

SEC. 2. TEACH GRANT.

    (a) Agreements To Serve.--Section 420N(b) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2(b) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(D), by striking ``upon completion'' 
        and inserting ``by not later than October 31 after 
        completion''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``failed or refused to 
        carry out such service obligation'' and inserting ``not 
        completed the applicant's service obligation within the 8-year 
        period described in paragraph (1)(A) or the applicant withdraws 
        from such service obligation''.
    (b) Repayment for Failure To Complete Service.--Section 420N(c) of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2(c) is amended to 
read as follows:
    ``(c) Repayment for Failure To Complete Service.--
            ``(1) In general.--In the event that the Secretary 
        determines that any recipient of a grant under this subpart has 
        not completed the recipient's service obligation under 
        subsection (b) or has withdrawn from such service obligation, 
        the sum of the amounts of any TEACH Grants received by such 
        recipient shall, upon such a determination, be treated as a 
        Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D, and 
        shall be subject to repayment, together with interest thereon 
        accruing from the date of the grant award, in accordance with 
        terms and conditions specified by the Secretary in regulations 
        under this subpart.
            ``(2) Reconsideration of loan treatment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the event that the Secretary 
                has made a determination under paragraph (1) with 
                respect to a recipient of a grant under this subpart 
                that results in such grant being treated as a Federal 
                Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D--
                            ``(i) upon request of such recipient, the 
                        Secretary shall reconsider the determination; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) such recipient may submit to the 
                        Secretary additional information to demonstrate 
                        that--
                                    ``(I) the recipient has completed 
                                the service obligation within the 8-
                                year period described in subsection 
                                (b)(1)(A); or
                                    ``(II) the 8-year period for 
                                completion of such service obligation 
                                has not yet expired.
                    ``(B) Approval of reconsideration.--If, in 
                reconsidering a determination under subparagraph (A), 
                the Secretary determines that the recipient has, as of 
                the date of the reconsideration, demonstrated that the 
                recipient has completed the service obligation within 
                the 8-year period described in subsection (b)(1)(A), or 
                that the 8-year period for completion of such service 
                obligation has not yet expired, the Secretary shall--
                            ``(i) cancel the amount of principal, 
                        interest accrued, or any fees that are 
                        outstanding on the Federal Direct Unsubsidized 
                        Stafford Loan made to the recipient under this 
                        subpart, reinstate the recipient's grant under 
                        this subpart, and extend the 8-year service 
                        period described in subsection (b)(1)(A) by an 
                        amount equal to the period during which such 
                        grant was treated as such loan;
                            ``(ii) if the recipient has an outstanding 
                        obligation on another loan made under part D, 
                        apply any payments made on such Federal Direct 
                        Unsubsidized Stafford Loan toward such other 
                        loan, and in a case in which the recipient has 
                        an outstanding obligation on multiple loans 
                        made under part D, enable the borrower to 
                        determine how such payments shall be applied 
                        toward such loans;
                            ``(iii) if the recipient does not have an 
                        outstanding obligation on any other loan made 
                        under part D, reimburse the recipient for any 
                        amounts paid on such Federal Direct 
                        Unsubsidized Stafford Loan; and
                            ``(iv) count any period of service of the 
                        recipient that meets the requirements of 
                        subsection (b)(1) and that was completed while 
                        the grant was being treated as such Federal 
                        Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, toward the 
                        recipient's service obligation under subsection 
                        (b)(1).
                    ``(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
                paragraph shall be construed to mean that the service 
                obligation under this subpart is waived.''.
    (c) Communication With Recipients.--Section 420N(d) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g-2(d) is amended by adding at the 
end the following:
            ``(3) Communication with recipients.--Not later than 
        October 5 of each year, the Secretary shall notify each 
        recipient of a grant under this subpart of the following:
                    ``(A) The terms and conditions the recipient must 
                continue to meet to satisfy their service obligation in 
                the agreement under subsection (b).
                    ``(B) The requirement and means for the recipient 
                to provide evidence of qualified employment to the 
                Secretary described under subsection (b)(1)(D).
                    ``(C) The amount of service the Secretary has 
                counted towards the recipients' service obligation in 
                the agreement under subsection (b).
                    ``(D) The period remaining for the recipient to 
                complete the recipient's service obligation in the 
                agreement under subsection (b).
                    ``(E) The conditions under which the Secretary will 
                treat a TEACH Grant as a loan under subsection (c)(1).
                    ``(F) The amount of interest that may accrue and 
                that the recipient will be required to pay if such 
                grant is treated as a loan under subsection (c)(1).
                    ``(G) The process under which the recipient may 
                contact the Secretary to request a reconsideration 
                under subsection (c)(2).
                    ``(H) The process under which a recipient may 
                request to have a portion of the recipient's service 
                obligation excused pursuant to subsection (d)(2).
                    ``(I) The process under which a recipient may 
                request to withdraw from the recipient's service 
                obligation under subsection (b).''.
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