[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5509 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.5509

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
           the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen


                                 An Act


 
To direct the National Science Foundation to provide grants for research 
about STEM education approaches and the STEM-related workforce, 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 ``Innovations in Mentoring, Training, 
and Apprenticeships Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    Congress finds the following:
        (1) To remain competitive in the global economy, foster greater 
    innovation, and provide a foundation for shared prosperity, the 
    United States needs a workforce with the right mix of skills to 
    meet the diverse needs of the economy.
        (2) Evidence indicates that the returns on investments in 
    technical skills in the labor market are strong when students 
    successfully complete their education and gain credentials sought 
    by employers.
        (3) The responsibility for developing and sustaining a skilled 
    technical workforce is fragmented across many groups, including 
    educators, students, workers, employers, Federal, State, and local 
    governments, civic associations, and other stakeholders. Such 
    groups need to be able to coordinate and cooperate successfully 
    with each other.
        (4) Coordination among students, community colleges, secondary 
    and post-secondary institutions, and employers would improve 
    educational outcomes.
        (5) Promising experiments currently underway may guide 
    innovation and reform, but scalability of some of those experiments 
    has not yet been tested.
        (6) Evidence suggests that integration of academic education, 
    technical skills development, and hands-on work experience improves 
    outcomes and return on investment for students in secondary and 
    post-secondary education and for skilled technical workers in 
    different career stages.
        (7) Outcomes show that mentoring can increase STEM student 
    engagement and the rate of completion of STEM post-secondary 
    degrees.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION STEM INNOVATION AND APPRENTICESHIP 
GRANTS.
    Section 3 of the Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 (42 
U.S.C. 1862i) is amended--
        (1) by redesignating subsections (d) through (g) as subsections 
    (g) through (j), respectively;
        (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Grants for Associate Degree Programs in STEM Fields.--
        ``(1) In-demand workforce grants.--The Director shall award 
    grants to junior or community colleges to develop or improve 
    associate degree or certificate programs in STEM fields, with 
    respect to the region in which the respective college is located, 
    and an in-demand industry sector or occupation.
        ``(2) Applications.--In considering applications for grants 
    under paragraph (1), the Director shall prioritize--
            ``(A) applications that consist of a partnership between 
        the applying junior or community college and individual 
        employers or an employer consortia, or industry or sector 
        partnerships, and may include a university or other 
        organization with demonstrated expertise in academic program 
        development;
            ``(B) applications that demonstrate current and future 
        workforce demand in occupations directly related to the 
        proposed associate degree or certificate program;
            ``(C) applications that include commitments by the 
        partnering employers or employer consortia, or industry or 
        sector partnerships, to offer apprenticeships, internships, or 
        other applied learning opportunities to students enrolled in 
        the proposed associate degree or certificate program;
            ``(D) applications that include outreach plans and goals 
        for recruiting and enrolling women and other underrepresented 
        populations in STEM fields in the proposed associate degree or 
        certificate program; and
            ``(E) applications that describe how the applying junior or 
        community college will support the collection of information 
        and data for purposes of evaluation of the proposed associate 
        degree or certificate program.
    ``(e) Grants for STEM Degree Applied Learning Opportunities.--
        ``(1) In general.--The Director shall award grants to 
    institutions of higher education partnering with private sector 
    employers or private sector employer consortia, or industry or 
    sector partnerships, that commit to offering apprenticeships, 
    internships, research opportunities, or applied learning 
    experiences to enrolled students in identified STEM baccalaureate 
    degree programs.
        ``(2) Purposes.--Awards under this subsection may be used--
            ``(A) to develop curricula and programs for apprenticeship, 
        internships, research opportunities, or applied learning 
        experiences; or
            ``(B) to provide matching funds to incentivize partnership 
        and participation by private sector employers and industry.
        ``(3) Applications.--In considering applications for grants 
    under paragraph (1), the Director shall prioritize--
            ``(A) applicants that consist of a partnership between--
                ``(i) the applying institution of higher education; and
                ``(ii) individual employers or an employer consortia, 
            or industry or sector partnerships;
            ``(B) applications that demonstrate current and future 
        workforce demand in occupations directly related to the 
        identified STEM fields;
            ``(C) applications that include outreach plans and goals 
        for recruiting and enrolling women and other underrepresented 
        populations in STEM fields; and
            ``(D) applications that describe how the institution of 
        higher education will support the collection and information of 
        data for purposes of the evaluation of identified STEM degree 
        programs.
    ``(f) Grants for Computer-based and Online STEM Education 
Courses.--
        ``(1) In general.--The Director of the National Science 
    Foundation shall award competitive grants to institutions of higher 
    education or nonprofit organizations to conduct research on student 
    outcomes and determine best practices for STEM education and 
    technical skills education through distance learning or in a 
    simulated work environment.
        ``(2) Research areas.--The research areas eligible for funding 
    under this subsection may include--
            ``(A) post-secondary courses for technical skills 
        development for STEM occupations;
            ``(B) improving high-school level career and technical 
        education in STEM subjects;
            ``(C) encouraging and sustaining interest and achievement 
        levels in STEM subjects among women and other populations 
        historically underrepresented in STEM studies and careers; and
            ``(D) combining computer-based and online STEM education 
        and skills development with traditional mentoring and other 
        mentoring arrangements, apprenticeships, internships, and other 
        applied learning opportunities.'';
        (3) in subsection (a)(3)(A), by striking the comma and 
    inserting a semicolon;
        (4) in subsection (c)(1)(B)(iv), by striking ``subsection 
    (f)(3)'' and inserting ``subsection (i)(3)'';
        (5) in subsection (h), as redesignated--
            (A) in the heading, by striking ``Limitation on Funding'' 
        and inserting ``Funding'';
            (B) by inserting ``(3) Limitation on funding.--'' before 
        ``To qualify'' and indenting appropriately; and
            (C) by inserting before paragraph (3), as redesignated, the 
        following:
        ``(1) Funding.--The Director shall allocate out of amounts made 
    available for the Education and Human Resources Directorate--
            ``(A) up to $5,000,000 to carry out the activities under 
        subsection (d) for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022, 
        subject to the availability of appropriations;
            ``(B) up to $2,500,000 to carry out the activities under 
        subsection (e) for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022, 
        subject to the availability of appropriations; and
            ``(C) up to $2,500,000 to carry out the activities under 
        subsection (f) for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022, 
        subject to the availability of appropriations.
        ``(2) Limitation on funding.--Amounts made available to carry 
    out subsections (d), (e), and (f) shall be derived from amounts 
    appropriated or otherwise made available to the National Science 
    Foundation.''; and
        (6) in subsection (j), as redesignated--
            (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
        semicolon;
            (B) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (7); and
            (C) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
        ``(5) the term `in-demand industry sector or occupation' has 
    the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation 
    and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102);
        ``(6) the term `junior or community college' has the meaning 
    given the term in section 312 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
    (20 U.S.C. 1058);''; and
            (D) by adding at the end the following:
        ``(8) the term `region' means a labor market area, as that term 
    is defined in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 
    Act (29 U.S.C. 3102); and
        ``(9) the terms `mathematics, science, engineering, or 
    technology' or `STEM' mean science, technology, engineering, and 
    mathematics, including computer science.''.
SEC. 4. RESEARCH ON EFFICIENCY OF SKILLED TECHNICAL LABOR MARKETS.
    (a) Efficiency of Skilled Technical Labor Markets.--The Director of 
the National Science Foundation, working through the Directorate of 
Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences, in coordination with the 
Secretary of Labor, shall support research on labor market analysis 
innovations, data and information sciences, electronic information 
tools and methodologies, and metrics.
    (b) Skilled Technical Workforce.--
        (1) Review.--The National Center for Science and Engineering 
    Statistics of the National Science Foundation shall consult and 
    coordinate with other relevant Federal statistical agencies, 
    including the Institute of Education Sciences of the Department of 
    Education, and the Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, 
    and Mathematics Education of the National Science and Technology 
    Council established under section 101 of the America COMPETES Act 
    of 2010 (Public Law 111-358), to explore the feasibility of 
    expanding its surveys to include the collection of objective data 
    on the skilled technical workforce.
        (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
    of this Act, the Director of the National Science Foundation shall 
    submit to Congress a report on the progress made in expanding the 
    National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics surveys to 
    include the skilled technical workforce, including a plan for 
    multi-agency collaboration to improve data collection and reporting 
    of data on the skilled technical workforce.
        (3) Definition of skilled technical workforce.--The term 
    ```skilled technical workforce''' means workers with high school 
    diplomas and two-year technical training or certifications who 
    employ significant levels of STEM knowledge in their jobs.
SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND REPORT.
    (a) Evaluation.--
        (1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
    enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Science 
    Foundation shall evaluate the grant programs established under 
    subsections (d), (e), and (f) of section 3 of the Scientific and 
    Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 1862i), as amended by 
    this Act.
        (2) Requirements.--In conducting the evaluation under paragraph 
    (1), the Director shall--
            (A) use a common set of benchmarks and assessment tools to 
        identify best practices and materials developed or demonstrated 
        by the research conducted pursuant to such grants and programs 
        under subsection (f) of that section;
            (B) include an assessment of the effectiveness of the grant 
        programs in expanding apprenticeships, internships, and other 
        applied learning opportunities offered by employers in 
        conjunction with junior or community colleges, or institutions 
        of higher education, as applicable;
            (C) assess the number of students who participated in the 
        grant programs; and
            (D) assess the percentage of students participating in the 
        grant programs who successfully complete their education 
        programs.
    (b) Report on Evaluations.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
the evaluation under subsection (a) is complete, the Director of the 
National Science Foundation shall submit to Congress and the Secretary 
of Education, and make widely available to the public, a report on the 
results of the evaluation, including any recommendations for 
legislative action that could optimize the effectiveness of the grant 
programs.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.