[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.