42 USC 18993 - Graduate STEM education

U.S Code last checked for updates: Nov 22, 2024

§ 18993.

Graduate STEM education

(a)

Mentoring and professional development

(1)

Mentoring plans

(A)

Omitted

(B)

Evaluation

(2)

Career exploration

(A)

In general

(B)

Review of proposals

In selecting award recipients under this subparagraph, the Director shall consider, at a minimum—

(i)

the extent to which the administrators of the institution are committed to making the proposed activity a priority; and

(ii)

the likelihood that the institution or organization will sustain or expand the proposed activity effort beyond the period of the award.

(3)

Development plans

(4)

Professional development supplement

(5)

Graduate education research

The Director shall make awards, on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such institutions or organizations) to support research on the graduate education system and outcomes of various interventions and policies, including—

(A)

the effects of traineeships, fellowships, internships, and teaching and research assistantships on outcomes for graduate students;

(B)

the effects of graduate education and mentoring policies and procedures on degree completion, including differences by—

(i)

sex, race and ethnicity, and citizenship; and

(ii)

student debt load;

(C)

the development and assessment of new or adapted interventions, including approaches that improve mentoring relationships, develop conflict management skills, and promote healthy research teams; and

(D)

research, data collection, and assessment of the state of graduate student mental health and wellbeing, factors contributing to and consequences of poor graduate student mental health, and the development, adaptation, and assessment of evidence-based strategies and policies to support emotional wellbeing and mental health.

(b)

Graduate Research Fellowship Program update

(1)

Sense of Congress

(2)

Omitted

(3)

Cybersecurity scholarships and graduate fellowships

(c)

Study on graduate student funding

(1)

In general

Not later than 120 days after August 9, 2022, the Director shall enter into an agreement with a qualified independent organization to evaluate—

(A)

the role of the Foundation in supporting graduate student education and training through fellowships, traineeships, and other funding models; and

(B)

the impact of different funding mechanisms on graduate student experiences and outcomes, including whether such mechanisms have differential impacts on subsets of the student population.

(2)

Report

(d)

[LOG 165 H10304(g)/S2208] ¹ AI scholarship-for-service

(1)

Definition of executive agency

(2)

AI scholarship-for-service initiative report

Not later than 1 year after August 9, 2022, the Director, in coordination with the Office of Personnel Management, shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives a report on the need and feasibility, and if appropriate, plans to implement a program to recruit and train the next generation of artificial intelligence professionals to meet the needs of Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments. The report shall include—

(A)

recent statistical data on the size, composition, and educational requirements of the Federal AI workforce, including an assessment of current and future demand for additional AI professionals across the Federal Government;

(B)

an assessment of the capacity of institutions of higher education to produce graduates with degrees, certifications, and relevant skills related to artificial intelligence that meet the current and future needs of the Federal workforce; and

(C)

an evaluation of the need for and feasibility of establishing a scholarship-for-service program to recruit and train the next generation of artificial intelligence professionals to meet the needs of Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, including opportunities for leveraging existing processes and resources for administering the Federal Cyber Scholarship-for-Service Program established under section 7442 of title 15 in standing up such a program.

(3)

Program establishment

(4)

Qualified institution of higher education

The Director, in coordination with the heads of other agencies with appropriate scientific knowledge, shall establish criteria to designate qualified institutions of higher education that shall be eligible to participate in the Federal AI Scholarship-for-Service program. Such criteria shall include—

(A)

measures of the institution’s demonstrated excellence in the education of students in the field of artificial intelligence; and

(B)

measures of the institution’s ability to attract and retain a diverse and nontraditional student population in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, which may include the ability to attract women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities.

(5)

Program description and components

The Federal AI Scholarship-for-Service Program shall—

(A)

provide scholarships through qualified institutions of higher education to students who are enrolled in programs of study at institutions of higher education leading to degrees or concentrations in or related to the artificial intelligence field;

(B)

provide the scholarship recipients with summer internship opportunities or other meaningful temporary appointments in the Federal workforce focusing on AI projects or research;

(C)

prioritize the employment placement of scholarship recipients in executive agencies;

(D)

identify opportunities to promote multi-disciplinary programs of study that integrate basic or advanced AI training with other fields of study, including those that address the social, economic, legal, and ethical implications of human interaction with AI systems;

(E)

support capacity-building education research programs that will enable postsecondary educational institutions to expand their ability to train the next-generation AI workforce, including AI researchers and practitioners;

(F)

create courses or training programs in technology ethics for students receiving scholarships; and

(G)

award fellowships to masters and doctoral students who are pursuing degrees or research in artificial intelligence and related fields, including in the field of technology ethics.

(6)

Scholarship amounts

(7)

Post-award employment obligations

Each scholarship recipient, as a condition of receiving a scholarship under the program, shall enter into an agreement under which the recipient agrees to work for a period equal to the length of the scholarship, following receipt of the student’s degree, in the AI mission of—

(A)

an executive agency;

(B)

Congress, including any agency, entity, office, or commission established in the legislative branch;

(C)

an interstate agency;

(D)

a State, local, or Tribal government, which may include instruction in AI-related skill sets in a public school system; or

(E)

a State, local, or Tribal government-affiliated nonprofit entity that is considered to be critical infrastructure (as defined in section 5195c(e) of this title).

(8)

Hiring authority

(A)

Appointment in excepted service

(B)

Noncompetitive conversion

(C)

Timing of conversion

(D)

Authority to decline conversion

(9)

Eligibility

To be eligible to receive a scholarship under this section, an individual shall—

(A)

be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States;

(B)

demonstrate a commitment to a career in advancing the field of AI;

(C)

be—

(i)

a full-time student in an eligible degree program at a qualified institution of higher education, as determined by the Director;

(ii)

a student pursuing a degree on a less than full-time basis, but not less than half-time basis; or

(iii)

an AI faculty member on sabbatical to advance knowledge in the field; and

(D)

accept the terms of a scholarship under this section.

(10)

Conditions of support

(A)

In general

(B)

Terms

A scholarship recipient under this section shall be liable to the United States as provided in paragraph (12) if the individual—

(i)

fails to maintain an acceptable level of academic standing at the applicable institution of higher education, as determined by the Director;

(ii)

is dismissed from the applicable institution of higher education for disciplinary reasons;

(iii)

withdraws from the eligible degree program before completing the program;

(iv)

declares that the individual does not intend to fulfill the post-award employment obligation under this section; or

(v)

fails to fulfill the post-award employment obligation of the individual under this section.

(11)

Monitoring compliance

As a condition of participating in the program, a qualified institution of higher education shall—

(A)

enter into an agreement with the Director to monitor the compliance of scholarship recipients with respect to their post-award employment obligations; and

(B)

provide to the Director, on an annual basis, the post-award employment documentation required under paragraph (10) for scholarship recipients through the completion of their post-award employment obligations.

(12)

Amount of repayment

(A)

Less than 1 year of service

If a circumstance described in paragraph (10) occurs before the completion of 1 year of a post-award employment obligation under this section, the total amount of scholarship awards received by the individual under this section shall—

(i)

be repaid; or

(ii)

be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance with paragraph (13).

(B)

1 or more years of service

If a circumstance described in clause (iv) or (v) of paragraph (10)(B) occurs after the completion of 1 or more years of a post-award employment obligation under this section, the total amount of scholarship awards received by the individual under this section, reduced by the ratio of the number of years of service completed divided by the number of years of service required, shall—

(i)

be repaid; or

(ii)

be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance with paragraph (13).

(13)

Repayments

A loan described in paragraph (12) shall—

(A)

be treated as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.); and

(B)

be subject to repayment, together with interest thereon accruing from the date of the scholarship award, in accordance with terms and conditions specified by the Director (in consultation with the Secretary of Education).

(14)

Collection of repayment

(A)

In general

In the event that a scholarship recipient is required to repay the scholarship award under this section, the qualified institution of higher education providing the scholarship shall—

(i)

determine the repayment amounts and notify the recipient and the Director of the amounts owed; and

(ii)

collect the repayment amounts within a period of time as determined by the Director, or the repayment amounts shall be treated as a loan in accordance with paragraph (13).

(B)

Returned to Treasury

(C)

Retain percentage

(15)

Exceptions

(16)

Public information

(A)

Evaluation

The Director, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall annually evaluate and make public, in a manner that protects the personally identifiable information of scholarship recipients, information on the success of recruiting individuals for scholarships under this section and on hiring and retaining those individuals in the public sector AI workforce, including information on—

(i)

placement rates;

(ii)

where students are placed, including job titles and descriptions;

(iii)

salary ranges for students not released from obligations under this section;

(iv)

how long after graduation students are placed;

(v)

how long students stay in the positions they enter upon graduation;

(vi)

how many students are released from obligations; and

(vii)

what, if any, remedial training is required.

(B)

Reports

(C)

Resources

The Director, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall provide consolidated and user-friendly online resources for prospective scholarship recipients, including, to the extent practicable—

(i)

searchable, up-to-date, and accurate information about participating institutions of higher education and job opportunities related to the AI field; and

(ii)

a modernized description of AI careers.

(17)

Refresh

(Pub. L. 117–167, div. B, title III, § 10313, Aug. 9, 2022, 136 Stat. 1522.)

cite as: 42 USC 18993