[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1257 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1257
To establish a Federal artificial intelligence scholarship-for-service
program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 20, 2021
Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Thune) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a Federal artificial intelligence scholarship-for-service
program.
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 ``AI Scholarship-for-Service Act''.
SEC. 2. FEDERAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SCHOLARSHIP-FOR-SERVICE
PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial
intelligence'' or ``AI'' has the meaning given the term
``artificial intelligence'' in section 238(g) of the John S.
McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019
(10 U.S.C. 2358 note).
(2) Executive agency.--The term ``executive agency'' has
the meaning given the term ``Executive agency'' in section 105
of title 5, United States Code.
(3) Registered internship.--The term ``registered
internship'' means a Federal Registered Internship Program
coordinated through the Department of Labor.
(b) In General.--The Director of the National Science Foundation,
in coordination with the Director of the Office of Personnel
Management, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, and the heads of other agencies with appropriate scientific
knowledge, shall establish a Federal artificial intelligence
scholarship-for-service program (referred to in this section as the
``Federal AI Scholarship-for-Service Program'') to recruit and train
artificial intelligence professionals to lead and support the
application of artificial intelligence to the missions of Federal,
State, local, and Tribal governments.
(c) Qualified Institution of Higher Education.--The Director of the
National Science Foundation, 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--
(1) measures of the institution's demonstrated excellence
in the education of students in the field of artificial
intelligence; and
(2) measures of the institution's ability to attract and
retain a diverse and non-traditional student population in the
fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,
which may include the ability to attract women, minorities, and
individuals with disabilities.
(d) Program Description and Components.--The Federal AI
Scholarship-for-Service Program shall--
(1) 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;
(2) provide the scholarship recipients with summer
internship opportunities, registered internships, or other
meaningful temporary appointments in the Federal workforce
focusing on artificial intelligence (referred to in this
section as ``AI'') projects or research;
(3) prioritize the employment placement of scholarship
recipients in executive agencies;
(4) 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; and
(5) 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.
(e) Scholarship Amounts.--Each scholarship under subsection (d)
shall be in an amount that covers the student's tuition and fees at the
institution for not more than 3 years and provides the student with an
additional stipend.
(f) 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--
(1) an executive agency;
(2) Congress, including any agency, entity, office, or
commission established in the legislative branch;
(3) an interstate agency;
(4) a State, local, or Tribal government, which may include
instruction in AI-related skill sets in a public school system;
or
(5) a State, local, or Tribal government-affiliated
nonprofit that is considered to be critical infrastructure (as
defined in section 1016(e) of the USA Patriot Act (42 U.S.C.
5195c(e))).
(g) Hiring Authority.--
(1) Appointment in excepted service.--Notwithstanding any
provision of chapter 33 of title 5 governing appointments in
the competitive service, an executive agency shall appoint in
the excepted service an individual who has completed the
eligible degree program for which a scholarship was awarded.
(2) Noncompetitive conversion.--Except as provided in
paragraph (4), upon fulfillment of the service term, an
employee appointed under paragraph (1) may be converted
noncompetitively to term, career-conditional or career
appointment.
(3) Timing of conversion.--An executive agency may
noncompetitively convert a term employee appointed under
paragraph (2) to a career-conditional or career appointment
before the term appointment expires.
(4) Authority to decline conversion.--An executive agency
may decline to make the noncompetitive conversion or
appointment under paragraph (2) for cause.
(h) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a scholarship under
this section, an individual shall--
(1) be a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United
States;
(2) demonstrate a commitment to a career in advancing the
field of AI;
(3) be--
(A) a full-time student in an eligible degree
program at a qualified institution of higher education,
as determined by the Director of the National Science
Foundation;
(B) a student pursuing a degree on a less than
full-time basis, but not less than half-time basis; or
(C) an AI faculty member on sabbatical to advance
knowledge in the field; and
(4) accept the terms of a scholarship under this section.
(i) Conditions of Support.--
(1) In general.--As a condition of receiving a scholarship
under this section, a recipient shall agree to provide the
qualified institution of higher education with annual
verifiable documentation of post-award employment and up-to-
date contact information.
(2) Terms.--A scholarship recipient under this section
shall be liable to the United States as provided in subsection
(k) if the individual--
(A) fails to maintain an acceptable level of
academic standing at the applicable institution of
higher education, as determined by the Director of the
National Science Foundation;
(B) is dismissed from the applicable institution of
higher education for disciplinary reasons;
(C) withdraws from the eligible degree program
before completing the program;
(D) declares that the individual does not intend to
fulfill the post-award employment obligation under this
section; or
(E) fails to fulfill the post-award employment
obligation of the individual under this section.
(j) Monitoring Compliance.--As a condition of participating in the
program, a qualified institution of higher education shall--
(1) enter into an agreement with the Director of the
National Science Foundation, to monitor the compliance of
scholarship recipients with respect to their post-award
employment obligations; and
(2) provide to the Director of the National Science
Foundation, on an annual basis, the post-award employment
documentation required under subsection (i)(1) for scholarship
recipients through the completion of their post-award
employment obligations.
(k) Amount of Repayment.--
(1) Less than 1 year of service.--If a circumstance
described in subsection (i)(2) 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--
(A) be repaid; or
(B) be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance
with subsection (l).
(2) 1 or more years of service.--If a circumstance
described in subparagraph (D) or (E) of subsection (i)(2)
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--
(A) be repaid; or
(B) be treated as a loan to be repaid in accordance
with subsection (l).
(l) Repayments.--A loan described in subsection (k) shall--
(1) 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
(2) 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 of the
National Science Foundation (in consultation with the Secretary
of Education).
(m) Collection of Repayment.--
(1) 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--
(A) determine the repayment amounts and notify the
recipient and the Director of the National Science
Foundation of the amounts owed; and
(B) collect the repayment amounts within a period
of time as determined by the Director of the National
Science Foundation, or the repayment amounts shall be
treated as a loan in accordance with subsection (l).
(2) Returned to treasury.--Except as provided in paragraph
(3), any repayment under this subsection shall be returned to
the Treasury of the United States.
(3) Retain percentage.--A qualified institution of higher
education may retain a percentage of any repayment the
institution collects under this subsection to defray
administrative costs associated with the collection. The
Director of the National Science Foundation shall establish a
fixed percentage that will apply to all eligible entities, and
may update this percentage as needed, in the determination of
the Director of the National Science Foundation.
(n) Exceptions.--The Director of the National Science Foundation
may provide for the partial or total waiver or suspension of any
service or payment obligation by an individual under this section
whenever compliance by the individual with the obligation is impossible
or would involve extreme hardship to the individual, or if enforcement
of such obligation with respect to the individual would be
unconscionable.
(o) Public Information.--
(1) Evaluation.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation, 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--
(A) placement rates;
(B) where students are placed, including job titles
and descriptions;
(C) salary ranges for students not released from
obligations under this section;
(D) how long after graduation students are placed;
(E) how long students stay in the positions they
enter upon graduation;
(F) how many students are released from
obligations; and
(G) what, if any, remedial training is required.
(2) Reports.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation, in coordination with the Office of Personnel
Management, shall submit, not less frequently than once every 3
years, to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee of the Senate, the Committee on Commerce, Science,
and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, and the
Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of
Representatives a report, including the results of the
evaluation under paragraph (1) and any recent statistics
regarding the size, composition, and educational requirements
of the Federal AI workforce.
(3) Resources.--The Director of the National Science
Foundation, 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--
(A) searchable, up-to-date, and accurate
information about participating institutions of higher
education and job opportunities related to the AI
field; and
(B) a modernized description of AI careers.
(p) Refresh.--Not less than once every 2 years, the Director of the
National Science Foundation, in coordination with the Director of the
Office of Personnel Management, shall review and update the Federal AI
Scholarship-for-Service Program to reflect advances in technology.
<all>