[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 848 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
S.848
One Hundred Seventeenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Sunday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty one
An Act
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 of 2021''.
SEC. 2. TEACH GRANTS.
Section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g-
2) is amended--
(1) in subsection (b)(1)--
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``(referred to in
this section as the `service obligation window')'' after
``under this subpart'';
(B) in subparagraph (C)(vii), by inserting ``or geographic
area'' after ``field''; and
(C) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E) and inserting the
following:
``(D) submit a certification of employment by the chief
administrative officer of the school in accordance with
subsection (d)(5); and
``(E) meet all State certification requirements for
teaching (which may include meeting such requirements through a
certification obtained through alternative routes to
teaching);'';
(2) in subsection (c)--
(A) by striking ``In the event'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) In general.--In the event''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Reconsideration of conversion decisions.--
``(A) Request to reconsider.--In any case where the
Secretary has determined that a recipient of a grant under this
subpart has failed or refused to comply with the service
obligation in the agreement under subsection (b) and has
converted the grant into a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford
Loan under part D in accordance with paragraph (1), (including
a TEACH Grant converted to a loan prior to the date of
enactment of the Consider Teachers Act of 2021 and including
cases where such loans have been fully or partially paid), the
recipient may request that the Secretary reconsider such
initial determination and may submit additional information to
demonstrate satisfaction of the service obligation. Upon
receipt of such a request, the Secretary shall reconsider the
determination in accordance with this paragraph not later than
90 days after the date that such request was received.
``(B) Reconsideration.--If, in reconsidering an initial
determination under subparagraph (A) (including reconsideration
related to a TEACH Grant that was converted to a loan prior to
the date of enactment of the Consider Teachers Act of 2021 and
including cases where such loans were fully or partially paid),
the Secretary determines that the reason for such determination
was the recipient's failure to timely submit a certification
required under subsection (b)(1)(D) (as in effect on the day
before the date of enactment of the Consider Teachers Act of
2021), an error or processing delay by the Secretary, a change
to the fields considered eligible for fulfillment of the
service obligation (as described in subsection (b)(1)(C)), a
recipient having previously requested to have the TEACH Grant
converted to a loan, or another valid reason determined by the
Secretary, and that the recipient has, as of the date of the
reconsideration, demonstrated that the recipient did meet, or
is meeting the service obligation in the agreement under
subsection (b), the Secretary shall--
``(i) discharge the Federal Direct Unsubsidized
Stafford Loan under part D, and reinstate the recipient's
grant under this subpart;
``(ii) discharge any interest or fees that may have
accumulated during the period that the grant was converted
to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part
D;
``(iii) if the recipient has other loans under part D,
apply any payments made for the Federal Direct Unsubsidized
Stafford Loan under part D during such period to those
other loans under part D;
``(iv) if the recipient does not have other loans under
part D, reimburse the recipient for any amounts paid on the
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under part D
during such period;
``(v) request that consumer reporting agencies remove
any negative credit reporting due to the conversion of the
TEACH Grant to a loan; and
``(vi) use the additional information provided under
subparagraph (A) to determine the progress the recipient
has made in meeting the service obligation.
``(C) Extension of time to complete service obligation.--In
the case of a recipient whose TEACH Grant was reinstated in
accordance with subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall, upon
such reinstatement--
``(i) extend the time remaining for the recipient to
fulfill the service obligation described in subsection
(b)(1) to a period of time equal to--
``(I) 8 years; minus
``(II) the number of full academic years of
teaching that the recipient completed prior to the
reconversion of the loan to a TEACH Grant under
subparagraph (B), including any years of qualifying
teaching completed during the period when the TEACH
Grant was in loan status; and
``(ii) treat any full academic years of teaching
described in clause (i)(II) as years that count toward the
individual's service obligation (regardless of whether the
TEACH Grant funds were in grant or loan status) if that
time otherwise meets the requirements of this section.'';
and
(3) in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Communication with recipients.--The Secretary shall
notify TEACH grant recipients not less than once per calendar year
regarding how to submit the employment certification under
subsection (b)(1)(D) and the recommendations and requirements for
submitting that certification under subsection (d)(5).
``(4) Qualifying schools and high-need fields.--The Secretary
shall maintain and annually update a list of qualifying schools as
described in subsection (b)(1)(B), and a list of high-need fields
as described in subsection (b)(1)(C) and shall make such lists
publicly available on the Department's website in a sortable and
searchable format.''.
SEC. 3. SUBMISSION OF EMPLOYMENT CERTIFICATION.
Section 420N(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1070g-2(d)), as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(5) Submission of employment certification.--
``(A) Recommended submissions.--The Secretary shall notify
TEACH Grant recipients that the Department recommends that
TEACH Grant recipients submit the employment certification
described in subsection (b)(1)(D) as soon as practicable after
the completion of each year of service.
``(B) Required submission.--A TEACH Grant recipient shall
be required to submit to the Department employment
certification within the timeframe that would allow that
individual to complete their service obligation before the end
of the service obligation window.
``(C) Notification.--The Secretary shall notify TEACH Grant
recipients of the required submission deadlines described in
this paragraph.
``(D) Adjustment of deadline.--The Secretary shall adjust
the submission deadline described in subparagraph (B) to
account for a service obligation window extension.
``(E) Alternative to certification.--The Secretary shall
provide an alternative to the certification of employment
described in subsection (b)(1)(D) for recipients who cannot
obtain such required certification of employment from the chief
administrative officer of the school because the recipient can
demonstrate the school is no longer in existence or the school
refuses to cooperate.''.
SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF TIME TO FULFILL SERVICE OBLIGATION DUE TO COVID-
19.
(a) Section 3519(a) of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136; 20 U.S.C.
1001 note) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking ``For
the purpose of section 420N of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1070g-2), during a qualifying emergency,'' and inserting
``Notwithstanding any provision of subpart 9 of part A of title IV
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.),'';
(2) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' after the semicolon;
(3) in paragraph (2), by striking ``such section 420N.'' and
inserting ``section 420N of such Act; and''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) shall extend the service obligation window (as described
in section 420N(b)(1)(A) of such Act) for a period of not more than
3 years, in addition to any extensions provided in accordance with
subpart 9 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1070g et seq.), in the case of a grant recipient whose
service obligation window begins during, or includes--
``(A) the qualifying emergency period; or
``(B) a period of recession or economic downturn related to
the qualifying emergency period, as determined by the Secretary
in consultation with the Secretary of Labor.''.
(b) Section 3519 of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-136; 20 U.S.C.
1001 note) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Federal Perkins Loans.--Notwithstanding section 465 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ee), the Secretary shall
waive the requirements of such section in regard to full-time service
and shall consider an incomplete year of service of a borrower as
fulfilling the requirement for a complete year of service under such
section, if the service was interrupted due to a qualifying
emergency.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take
effect as if included in the enactment of the CARES Act (Public Law
116-136).
SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION.
In carrying out this Act and any amendments made by this Act, or
any regulations promulgated under this Act or under such amendments,
the Secretary of Education may waive the application of--
(1) subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code
(commonly known as the ``Paperwork Reduction Act'');
(2) the master calendar requirements under section 482 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089);
(3) negotiated rulemaking under section 492 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098a); and
(4) the requirement to publish the notices related to the
system of records of the agency before implementation required
under paragraphs (4) and (11) of section 552a(e) of title 5, United
States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy Act of 1974''), except
that the notices shall be published not later than 180 days after
the date of enactment of this Act.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.