To amend the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 and the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to repeal cost-sharing with respect to the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Josh Riley
D-NY | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Riley of New York (for himself and Mr. Kennedy …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Boosting the Rural STEM Pipeline Act removes the requirement that universities and colleges provide matching funds when they receive grants from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program. This program, run by the National Science Foundation, helps train STEM majors and professionals to become K-12 teachers, particularly for high-need and rural schools.
Who Benefits and How
- Universities and colleges, especially smaller and rural institutions, benefit by no longer needing to come up with matching funds to participate in the program. This removes a significant financial barrier that prevented many resource-limited schools from training future STEM teachers.
- Prospective STEM teachers may see more scholarship opportunities as more institutions can participate in the program.
- Rural and high-need school districts may benefit from increased supply of qualified STEM teachers.
Who Bears the Burden and How
- Federal taxpayers bear the cost, as the National Science Foundation will now fund 100% of program costs instead of sharing costs with participating institutions.
- The NSF faces increased administrative and financial burden as it takes on full program funding responsibility.
Key Provisions
- Strikes subsection (i) of Section 10A of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002, which contained the cost-sharing requirement
- Makes conforming amendments to the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act to reflect the change from plural "requirements" and "waivers" to singular forms
- Enables smaller and rural colleges to participate in STEM teacher training without financial barriers
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Repeals cost-sharing requirements for the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program under the National Science Foundation, making it easier for institutions to participate in training STEM teachers for rural and high-need schools.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Remove financial barriers that prevent smaller or less-resourced institutions from participating in the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, particularly those serving rural areas."
Likely Beneficiaries
- Universities and colleges (especially smaller, rural institutions) that want to participate in the Noyce program but cannot afford cost-sharing
- Prospective STEM teachers who may benefit from expanded program availability
- Rural school districts facing STEM teacher shortages
Likely Burden Bearers
- Federal taxpayers (NSF will bear full cost rather than splitting with institutions)
- National Science Foundation (must fund 100% of program costs)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_director"
- → Director of the National Science Foundation
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The requirement that grant recipients must provide matching funds or in-kind contributions to supplement federal grant funding.
An NSF program that provides funding for institutions of higher education to recruit and prepare STEM majors and professionals to become K-12 teachers. Named after Robert Noyce, co-founder of Intel.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology