Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73not60

§18999 Programs to Address the Stem Workforce

Title 42 › Chapter 163— RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, COMPETITION, AND INNOVATION › Subchapter III— NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE › Part B— STEM Education › § 18999

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Creates scholarships, graduate fellowships, traineeships, postdoctoral awards, and other prizes to help fix shortages in the STEM workforce. These awards include community college scholarships and programs that help students earn a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field at the same time they finish high school, often through partnerships with State education agencies. The Director must promote new ideas for postdoctoral training, support a diverse STEM workforce, and study the effects. Postdoctoral awards can fund fellowships or short rotations of up to 2 years for people who earned a doctoral degree no more than 5 years before the start date and who do research at Federal, State, local, or Tribal government research sites. Federal agencies may directly hire former award recipients with STEM doctorates who completed a Federal fellowship or rotation, if they meet Office of Personnel Management standards, and must use that hire authority within 2 years of the person finishing the fellowship. The Director may build on existing programs, including postdoc awards; graduate programs like NSF Research Traineeships and the Graduate Research Fellowship Program; scholarships, internships, and community college supports; and grants to colleges to create and test new STEM programs.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §18999

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Director shall issue undergraduate scholarships, including at community colleges, graduate fellowships and traineeships, postdoctoral awards, and, as appropriate, other awards, to address STEM workforce gaps, including for programs that recruit, retain, and advance students to a bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline concurrent with a secondary school diploma, such as through existing and new partnerships with State educational agencies.

(b)In carrying out this section, the Director shall encourage innovation in postdoctoral professional development, support the development and diversity of the STEM workforce, and study the impacts of such innovation and support. To do so, the Director may use postdoctoral awards established under subsection (a) or leveraged under subsection (d)(1) for fellowships or other temporary rotational postings of not more than 2 years. Such fellowships or temporary rotational postings shall be awarded—

(1)to qualified individuals who have a doctoral degree and received such degree not earlier than 5 years before the date that the fellowship or temporary rotational posting begins; and

(2)to carry out research at Federal, State, local, and Tribal government research facilities.

(c)(1)The head of any Federal agency may appoint, without regard to the provisions of subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, other than section 3303 and 3328 of that title, a qualified candidate described in paragraph (2) directly to a position in the competitive service with the Federal agency for which the candidate meets Office of Personnel Management qualification standards.

(2)Paragraph (1) applies with respect to a former recipient of an award under this subsection who—

(A)earned a doctoral degree in a STEM field from an institution of higher education; and

(B)successfully fulfilled the requirements of the fellowship or temporary rotational posting within a Federal agency.

(3)The direct hire authority under this subsection shall be exercised with respect to a specific qualified candidate not later than 2 years after the date that the candidate completed the requirements related to the fellowship or temporary rotational posting described under this subsection.

(d)In carrying out this section, the Director may leverage existing programs, including programs that issue—

(1)postdoctoral awards;

(2)graduate fellowships and traineeships, inclusive of the NSF Research Traineeships and fellowships awarded under the Graduate Research Fellowship Program;

(3)scholarships, research experiences, and internships, including—

(A)scholarships to attend community colleges; and

(B)research experiences and internships under section 1862p–5, 1862p–6, and 1862p–7 of this title; and

(4)awards to institutions of higher education to enable the institutions to fund innovation in undergraduate and graduate education, increased educational capacity, and the development and establishment of new or specialized programs of study for graduate, undergraduate, or technical college students, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the programs of study.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 18999

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60