§3115 Expedited Hiring Authority for College Graduates; Competitive Service

Summary

Agencies may speed up hiring of recent college graduates into certain competitive professional or administrative jobs at the GS‑11 level (or equivalent) or below. Director means the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. "Institution of higher education" means what the Higher Education Act defines. To use this faster hiring, an agency must follow rules the Director creates. The person must have a bachelor’s or graduate degree, apply within 2 years after getting the degree (or within 2 years after discharge if they served at least 4 years in the uniformed services), and meet the job’s minimum qualifications set by the Director. Agencies must publicly advertise these jobs, follow merit principles, recruit for diverse and qualified candidates, and give applicants the right information. An agency can only use this faster hiring up to a limit each fiscal year: no more than 15% of the number of comparable GS‑11 (or equivalent) competitive hires it made the previous year, though the Director can set a lower cap. The Director must issue interim rules within 180 days and allow comment. For each of the first three fiscal years after the law starts, agencies that use the authority must report by September 30 to Congress and the Director about how they used it, including totals, how many were minorities/underrepresented or veterans, recruitment sources, the total number of comparable GS‑11 hires that year, and any other data the Director asks for. The Department of Defense can still use its separate recent‑graduate hiring authority, and OPM’s rules won’t apply to DoD while that authority continues.