NEST Act
Latest action · Apr 27, 2016 Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedAug 4, 2015
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Native Educator Support and Training Act or the NEST Act
This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish scholarships, loan forgiveness plans, and training programs for educators who commit to teaching in Native American or Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools.
This bill establishes three scholarship programs for students who are seeking degrees in education or school administration at institutions of higher education and commit to teaching in Native American or BIE schools:
- the Indian Student Educator Scholarship Program for students seeking degrees,
- the Indian Educator Scholarship Program for Indian students seeking degrees, and
- the Indian Educator Graduate Fellowship Program for Indian students seeking graduate degrees.
Recipients of the scholarships must commit to working for a BIE school, a school serving Native Americans, or other specified schools and agencies for the greater of three years or the number of school years that the scholarship funded.
The bill establishes loan forgiveness programs for educators and Native Americans who have taught for at least five consecutive years at BIE schools or local educational agencies with high percentages of Native American students.
The bill extends the federal Perkins Loan Cancellation Program to educators teaching in BIE schools or in Native American language immersion programs.
The bill authorizes professional development grants for native-serving elementary and secondary schools. It also establishes the Native American Language Teacher Training Program to provide grants for institutions of higher education to develop training programs for Native American immersion and language teachers.
Cosponsors 3
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Aug 4, 2015 to Dec 2, 2015, with 2 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MN | Al Franken | Original | Aug 4, 2015 |
| D-NM | Martin Heinrich | Original | Aug 4, 2015 |
| D-NM | Tom Udall | Dec 2, 2015 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 27, 2016Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
- Nov 18, 2015Committee on Indian Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-192.
- Aug 4, 2015Introduced in Senate
- Aug 4, 2015Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Aug 4, 2015Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.