Math and Science Incentive Act of 2005

Date: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 1:40 AM

JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER

November 23, 2005 No. 1373

Sometimes I'm not sure which is worse - shameless politicians who write useless legislation, or the engineering associations that endorse them. Take for instance the "Math and Science Incentive Act of 2005" (S. 765) that was introduced in the Senate in April of 2005.

When the bill was introduced I decided not to do a newsletter on it because I doubted that anybody would take it seriously except a few shills that wanted to make the point that there were shortages of engineers. Recently it came to my attention that the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) endorsed this miserable piece of legislation, so I decided to take a closer look at it.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. John W. Warner (R-VA) is a solution looking for a problem that doesn't exist. Warner starts with the flawed assumption that there is a shortage of technical workers and math and science teachers in the U.S. His bill skirts the shortage issue but his website makes it perfectly clear that he is a shortage shouter:

Yet alarmingly, the bottom line is that America faces a
huge shortage of home-grown, highly trained scientific
minds.

Shortage shouters always use the education button to justify their betrayal of American workers, and Sen. Warner is no exception:

The truth of the matter is that today, America's education
system is coming up short in training the highly technical
American minds that we now need and will continue to need
far into the future.

Warner's shortage warning comes with the implied threat that if the U.S. doesn't glut the market with our own engineers, he will support bringing them here on H-1Bs.

In the past, this country has been able to compensate for
its shortfall in homegrown, highly trained, technical and
scientific talent by importing the necessary brain power
from foreign countries.

Warner's bill is hyped as financial aid to encourage students to get engineering degrees and teaching certificates in math and science, but you don't have to read very far into the bill to see that it's nothing but a sham. The very first part of the bill is a bait-and-switch con. Its financial aid package is an empty promise that can be broken by Congress at any time.

Loan interest payments under this Act shall be subject to
the availability of appropriations. If the amount appropriated
for any fiscal year is not sufficient to provide interest
payments on behalf of all qualified applicants ....

In plain English, the aid to students can be taken away whenever Congress doesn't feel like footing the bill! How could someone make a six year degree plan when the funding could be cut at any time?

This bill is supposed to be used to train the next generation of scientists, engineers, and teachers, but once they graduate they better be sure not earn much, because if they do they lose their financial aid. If their income equals or exceeds 4 times the national per capita disposable personal income they will be liable for the interest on their loan. In the year 2002 the National Per Capita income was $26,974, so all those geniuses that get engineering degrees better not make more than $107,896.

In my opinion the following is the dumbest part of the bill. The fact that NSPE didn't catch the problems with the bill shows that they are asleep at the wheel. NSPE got duped big time!

ELIGIBILITY- The Secretary may assume interest payments
under paragraph (1) only for a borrower who--

(E) enters into an agreement with the Secretary to complete
5 consecutive years of service in a position described in
subparagraph (D), starting on the date of the agreement.

The "Secretary of Education" is in no way qualified to determine if a new engineering grad goes on to work 5 years in their chosen field. To put the Secretary in this position of authority is absurd even if we did get one that understood engineering. Most jobs aren't that cut and dry - there are a lot of gray areas and it's not easy to determine how many years somebody has done engineering. The idea that a Washington DC bureaucrat could somehow make this decision for each engineer that graduates under this aid program is ridiculous. Most companies that employ engineers couldn't accurately quantify how much their engineers do engineering work so there is no chance the Secretary of Education could either.

The NSPE should know that engineers usually don't work five consecutive years in the same place so determining the length of engineering employment is, for the most part, impractical. Even if an engineer stayed at the same place for 5 years, their job might only require 10% or less of actual engineering work while the rest of the day might consist of other activities like going to meetings, planning budgets etc. Does that mean that the engineers would have to keep the job for 50 years in order to get the interest on their student loans waived? (calculated as 5 years divided by 10%)

I have to wonder if the NSPE knows much about real-life engineering to endorse a bill this bad. Perhaps they are just another ivory-tower engineering association that represents managers and business owners. The other possibility is that they never read the actual bill but endorsed it after reading press releases by Sen. Warner. For an organization of "Professional Engineers", they did a very amateurish job of analyzing this bill.

Material Used for this Newsletter

http://www.nspe.org/govrel/gr2-4066.asp
NSPE Issue Brief

http://warner.senate.gov/legislation/education/msee.htm
Math, Science and Engineering Education

Text of S. 765
http://thomas.loc.gov/

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http://www.nspe.org/govrel/gr2-4066.asp

NSPE Issue Brief
Publication #4066
Math and Science Incentive Act of 2005

NSPE Position
NSPE supports the passage of H.R. 1547, the Math and Science Incentive Act of 2005.

Background
Legislation has been introduced in Congress to create create a new student loan forgiveness program to encourage students to pursue careers in math, science, and engineering. Senator John Warner (R-VA) introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

The bills (H.R. 1547, S. 765) would establish a new Department of Education program, under which the government would pay the interest on a student loan in return for an individual working for five years in a job related to math, science, or engineering, including teaching in those fields at any level. The government would pay the interest on the loan starting at the beginning of the service. Under the legislation, loan interest benefits would be capped at $10,000 per person.

The bill would provide an incentive to enter into a variety of careers in math, science, or engineering, in the private as well as the public sector. It would enable the scholarships to be focused on careers for which there is the greatest national need at any particular time. And it should increase the focus of the Department of Education on math, science, and engineering. The legislation is similar to several other current efforts. The Department of Education offers loan forgiveness programs to teachers. The National Science Foundation offers scholarships to top math and science students who agree to teach. The National Science Foundation also offers grants to colleges and universities that develop ways to graduate more majors in math and science.

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http://warner.senate.gov/legislation/education/msee.htm

Math, Science and Engineering Education

Our ability to remain ahead of the curve in scientific and technological advancements is a key component to ensuring America's national, homeland and economic security in the post 9/11 world of global terrorism. Yet alarmingly, the bottom line is that America faces a huge shortage of home-grown, highly trained scientific minds.

The situation America faces today is not unlike almost fifty years ago. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched the first man-made satellite into space, Sputnik. The launch shocked America, as many of us had just assumed that we were preeminent in the scientific fields. While prior to that unforgettable day America enjoyed an air of post World War II invincibility, afterwards our nation recognized that there was a cost to its complacency. We had fallen behind.

In the months and years to follow, we would respond with massive investments in science, technology and engineering. - In 1958, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act to stimulate advancement in science and math education.

- In addition, President Eisenhower signed into law legislation that established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

- And a few years later, in 1961, President Kennedy set the Nation's goal of landing a man on the moon within the decade.

These investments paid off. In the years following the Sputnik launch, America not only closed the scientific and technological gap with the Soviet Union, we surpassed them. Our renewed commitment to science and technology not only enabled us to safely land a man on the moon in 1969, it spurred research and development which helped ensure that our modern military has always had the best equipment and technology in the world. These post-Sputnik investments also laid the foundation for the creation of some of the most significant technologies of modern life, including personal computers and the Internet.

Why is any of this important to us today? Because as the old saying goes -- he or she who fails to remember history is bound to repeat it.

The truth of the matter is that today, America's education system is coming up short in training the highly technical American minds that we now need and will continue to need far into the future.

The 2003 Program for International Student Assessment found that the math, problem solving, and science skills of fifteen year old students in the United States were below average when compared to their international counterparts in industrialized countries.

While slightly better news was presented by the recently released 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), it is still nothing we should cheer about. TIMSS showed that eighth grade students in the U.S. had lower average math scores than fifteen other participating countries. U.S. science scores weren't much better.

Our colleges and universities are not immune to the waning achievement in math and science education. The National Science Foundation reports the percentage of bachelor degrees in science and engineering have been declining in the U.S. for nearly two decades. In fact, the proportion of college-age students earning degrees in math, science, and engineering was substantially higher in 16 countries in Asia and Europe than it was in the United States.

In the past, this country has been able to compensate for its shortfall in homegrown, highly trained, technical and scientific talent by importing the necessary brain power from foreign countries. However, with increased global competition, this is becoming harder and harder. More and more of our imported brain power is returning home to their native countries. And regrettably, as they return home, many American high tech jobs are being outsourced with them.

The effects of these educational trends are already being felt in various important ways. For example: - According to the National Science Board, by 2010, if current trends continue, significantly less than 10% of all physical scientists and engineers in the world will be working in America.

- The American Physical Society reports that the proportion of articles by American authors in the Physical Review, one of the most important research journals in the world, has hit an all time low of 29%, down from 61% in 1983.

- And the U.S. production of patents, probably the most direct link between research and economic benefit, has declined steadily relative to the rest of the world for decades, and now stands at only 52% of the total.

Fortunately, we already have an existing federal program up and running that, if modified, can help. Under current law, the $14 billion a year Pell Grant program awards recipients grants regardless of the course of study that the recipient chooses to pursue. So, under current law, two people from the same financial background are eligible for the same grant even though one chooses to major in the liberal arts while the other majors in engineering or science.

While I believe studying the liberal arts is an important component to having an enlightened citizenry, I also believe that given the unique challenges we are facing in this country, it is appropriate for us to add an incentive to the Pell Grant program to encourage individuals to pursue courses of study where graduates are needed to meet our national, homeland, and economic security needs.

That is why I have introduced legislation called the Federal Pell Grant Plus Act. The legislation is simple. It provides that at least every two years, our Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and others, should provide a list of courses of study where America needs home-grown talent to meet our national, homeland, and economic security needs. Those students who pursue courses of study in these programs will be rewarded with a doubling of their Pell Grant to help them with the costs associated with obtaining their education.

We in the Congress have an obligation when expending taxpayer money, to do so in a manner that meets our nation's needs. Our nation desperately needs more highly trained domestic workers. That is an indisputable fact. And, in the Pell Grant program, we have approximately $14 billion that is readily available to help meet this demand.

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Math and Science Incentive Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)

S 765 IS

AVAILABILITY SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATIONS- Loan interest payments under this Act shall be subject to the availability of appropriations. If the amount appropriated for any fiscal year is not sufficient to provide interest payments on behalf of all qualified applicants, the Secretary shall give priority to those individuals on whose behalf interest payments were made during the preceding fiscal year.

6 months after the end of any calendar year in which the borrower's gross income equals or exceeds 4 times the national per capita disposable personal income (current dollars) for such calendar year, as determined on the basis of the National Income and Product Accounts Tables of the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, as determined in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary.

FAILURE TO COMPLETE SERVICE AGREEMENT- Such application shall contain an agreement by the individual that, if the individual fails to complete the 5 consecutive years of service required by subsection (a)(2)(E), the individual agrees to repay the Secretary the amount of any interest paid by the Secretary on behalf of the individual.

Math and Science Incentive Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)

S 765 IS

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 765
To preserve mathematics- and science-based industries in the United States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 12, 2005
Mr. WARNER (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL
To preserve mathematics- and science-based industries in the United States.

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 `Math and Science Incentive Act of 2005'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:

(1) The United States can have a secure and prosperous future only by having a robust and inventive scientific and technical enterprise.

(2) Such an enterprise will require the United States to produce more scientists and engineers.

(3) The United States education system must do more to encourage students at every level to study science and mathematics and to pursue careers related to those fields.

(4) The current performance of United States students in science and mathematics lags behind their international peers, and not enough students are pursuing science and mathematics.

(5) The United States is still reaping the benefits of past investments in research and development and education, but we are drawing down that capital.

(6) The United States needs to recommit itself to leadership in science, mathematics, and engineering, especially as advances are being made in such areas as nanotechnology.

(7) A program of loan forgiveness designed to attract students to careers in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology, including teaching careers, can help the United States maintain its technological leadership.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

(a) Program-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall carry out a program of assuming the obligation to pay, pursuant to the provisions of this Act, the interest on a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part B or D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 et seq. and 1087a et seq.).

(2) ELIGIBILITY- The Secretary may assume interest payments under paragraph (1) only for a borrower who--

(A) has submitted an application in compliance with subsection (d);

(B) obtained 1 or more loans described in paragraph (1) as an undergraduate student;

(C) is a new borrower (within the meaning of section 103(7) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003(7)) on or after the date of enactment of this Act;

(D) is a teacher of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics at an elementary school or secondary school, or is a mathematics, science, or engineering professional; and

(E) enters into an agreement with the Secretary to complete 5 consecutive years of service in a position described in subparagraph (D), starting on the date of the agreement.

(3) PRIOR INTEREST LIMITATIONS- The Secretary shall not make any payments for interest that--

(A) accrues prior to the beginning of the repayment period on a loan in the case of a loan made under section 428H of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-8) or a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan; or

(B) has accrued prior to the signing of an agreement under paragraph (2)(E).

(4) INITIAL SELECTION- In selecting participants for the program under this Act, the Secretary--

(A) shall choose among eligible applicants on the basis of--

(i) the national security, homeland security, and economic security needs of the United States, as determined by the Secretary, in consultation with other Federal agencies, including the Departments of Labor, Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce, and Energy, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Science Foundation; and

(ii) the academic record or job performance of the applicant; and

(B) may choose among eligible applicants on the basis of--

(i) the likelihood of the applicant to complete the 5-year service obligation;

(ii) the likelihood of the applicant to remain in science, mathematics, or engineering after the completion of the service requirement; or

(iii) other relevant criteria determined by the Secretary.

(5) AVAILABILITY SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATIONS- Loan interest payments under this Act shall be subject to the availability of appropriations. If the amount appropriated for any fiscal year is not sufficient to provide interest payments on behalf of all qualified applicants, the Secretary shall give priority to those individuals on whose behalf interest payments were made during the preceding fiscal year.

(6) REGULATIONS- The Secretary is authorized to prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.

(b) Duration and Amount of Interest Payments- The period during which the Secretary shall pay interest on behalf of a student borrower who is selected under subsection (a) is the period that begins on the effective date of the agreement under subsection (a)(2)(E), continues after successful completion of the service obligation, and ends on the earlier of--

(1) the completion of the repayment period of the loan;

(2) payment by the Secretary of a total of $10,000 on behalf of the borrower;

(3) if the borrower ceases to fulfill the service obligation under such agreement prior to the end of the 5-year period, as soon as the borrower is determined to have ceased to fulfill such obligation in accordance with regulations of the Secretary; or

(4) 6 months after the end of any calendar year in which the borrower's gross income equals or exceeds 4 times the national per capita disposable personal income (current dollars) for such calendar year, as determined on the basis of the National Income and Product Accounts Tables of the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, as determined in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary.

(c) Repayment to Eligible Lenders- Subject to the regulations prescribed by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a)(6), the Secretary shall pay to each eligible lender or holder for each payment period the amount of the interest that accrues on a loan of a student borrower who is selected under subsection (a).

(d) Application for Repayment-

(1) IN GENERAL- Each eligible individual desiring loan interest payment under this section shall submit a complete and accurate application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.

(2) FAILURE TO COMPLETE SERVICE AGREEMENT- Such application shall contain an agreement by the individual that, if the individual fails to complete the 5 consecutive years of service required by subsection (a)(2)(E), the individual agrees to repay the Secretary the amount of any interest paid by the Secretary on behalf of the individual.

(e) Treatment of Consolidation Loans- A consolidation loan made under section 428C of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-3), or a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan made under part D of title IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.), may be a loan for which interest is paid pursuant to this section only to the extent that such loan amount was used by a borrower who otherwise meets the requirements of this section to repay--

(1) a loan made under section 428 or 428H of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1078 and 1078-8); or

(2) a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, or a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, made under part D of title IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.).

(f) Prevention of Double Benefits- No borrower may, for the same service, receive a benefit under both this section and--

(1) any loan forgiveness program under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); or

(2) subtitle D of title I of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 et seq.).

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

As used in this Act--

(1) the term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Education; and

(2) the term `mathematics, science, or engineering professional' means a person who--

(A) holds a baccalaureate, masters, or doctoral degree (or a combination thereof) in science, mathematics, or engineering; and

(B) works in a field the Secretary determines is closely related to that degree, which shall include working as a professor at a 2- or 4-year institution of higher education.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006 and for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.

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