Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act
This bill, titled the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act, would amend the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship program under title 38 of the U.S. Code. The changes tighten and reframe how the scholarship is allotted and used: it adjusts maximum entitlement figures (reducing certain month-based limits from 60 to 45 months and from 90 to 67.5 months), introduces new priority criteria for selecting recipients (favoring those who have used more months of education benefits and those pursuing post-secondary STEM majors), and adds a sequencing rule requiring recipients to exhaust all other education benefits before using the scholarship. In addition, the bill extends the period during which certain veterans’ pension payments can be made, shifting the end date from November 30, 2031 to March 31, 2033. The net effect is to refocus and constrain eligibility and timing for the Rogers STEM Scholarship while extending pension-related timing for a related benefit.
Key Points
- 1Modifies Section 3320 of title 38 to adjust the scholarship’s entitlement limits, replacing fixed numbers (60 and 90) with new values (45 and 67.5), effectively reducing certain months of eligibility or related calculations.
- 2Establishes new recipient priority rules: (A) prioritize individuals who have used the most months of the chapter’s educational assistance; (B) prioritize individuals pursuing a post-secondary STEM program and who have declared a major in a field covered by the scholarship.
- 3Adds a sequencing requirement: a beneficiary may use the Rogers STEM Scholarship only after exhausting all other educational assistance under the chapter.
- 4Introduces structural reordering within the eligibility provisions, adjusting subparagraph labeling and adding new subparagraphs to reflect the revised priority and sequencing rules.
- 5Extends the period for certain pension payments by changing the end date in statute from November 30, 2031 to March 31, 2033.