Obama Signs STEM Education Bill

A new science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education law will embrace after-school programs and extend a teacher scholarship program to those with bachelor’s degrees. The STEM Education Act of 2015 was passed with bipartisan support by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on Oct. 7. The law requires NSF to continue to support informal STEM education efforts such as after-school programs, museums, and libraries. It also extends the benefits of NSF’s master teacher training program, the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship, to teachers with bachelor’s degrees. Currently, only teachers with master’s degrees can apply to the program. Computer science teachers are also now eligible to apply. “The STEM Education Act expands the definition of STEM, encourages students to study these subjects, and trains more teachers,” says Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), one of the law’s authors. Many of the law’s provisions had been part of attempts to renew America Competes legislation but were broken off into their own bill when those efforts became controversial.