House Passes Legislation to Improve Student Innovation

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today released the following statement on House passage of H.R. 5031, the STEM Education Act of 2014.

“As a small business owner with a degree in mechanical engineering, I understand the importance a STEM background plays in technological innovation and business development,” said Congressman Chris Collins. “During my time in the private sector, a recurring problem was finding new graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, math, and specifically, computer science. Computer science is the primary driver for job growth among the four STEM fields of study, but at the rate students are currently graduating from American universities and colleges, these jobs will be vastly under-filled.

“This no-cost legislation, which I cosponsored, will direct federal agencies to include computer science as one of the disciplines in their definition of STEM. This specification will allow the federal government to help address the future gap in computer science graduates and provide employers with an innovative and skilled American workforce.”

Full text of H.R. 5031 can be found here.