​The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed three bills related to STEM education last December, sending them to the Senate with broad bipartisan support. The “STEM Research and Education Effectiveness and Transparency Act,” which the House passed by a vote of 376 to 9, would direct the National Science Foundation (NSF) to submit a report to Congress on the effectiveness of its programs for broadening the participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields. The bill would also require federal agencies with R&D budgets over $100 million in FY 17 to annually submit to NSF demographic and funding outcome information on all R&D grant applicants. NSF would then publish a summary of the data.

Two other bills were also passed in the waning hours of 2017 with near unanimous support. The “Women in Aerospace Education Act” would also direct the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to implement policies that promote the recruitment of women and individuals in underrepresented groups for internships and fellowships in the aerospace sector, while the “Supporting Veterans in STEM Careers Act” would establish a new interagency committee within the White House Office Science and Technology Policy focused on promoting STEM education for veterans and military families. All three bills are currently before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.