SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS TALENT EXPANSION PROGRAM.

SEC. 518. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS TALENT EXPANSION PROGRAM. It is the sense of the Congress that—(1) the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program established by the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002 continues to be an effective program to increase the number of students, who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States, receiving associate or baccalaureate degrees in established or emerging fields within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and its authorization continues;(2) the strategies employed continue to strengthen mentoring and tutoring between faculty and students and provide students with information and exposure to potential career pathways in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics areas;(3) this highly competitive program awarded 145 Program implementation awards and 12 research projects in the first 6 years of operations; and(4) the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program should continue to be supported by the National Science Foundation.