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Official title: To require the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a consistent set of policy guidelines for Federal research agencies to address financial instability of graduate researchers and postdoctoral researchers, and for other purposes.
Introduced April 29, 2025 by Jennifer McClellan · Last progress April 29, 2025
The bill raises stipends and expands benefits to make graduate and postdoctoral research careers more financially sustainable and to improve recruitment—especially to underserved areas—at the cost of higher federal and institutional spending, added administrative burden, and potential unevenness in how gains are distributed.
Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers receive higher, location‑adjusted stipends (including targeted supplements for rural/underserved/EPSCoR areas), increasing take‑home pay and improving recruitment to less-populated regions.
Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers gain expanded access to affordable medical, dental, and vision care, lowering out‑of‑pocket health costs and financial insecurity.
Students and researchers benefit from efforts to expand affordable housing, transportation, and reduce food insecurity, which lower overall living‑cost burdens and make research careers more sustainable.
Universities, grant programs, and taxpayers face higher costs as agencies and institutions implement increased stipends and expanded benefits, which could reduce available funds for other research activities.
Smaller institutions and some grant recipients may struggle to meet guideline-driven compensation expectations, risking reduced competitiveness for federal awards and possible consolidation of awards to better‑resourced institutions.
Federal agencies, the National Academies, OSTP, and institutions will incur added administrative burdens and costs from mandated data collection, studies, and reporting requirements.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs OSTP to issue federal guidelines within 6 months for agencies to improve stipends, benefits, and basic needs support for graduate researchers and postdocs, and requires agencies to adopt policies.
Requires the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to create, within six months of enactment, consistent federal policy guidelines to reduce financial instability among graduate researchers and postdoctoral researchers at federally funded institutions. The guidelines should address higher stipends (including location-based adjustments), targeted higher pay for work in rural/underserved/EPSCoR-eligible areas, expanded access to affordable health care, affordable housing and transportation, reduced food insecurity, and family-care costs; federal research agencies must adopt consistent policies within six months of receiving the guidelines. OSTP must consult stakeholders, monitor agency adoption, update guidelines as needed, and report to relevant House and Senate committees one year after guideline issuance and every five years thereafter. The bill also amends a statutory requirement for the Foundation (NSF) to include stipend levels for graduate researchers and postdoctoral researchers in its assessments.