PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Feb 27, 2017
Native Educator Support and Training Act or the NEST Act
This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish scholarships, loan forgiveness plans, and training programs for educators who commit to teaching in Native American or Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools.
This bill establishes three scholarship programs for students who are seeking degrees in education or school administration at institutions of higher education and commit to teaching in Native American or BIE schools:
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
the Indian Student Educator Scholarship Program for students seeking degrees,
the Indian Educator Scholarship Program for Indian students seeking degrees, and
the Indian Educator Graduate Fellowship Program for Indian students seeking graduate degrees.
Recipients of the scholarships must commit to working for a BIE school, a school serving Native Americans, or other specified schools and agencies for the greater of three years or the number of school years that the scholarship funded.
The bill establishes loan forgiveness programs for educators and Native Americans who have taught for at least five consecutive years at BIE schools or local educational agencies with high percentages of Native American students.
The bill extends the federal Perkins Loan Cancellation Program to educators teaching in BIE schools or in Native American language immersion programs.
The bill authorizes professional development grants for native-serving elementary and secondary schools. It also establishes the Native American Language Teacher Training Program to provide grants for institutions of higher education to develop training programs for Native American immersion and language teachers.
People & committees
Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT] · D–MT
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Committee on Indian Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Jan 21, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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