Math, science majors favored

Citing a shortage of science workers in the United States, members of Congress introduced a bill Tuesday to create incentives for college graduates to fill science and engineering positions.

“America’s dominance in science and innovation is slipping,” said Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., the primary sponsor of the Math and Science Incentive Act, in a Tuesday statement.

“There is little public awareness of this trend or its implications for jobs, industry or national security in America’s future,” he said. “We need to make sure we have people who can fill these science and engineering positions.”

The bill, if passed, would pay interest on the undergraduate student loans of math, science or engineering majors who agree to work for five years in their respective fields.

Wolf stated that he hopes the incentive will help attract or retain those looking for math, science and engineering degrees in an era in which students graduate from college with record levels of debt.

Such a bill could help North Carolina’s flagging teacher recruitment efforts.

Carr Thompson, senior program and communications officer for the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, said the state faces a shortage of 9,000 to 11,000 teachers who have a math or science background.

“We need an increase in the number of students taking an interest in math and science because it has a direct connection with the economy in our state,” she said.

The bill could also have the side effect of helping students who would have gone into math and science anyway.

Matt Liles, vice president for legislative affairs for the UNC-system Association of Student Governments, said he would support any bill that helps fund education, especially in the high-tech sector.

But the bill addresses a problem that’s also present outside the Tar Heel state. In his Tuesday statement, Wolf said Asian universities outpace North American institutions in the production of science and engineering students.

“In 2000, Asian universities accounted for almost 1.2 million of the world’s science and engineering degrees,” he stated. “North American universities accounted for only about 500,000.”

The United States’ pipeline is not strong enough for producing science students, said Chris Simmons, assistant director of government relations for the American Council on Education. “Science is not emphasized in the earlier stage of education.”

He said that colleges should prepare students for vocations and that he supports any efforts the government can make toward that end.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., also introduced a version of the bill Wednesday. In an April 12 statement, he said the bill is important to education and national, homeland and economic security.

“Today, America’s education system is coming up short in training the highly technical American minds that we now need and will continue to need far into the future.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.