H.R. 2034 — Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship Opportunity Act

This section modifies eligibility and priority for the Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship, which provides up to nine months of additional Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits (beyond the standard 36 months) to eligible veterans, servicemembers, and dependents pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or related fields that address national needs. Specifically, it (1) eliminates the requirement that applicants have exhausted or will exhaust their Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement within 180 days; (2) reduces the minimum completed credit hours for undergraduate eligibility from 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours) to 45 semester hours (67.5 quarter hours); (3) revises selection priority when funds are limited by adding highest priority to those who have used the most months of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and to those pursuing postsecondary education with a declared major in a covered field, while retaining lower priority for those needing the most remaining credit hours and for certain Post-9/11 GI Bill qualifiers (e.g., Purple Heart recipients under 38 U.S.C. 3311(b)(2)); and (4) requires scholarship recipients to exhaust all Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement before using scholarship benefits.