Congress expands STEM funding to include accounting education for underrepresented students
S. 3784 — Accounting STEM Pursuit Act · Filed by Susan Collins (R-ME) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Feb 5, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends the federal Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program to explicitly include accounting education and career awareness as eligible uses of grant funds. Schools can now use these grants to develop accounting courses and programs, with a focus on reaching students from groups historically underrepresented in accounting careers.
Why we flagged it
The bill straightforwardly expands an existing federal education grant program to include accounting as an eligible STEM subject. It is a narrow, technical amendment with no hidden mechanisms or private carve-outs.
What the text implies
- Accounting profession may benefit from earlier pipeline development and increased student interest, potentially affecting future labor supply in the field.
- Schools will need to develop or hire accounting instructors; this may create demand for accounting educators and professional development.
- Emphasis on underrepresented groups in accounting may gradually shift demographic composition of the profession over time.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Students, particularly those from underrepresented groups, gain expanded access to accounting education and career awareness through federally funded school programs. The bill creates no new restrictions on citizens and expands educational opportunity within an existing grant program.
Named in the bill
U.S. Department of Education, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program, Public K-12 schools
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 2 Democrats, 1 Independents, 1 Republicans.
- Feb 5, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Feb 5, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
5 lobbying clients named this bill on 5 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $2,850,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 4 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.
Susan Collins, the sponsor, reported $2,459,513 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Aicpa Association of International Certified Professional Accountants — $1,550,000 on 1 filing
- Pwc Us Group Llp — $740,000 on 1 filing
- Kpmg Llp — $420,000 on 1 filing
- Aicpa — $80,000 on 1 filing
- Crowe Llp — $60,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (995 characters) on Sep 7, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,398 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-23.
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