[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 476 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 476
To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the process of
approving courses of education pursued using educational benefits
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 22, 2015
Mr. Wenstrup introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the process of
approving courses of education pursued using educational benefits
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``GI Bill Education Quality
Enhancement Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. ROLE OF STATE APPROVING AGENCIES.
(a) Approval of Certain Courses.--Section 3672(b)(2)(A) of title
38, United States Code, is amended by striking ``the following'' and
all that follows through the colon and inserting the following: ``a
program of education is deemed to be approved for purposes of this
chapter if a State approving agency determines that the program is one
of the following programs:''.
(b) Approval of Other Courses.--Section 3675 of such title
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(1)--
(A) by striking ``The Secretary or a State
approving agency'' and inserting ``A State approving
agency, or the Secretary when acting in the role of a
State approving agency,''; and
(B) by striking ``offered by proprietary for-profit
educational institutions'' and inserting ``not covered
by section 3672 of this title''; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ``the Secretary or the
State approving agency'' and inserting ``the State approving
agency, or the Secretary when acting in the role of a State
approving agency,'' each place it appears.
SEC. 3. CRITERIA USED TO APPROVE NONACCREDITED COURSES.
(a) In General.--Section 3676(c)(14) of such title is amended by
inserting before the period the following: ``if the Secretary, in
consultation with the State approving agency and pursuant to
regulations prescribed to carry out this paragraph, determines such
criteria are necessary and treat public, private, and proprietary for-
profit educational institutions equitably''.
(b) Application.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply
with respect to an investigation conducted under section 3676(c) of
title 38, United States Code, that is covered by a reimbursement of
expenses paid by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to a State pursuant
to section 3674 of such title on or after the first day of the first
fiscal year following the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF ASSISTANCE PROVIDED FOR CERTAIN FLIGHT
TRAINING.
(a) In General.--Subsection (c)(1)(A) of section 3313 of such title
is amended--
(1) in clause (i)--
(A) by redesignating subclauses (I) and (II) as
items (aa) and (bb), respectively;
(B) by striking ``In the case of a program of
education pursued at a public institution of higher
learning'' and inserting ``(I) Subject to subclause
(II), in the case of a program of education pursued at
a public institution of higher learning not described
in clause (ii)(II)(bb)''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
subclause:
``(II) In determining the actual net cost
for in-State tuition and fees pursuant to
subclause (I), the Secretary may not pay for
fees relating to flight training.''; and
(2) in clause (ii)--
(A) in subclause (I), by redesignating items (aa)
and (bb) as subitems (AA) and (BB), respectively;
(B) in subclause (II), by redesignating items (aa)
and (bb) as subitems (AA) and (BB), respectively;
(C) by redesignating subclauses (I) and (II) as
items (aa) and (bb), respectively;
(D) by striking ``In the case of a program of
education pursued at a non-public or foreign
institution of higher learning'' and inserting ``(I) In
the case of a program of education described in
subclause (II)''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following new
subclause:
``(II) A program of education described in
this subclause is any of the following:
``(aa) A program of education
pursued at a non-public or foreign
institution of higher learning.
``(bb) A program of education
pursued at a public institution of
higher learning in which flight
training is required to earn the degree
being pursued (including with respect
to a dual major, concentration, or
other element of such a degree).''.
(b) Application.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply
with respect to a quarter, semester, or term, as applicable, commencing
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. COMPLIANCE SURVEYS.
(a) In General.--Section 3693 of such title is amended--
(1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following
new subsection (a):
``(a)(1) Except as provided in subsection (b), the Secretary shall
conduct an annual compliance survey of educational institutions and
training establishments offering one or more courses approved for the
enrollment of eligible veterans or persons if at least 20 such veterans
or persons are enrolled in any such course. The Secretary shall--
``(A) design the compliance surveys to ensure that such
institutions or establishments, as the case may be, and
approved courses are in compliance with all applicable
provisions of chapters 30 through 36 of this title;
``(B) survey each such educational institution and training
establishment not less than once during every two-year period;
and
``(C) assign not fewer than one education compliance
specialist to work on compliance surveys in any year for each
40 compliance surveys required to be made under this section
for such year.
``(2) The Secretary, in consultation with the State approving
agencies, shall--
``(A) annually determine the parameters of the surveys
required under paragraph (1); and
``(B) not later than September 1 of each year, make
available to the State approving agencies a list of the
educational institutions and training establishments that will
be surveyed during the fiscal year following the date of making
such list available.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(c) In this section, the terms `educational institution' and
`training establishment' have the meaning given such terms in section
3452 of this title.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--Subsection (b) of such section is
amended--
(1) by striking ``subsection (a) of this section for an
annual compliance survey'' and inserting ``subsection (a)(1)
for a compliance survey'';
(2) by striking ``institution'' and inserting ``educational
institution or training establishment''; and
(3) by striking ``institution's demonstrated record of
compliance'' and inserting ``record of compliance of such
institution or establishment''.
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