II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4890 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish protections for a member 

of the Armed Forces who leaves a course of education, paid for with 

certain educational assistance, to perform certain service, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022 

Ms. HASSAN (for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish protections for a member of the Armed Forces who leaves 

a course of education, paid for with certain educational 

assistance, to perform certain service, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protections for Stu5 dent Veterans Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROTECTIONS FOR A MEMBER 

2 OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO LEAVES A 

3 COURSE OF EDUCATION, PAID FOR WITH 

4 CERTAIN EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE, TO 

5 PERFORM CERTAIN SERVICE. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Chapter 36 of title 38, 

7 United States Code, amended by inserting after section 

8 3691 the following new section: 

9 ‘‘§ 3691A. Withdrawal or leave of absence from cer10 tain education 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1)(A) Subject to subparagraph 

12 (B), a covered individual may, after receiving orders to 

13 enter a period of covered service, withdraw or take a leave 

14 of absence from covered education. 

15 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to a covered 

16 individual who is not abiding the regularly prescribed 

17 standards and practices of the educational institution con18 cerned for attendance, conduct, and progress. 

19 ‘‘(2)(A) The institution concerned may not take any 

20 adverse action described in subparagraph (B) against a 

21 covered individual on the basis that such covered indi22 vidual withdraws or takes a leave of absence under para23 graph (1). 

24 ‘‘(B) The adverse actions described in this subpara25 graph are as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The assignment of a failing grade to a cov2 ered individual for covered education. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The reduction of the grade point average 

4 of a covered individual for covered education. 

5 ‘‘(iii) The characterization of any absence of a 

6 covered individual from covered education as unex7 cused. 

8 ‘‘(iv) The assessment of any financial penalty 

9 against a covered individual. 

10 ‘‘(b) WITHDRAWAL.—If a covered individual with11 draws from covered education under subsection (a), the 

12 institution concerned shall refund all tuition and fees (in13 cluding payments for housing) for the academic term from 

14 which the covered individual withdraws. 

15 ‘‘(c) LEAVE OF ABSENCE.—If a covered individual 

16 takes a leave of absence from covered education under 

17 subsection (a), the institution concerned shall— 

18 ‘‘(1) assign a grade of ‘incomplete’ (or equiva19 lent) to the covered individual for covered education 

20 for the academic term from which the covered indi21 vidual takes such leave of absence; and 

22 ‘‘(2) to the extent practicable, permit the cov23 ered individual, upon completion of the period of 

24 covered service, to complete such academic term. 

25 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered education’ means a 

2 course of education— 

3 ‘‘(A) at an institution of higher education; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) paid for with educational assistance 

6 furnished under a law administered by the Sec7 retary. 

8 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered individual’ means an in9 dividual who— 

10 ‘‘(A) is enrolled in covered education; and 

11 ‘‘(B) is— 

12 ‘‘(i) a member of the Armed Forces 

13 (including the reserve components); or 

14 ‘‘(ii) the spouse of a member de15 scribed in clause (i). 

16 ‘‘(3) The term ‘covered service’ means— 

17 ‘‘(A) active service or inactive-duty train18 ing, as such terms are defined in section 101 of 

19 title 10; or 

20 ‘‘(B) State active duty, as defined in sec21 tion 4303 of this title. 

22 ‘‘(4) The term ‘institution concerned’ means, 

23 with respect to a covered individual, the institution 

24 of higher education where the covered individual is 

25 enrolled in covered education. 


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1 ‘‘(5) The term ‘institution of higher education’ 

2 has the meaning given such term in section 101 of 

3 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

4 1001). 

5 ‘‘(6) The term ‘period of covered service’ means 

6 the period beginning on the date on which a covered 

7 individual or the spouse of a covered individual en8 ters covered service and ending on the date on which 

9 the covered individual or spouse is released from 

10 covered service or dies while in covered service.’’. 

11 (b) REPORT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later two years after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act and not later than 

14 five years after the date of the enactment of this 

15 Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 

16 to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

17 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

18 House of Representatives a report on the use of the 

19 authority under section 3691A(a) of title 38, United 

20 States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

21 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

22 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

23 (A) The number of covered individuals 

24 using the authority described in paragraph (1), 

25 disaggregated by— 


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1 (i) in the cases in which the covered 

2 individual is a member of the Armed 

3 Forces, the component of the Armed 

4 Forces of which the covered individual is a 

5 member; and 

6 (ii) in the cases in which the covered 

7 individual is a spouse of a member of the 

8 Armed Forces, the component of the 

9 Armed Forces of such member. 

10 (B) The number of times that such author11 ity was used, disaggregated by— 

12 (i) whether the authority was used for 

13 a leave of absence or a withdrawal; 

14 (ii) the type of covered duty for which 

15 the authority was used; 

16 (iii) the program of educational assist17 ance that was being used to pay for the 

18 program of education from which the cov19 ered individual withdrew or took a leave of 

20 absence; and 

21 (iv) the duration of the covered duty 

22 for which the authority was used. 

23 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

24 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 


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1 after the item relating to section 3691 the following new 

2 item: 

‘‘3691A. Withdrawal or leave of absence from certain education.’’. 

Æ 


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