I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1724

To require institutions of higher education to make full refunds of tuitions 

and fees paid by members of the Armed Forces and National Guard 

called to active duty or active service during a war or national emergency. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 10, 2003

Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself, Mr. FROST, Mr. BAKER, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. 

EVANS, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. BALLANCE, Mr. ROSS, and Mr. JOHN) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To require institutions of higher education to make full refunds of tuitions and fees paid by members of the Armed 

Forces and National Guard called to active duty or active 

service during a war or national emergency.

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 ‘‘Reservist Opportuni5 ties and Protection of Education Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. REFUNDS AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR MILITARY 

2 SERVICE. 

3 (a) LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR MILITARY SERVICE.—

4 Part G of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

5 is amended by inserting after section 484B (20 U.S.C. 

6 1094) the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 484C. REFUNDS AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR MILI8 TARY SERVICE. 

9 ‘‘(a) LEAVE OF ABSENCE REQUIRED.—Whenever a 

10 student who is an affected individual is unable to complete 

11 a period of instruction or to receive academic credit be12 cause he or she was called up for active duty or active 

13 service, the institution of higher education in which the 

14 student is enrolled shall—

15 ‘‘(1) grant the student a military leave of ab16 sence from the institution while such student is serv17 ing on active duty or active service, and for one year 

18 after the conclusion of such duty or service, in ac19 cordance with subsection (b); and 

20 ‘‘(2) provide the student with a refund or credit 

21 in accordance with subsection (c). 

22 ‘‘(b) CONSEQUENCES OF MILITARY LEAVE OF AB23 SENCE.—A student who is an affected individual and who 

24 is on a military leave of absence from an institution of 

25 higher education shall be entitled, upon release from serv26 ing on active duty or active service, to be restored to the 
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1 educational status such student had attained prior to 

2 being ordered to such duty without loss of academic cred3 its earned, scholarships or grants awarded by the institu4 tion, or, subject to subsection (c), tuition and other fees 

5 paid prior to the commencement of the active duty or ac6 tive service. 

7 ‘‘(c) REFUNDS.—An institution of higher education 

8 shall refund tuition or fees paid prior to the commence9 ment of the active duty or active service of an affected 

10 individual. If a student taking a military leave of absence 

11 for active duty or active service requests a refund during 

12 a period of enrollment, the percentage of the tuition and 

13 fees that shall be refunded shall be equal 100 percent 

14 minus the percentage of the period of enrollment (for 

15 which the tuition and fees were paid) that was completed 

16 (as determined in accordance with section 484B(d)) as of 

17 the day the student withdrew. 

18 ‘‘(d) LEAVE OF ABSENCE NOT TREATED AS WITH19 DRAWAL.—Notwithstanding the 180-day limitation in sec20 tion 484B(a)(2), a student on a military leave of absence 

21 under this section shall not be treated as having with22 drawn for purposes of section 484B unless the student 

23 fails to return at the end of the military leave of absence 

24 (as determined under subsection (a) of this section). 

25 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 
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1 ‘‘(1) ACTIVE DUTY.—The term ‘active duty’ has 

2 the meaning given such term in section 101(d)(1) of 

3 title 10, United States Code, except that such term 

4 does not include active duty for training or attend5 ance at a service school. 

6 ‘‘(2) AFFECTED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘af7 fected individual’ means an individual who—

8 ‘‘(A) is serving on active duty during a war 

9 or other military operation or national emer10 gency; or 

11 ‘‘(B) is performing qualifying National 

12 Guard duty during a war or other military op13 eration or national emergency. 

14 ‘‘(3) MILITARY OPERATION.—The term ‘mili15 tary operation’ means a contingency operation as 

16 such term is defined in section 101(a)(13) of title 

17 10, United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(4) NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—The term ‘na19 tional emergency’ means a national emergency de20 clared by the President of the United States. 

21 ‘‘(5) SERVING ON ACTIVE DUTY.—The term 

22 ‘serving on active duty during a war or other mili23 tary operation or national emergency’ means service 

24 by an individual who is—
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1 ‘‘(A) a Reserve of an Armed Force ordered 

2 to active duty under section 12301(a), 

3 12301(g), 12302, 12304, or 12306 of title 10, 

4 United States Code, or any retired member of 

5 an Armed Force ordered to active duty under 

6 section 688 of such title, for service in connec7 tion with a war or other military operation or 

8 national emergency, regardless of the location 

9 at which such active duty service is performed; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) any other member of an Armed Force 

12 on active duty in connection with such war, op13 eration, or emergency or subsequent actions or 

14 conditions who has been assigned to a duty sta15 tion at a location other than the location at 

16 which such member is normally assigned. 

17 ‘‘(6) QUALIFYING NATIONAL GUARD DUTY.—

18 The term ‘qualifying National Guard duty during a 

19 war or other military operation or national emer20 gency’ means service as a member of the National 

21 Guard on full-time National Guard duty (as defined 

22 in section 101(d)(5) of title 10, United States Code) 

23 under a call to active service authorized by the 

24 President or the Secretary of Defense for a period 

25 of more than 30 consecutive days under section 
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1 502(f) of title 32, United States Code, in connection 

2 with a war, another military operation, or a national 

3 emergency declared by the President and supported 

4 by Federal funds.’’. 

5 (b) OBLIGATION AS PART OF PROGRAM PARTICIPA6 TION REQUIREMENTS.—Section 487(a)(22) of the Higher 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(22)) is amend8 ed by inserting ‘‘and with the policy on leave of absence 

9 for military service established pursuant to section 484C’’ 

10 after ‘‘section 484B’’.

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