In the Senate of the United States, 

December 19, 2012. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 4057) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend title 38, United 

States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 

develop a comprehensive policy to improve outreach and 

transparency to veterans and members of the Armed Forces 

through the provision of information on institutions of higher 

learning, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 

following: 

1 SECTION 1. COMPREHENSIVE POLICY ON PROVIDING EDU2 CATION INFORMATION TO VETERANS. 

3 (a) COMPREHENSIVE POLICY REQUIRED.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 36 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing new section: 
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1 ‘‘§ 3698. Comprehensive policy on providing education 

2 information to veterans 

3 ‘‘(a) COMPREHENSIVE POLICY REQUIRED.—The Sec4 retary shall develop a comprehensive policy to improve out5 reach and transparency to veterans and members of the 

6 Armed Forces through the provision of information on in7 stitutions of higher learning. 

8 ‘‘(b) SCOPE.—In developing the policy required by 

9 subsection (a), the Secretary shall include each of the fol10 lowing elements: 

11 ‘‘(1) Effective and efficient methods to inform in12 dividuals of the educational and vocational counseling 

13 provided under section 3697A of this title. 

14 ‘‘(2) A centralized mechanism for tracking and 

15 publishing feedback from students and State approv16 ing agencies regarding the quality of instruction, re17 cruiting practices, and post-graduation employment 

18 placement of institutions of higher learning that— 

19 ‘‘(A) allows institutions of higher learning 

20 to verify feedback and address issues regarding 

21 feedback before the feedback is published; 

22 ‘‘(B) protects the privacy of students, in23 cluding by not publishing the names of students; 

24 and 
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1 ‘‘(C) publishes only feedback that conforms 

2 with criteria for relevancy that the Secretary 

3 shall determine. 

4 ‘‘(3) The merit of and the manner in which a 

5 State approving agency shares with an accrediting 

6 agency or association recognized by the Secretary of 

7 Education under subpart 2 of part H of title IV of 

8 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b) 

9 information regarding the State approving agency’s 

10 evaluation of an institution of higher learning. 

11 ‘‘(4) Description of the information provided to 

12 individuals participating in the Transition Assist13 ance Program under section 1144 of title 10 relating 

14 to institutions of higher learning. 

15 ‘‘(5) Effective and efficient methods to provide 

16 veterans and members of the Armed Forces with in17 formation regarding postsecondary education and 

18 training opportunities available to the veteran or 

19 member. 

20 ‘‘(c) POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION INFORMATION.—(1) 

21 The Secretary shall ensure that the information provided 

22 pursuant to subsection (b)(5) includes— 

23 ‘‘(A) an explanation of the different types of ac24 creditation available to educational institutions and 

25 programs of education; 
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1 ‘‘(B) a description of Federal student aid pro2 grams; and 

3 ‘‘(C) for each institution of higher learning, for 

4 the most recent academic year for which information 

5 is available— 

6 ‘‘(i) whether the institution is public, pri7 vate nonprofit, or proprietary for-profit; 

8 ‘‘(ii) the name of the national or regional 

9 accrediting agency that accredits the institution, 

10 including the contact information used by the 

11 agency to receive complaints from students; 

12 ‘‘(iii) information on the State approving 

13 agency, including the contact information used 

14 by the agency to receive complaints from stu15 dents; 

16 ‘‘(iv) whether the institution participates in 

17 any programs under title IV of the Higher Edu18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.); 

19 ‘‘(v) the tuition and fees; 

20 ‘‘(vi) the median amount of debt from Fed21 eral student loans under title IV of the Higher 

22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) 

23 held by individuals upon completion of programs 

24 of education at the institution of higher learning 
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1 (as determined from information collected by the 

2 Secretary of Education); 

3 ‘‘(vii) the cohort default rate, as defined in 

4 section 435(m) of the Higher Education Act of 

5 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1085(m)), of the institution; 

6 ‘‘(viii) the total enrollment, graduation 

7 rate, and retention rate, as determined from in8 formation collected by the Integrated Postsec9 ondary Education Data System of the Secretary 

10 of Education; 

11 ‘‘(ix) whether the institution provides stu12 dents with technical support, academic support, 

13 and other support services, including career 

14 counseling and job placement; and 

15 ‘‘(x) the information regarding the institu16 tion’s policies related to transfer of credit from 

17 other institutions, as required under section 

18 485(h)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

19 (20 U.S.C. 1092(h)(1)) and provided to the Sec20 retary of Education under section 

21 132(i)(1)(V)(iv) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

22 1015a(i)(1)(V)(iv)). 

23 ‘‘(2) To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall pro24 vide the information described in paragraph (1) by includ25 ing hyperlinks on the Internet website of the Department 
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1 to other Internet websites that contain such information, 

2 including the Internet website of the Department of Edu3 cation, in a form that is comprehensive and easily under4 stood by veterans, members of the Armed Forces, and other 

5 individuals. 

6 ‘‘(3)(A) If the Secretary of Veterans Affairs requires, 

7 for purposes of providing information pursuant to sub8 section (b)(5), information that has been reported, or infor9 mation that is similar to information that has been re10 ported, by an institution of higher learning to the Secretary 

11 of Education, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 

12 Labor, or the heads of other Federal agencies under a provi13 sion of law other than under this section, the Secretary of 

14 Veterans Affairs shall obtain the information the Secretary 

15 of Veterans Affairs requires from the Secretary or head with 

16 the information rather than the institution of higher learn17 ing. 

18 ‘‘(B) If the Secretary of Veterans Affairs requires, for 

19 purposes of providing information pursuant to subsection 

20 (b)(5), information from an institution of higher learning 

21 that has not been reported to another Federal agency, the 

22 Secretary shall, to the degree practicable, obtain such infor23 mation through the Secretary of Education. 
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1 ‘‘(d) CONSISTENCY WITH EXISTING EDUCATION POL2 ICY.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall en3 sure that— 

4 ‘‘(1) the comprehensive policy is consistent with 

5 any requirements and initiatives resulting from Exec6 utive Order No. 13607; and 

7 ‘‘(2) the efforts of the Secretary to implement the 

8 comprehensive policy do not duplicate the efforts 

9 being taken by any Federal agencies. 

10 ‘‘(e) COMMUNICATION WITH INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER

11 LEARNING.—To the extent practicable, if the Secretary con12 siders it necessary to communicate with an institution of 

13 higher learning to carry out the comprehensive policy re14 quired by subsection (a), the Secretary shall carry out such 

15 communication through the use of a communication system 

16 of the Department of Education. 

17 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘institution of higher learning’ has 

19 the meaning given that term in section 3452(f) of this 

20 title. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘postsecondary education and 

22 training opportunities’ means any postsecondary pro23 gram of education, including apprenticeships and on24 job training, for which the Secretary of Veterans Af-
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1 fairs provides assistance to a veteran or member of 

2 the Armed Forces.’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec4 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended by 

5 adding after the item relating to section 3697A the 

6 following new item: 

‘‘3698. Comprehensive policy on providing education information to veterans.’’. 

7 (b) SURVEY.—In developing the policy required by sec8 tion 3698(a) of title 38, United States Code, as added by 

9 subsection (a), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall con10 duct a market survey to determine the availability of the 

11 following: 

12 (1) A commercially available off-the-shelf online 

13 tool that allows a veteran or member of the Armed 

14 Forces to assess whether the veteran or member is aca15 demically ready to engage in postsecondary education 

16 and training opportunities and whether the veteran 

17 or member would need any remedial preparation be18 fore beginning such opportunities. 

19 (2) A commercially available off-the-shelf online 

20 tool that provides a veteran or member of the Armed 

21 Forces with a list of providers of postsecondary edu22 cation and training opportunities based on criteria 

23 selected by the veteran or member. 

24 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Af-
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1 fairs shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

2 a report that includes— 

3 (1) a description of the policy developed by the 

4 Secretary under section 3698(a) of title 38, United 

5 States Code, as added by subsection (a); 

6 (2) a plan of the Secretary to implement such 

7 policy; and 

8 (3) the results of the survey conducted under sub9 section (b), including whether the Secretary plans to 

10 implement the tools described in such subsection. 

11 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

13 The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Congress’’ 

14 means— 

15 (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and 

16 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

17 Pensions of the Senate; and 

18 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and 

19 the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

20 of the House of Representatives. 

21 (2) COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE OFF-THE22 SHELF.—The term ‘‘commercially available off-the23 shelf’’ has the meaning given that term in section 104 

24 of title 41, United States Code. 
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1 (3) POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND TRAINING

2 OPPORTUNITIES.—The term ‘‘postsecondary education 

3 and training opportunities’’ means any postsec4 ondary program of education, including apprentice5 ships and on-job training, for which the Secretary of 

6 Veterans Affairs provides assistance to a veteran or 

7 member of the Armed Forces. 

8 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN USES OF INDUCEMENTS 

9 BY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 

10 Section 3696 of title 38, United States Code, is amend11 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(d)(1) The Secretary shall not approve under this 

13 chapter any course offered by an educational institution if 

14 the educational institution provides any commission, 

15 bonus, or other incentive payment based directly or indi16 rectly on success in securing enrollments or financial aid 

17 to any persons or entities engaged in any student recruiting 

18 or admission activities or in making decisions regarding 

19 the award of student financial assistance. 

20 ‘‘(2) To the degree practicable, the Secretary shall 

21 carry out paragraph (1) in a manner that is consistent 

22 with the Secretary of Education’s enforcement of section 

23 487(a)(20) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

24 1094(a)(20)).’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. DEDICATED POINTS OF CONTACT FOR SCHOOL CER2 TIFYING OFFICIALS. 

3 Section 3684 of title 38, United States Code, is amend4 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(d) Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact6 ment of this subsection, the Secretary shall ensure that the 

7 Department provides personnel of educational institutions 

8 who are charged with submitting reports or certifications 

9 to the Secretary under this section with assistance in pre10 paring and submitting such reports or certifications.’’. 

11 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON AWARDS AND BONUSES TO EM12 PLOYEES OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF13 FAIRS. 

14 For fiscal year 2013, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

15 may not pay more than $395,000,000 in awards or bonuses 

16 under chapter 45 or 53 of title 5, United States Code, or 

17 any other awards or bonuses authorized under such title. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H.R. 4057 

AMENDMENT