II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3363 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for accelerated payment 

of survivors’ and dependents’ educational assistance for certain programs 

of education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 5, 2006 

Mr. DEWINE 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 provide for accelerated payment of survivors’ and dependents’ educational 

assistance for certain programs of education, 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. ACCELERATED PAYMENT OF SURVIVORS’ AND 

4 DEPENDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE 

5 FOR CERTAIN PROGRAMS OF EDUCATION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 35 of 

7 title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

8 section 3532 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3532A. Accelerated payment of educational assist2 ance allowance 

3 ‘‘(a) The educational assistance allowance payable 

4 under section 3531 of this title with respect to an eligible 

5 person described in subsection (b) may, upon the election 

6 of such eligible person, be paid on accelerated basis in ac7 cordance with this section. 

8 ‘‘(b) An eligible person described in this subsection 

9 is an individual who is— 

10 ‘‘(1) enrolled in either— 

11 ‘‘(A) an approved program of education 

12 that leads to employment in a high technology 

13 occupation in a high technology industry (as de14 termined pursuant to regulations prescribed by 

15 the Secretary); or 

16 ‘‘(B) an approved program of education 

17 lasting less than two years that leads to em18 ployment in a sector of the economy, as identi19 fied by the Department of Labor, that— 

20 ‘‘(i) is projected to— 

21 ‘‘(I) experience a substantial in22 crease in the number of jobs; or 

23 ‘‘(II) positively affect the growth 

24 of another sector of the economy; or 

25 ‘‘(ii) consists of existing or emerging 

26 businesses that are being transformed by 


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1 technology and innovation and require new 

2 skills for workers; and 

3 ‘‘(2) charged tuition and fees for the program 

4 of education that, when divided by the number of 

5 months (and fractions thereof) in the enrollment pe6 riod, exceeds the amount equal to 200 percent of the 

7 monthly rate of educational assistance allowance 

8 otherwise payable with respect to the individual 

9 under section 3531 of this title. 

10 ‘‘(c)(1) The amount of the accelerated payment of 

11 educational assistance payable with respect to an eligible 

12 person making an election under subsection (a) for a pro13 gram of education shall be the lesser of— 

14 ‘‘(A) the amount equal to 60 percent of the es15 tablished charges for the program of education; or 

16 ‘‘(B) the aggregate amount of educational as17 sistance allowance to which the individual remains 

18 entitled under this chapter at the time of the pay19 ment. 

20 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘established 

21 charges’, in the case of a program of education, means 

22 the actual charges (as determined pursuant to regulations 

23 prescribed by the Secretary) for tuition and fees which 

24 similarly circumstanced nonveterans enrolled in the proVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:58 Jun 06, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3363.IS S3363

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1 gram of education would be required to pay. Established 

2 charges shall be determined on the following basis: 

3 ‘‘(A) In the case of an individual enrolled in a 

4 program of education offered on a term, quarter, or 

5 semester basis, the tuition and fees charged the indi6 vidual for the term, quarter, or semester. 

7 ‘‘(B) In the case of an individual enrolled in a 

8 program of education not offered on a term, quarter, 

9 or semester basis, the tuition and fees charged the 

10 individual for the entire program of education. 

11 ‘‘(3) The educational institution providing the pro12 gram of education for which an accelerated payment of 

13 educational assistance allowance is elected by an eligible 

14 person under subsection (a) shall certify to the Secretary 

15 the amount of the established charges for the program of 

16 education. 

17 ‘‘(d) An accelerated payment of educational assist18 ance allowance made with respect to an eligible person 

19 under this section for a program of education shall be 

20 made not later than the last day of the month immediately 

21 following the month in which the Secretary receives a cer22 tification from the educational institution regarding— 

23 ‘‘(1) the person’s enrollment in and pursuit of 

24 the program of education; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the amount of the established charges for 

2 the program of education. 

3 ‘‘(e)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), for each 

4 accelerated payment of educational assistance allowance 

5 made with respect to an eligible person under this section, 

6 the person’s entitlement to basic educational assistance 

7 under this chapter shall be charged the number of months 

8 (and any fraction thereof) determined by dividing the 

9 amount of the accelerated payment by the full-time 

10 monthly rate of educational assistance allowance otherwise 

11 payable with respect to the person under section 3531 of 

12 this title as of the beginning date of the enrollment period 

13 for the program of education for which the accelerated 

14 payment is made. 

15 ‘‘(2) If the monthly rate of educational assistance al16 lowance otherwise payable with respect to an eligible per17 son under section 3531 of this title increases during the 

18 enrollment period of a program of education for which an 

19 accelerated payment of educational assistance allowance is 

20 made under this section, the charge to the person’s entitle21 ment to educational assistance under this chapter shall be 

22 determined by prorating the entitlement chargeable, in the 

23 manner provided for under paragraph (1), for the periods 

24 covered by the initial rate and increased rate, respectively, 


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1 in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Sec2 retary. 

3 ‘‘(f) The Secretary may not make an accelerated pay4 ment of educational assistance allowance under this sec5 tion for a program of education with respect to an eligible 

6 person who has received an advance payment under sec7 tion 3680(d) of this title for the same enrollment period. 

8 ‘‘(g) For purposes of this section, a program of edu9 cation includes a program of education (as defined in sec10 tion 3002(3) of this title) pursued at a tribally controlled 

11 college or university (as such term is defined in section 

12 2 of the Tribally Controlled College or University Assist13 ance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801). 

14 ‘‘(h) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to 

15 carry out this section. The regulations shall include re16 quirements, conditions, and methods for the request, 

17 issuance, delivery, certification of receipt and use, and re18 covery of overpayment of an accelerated payment of edu19 cational assistance allowance under this section. The regu20 lations may include such elements of the regulations pre21 scribed under section 3014A of this title as the Secretary 

22 considers appropriate for purposes of this section’’. 

23 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

24 at the beginning of chapter 35 of such title is amended 


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1 by inserting after the item relating to section 3532 the 

2 following new item: 

‘‘3532A. Accelerated payment of educational assistance allowance.’’. 

Æ 


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