II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1088

To amend title 38, United States Code, to facilitate the use of educational

assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill for education leading to employment in high technology industry, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 22, 2001

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mr. SPECTER) 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 facilitate the

use of educational assistance under the Montgomery GI

Bill for education leading to employment in high technology industry, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. ACCELERATED PAYMENTS OF EDUCATIONAL

2 ASSISTANCE UNDER MONTGOMERY GI BILL

3 FOR EDUCATION LEADING TO EMPLOYMENT

4 IN HIGH TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Chapter 30 of title 38, United

6 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3014

7 the following new section:

8 ‘‘§ 3014A. Accelerated payment of basic educational

9 assistance for education leading to em10 ployment in high technology industry

11 ‘‘(a) An individual described in subsection (b) who

12 is entitled to basic educational assistance under this sub13 chapter may elect to receive an accelerated payment of the

14 basic educational assistance allowance otherwise payable

15 to the individual under section 3015 of this title.

16 ‘‘(b) An individual described in this subsection is an

17 individual who is—

18 ‘‘(1) enrolled in an approved program of edu19 cation that leads to employment in a high technology

20 industry (as determined pursuant to regulations pre21 scribed by the Secretary); and

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

23 of education that, when divided by the number of

24 months (and fractions thereof) in the enrollment pe25 riod, exceeds the amount equal to 200 percent of the

26 monthly rate of basic educational assistance allow-
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1 ance otherwise payable to the individual under sec2 tion 3015 of this title.

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

4 basic educational assistance made to an individual making

5 an election under subsection (a) for a program of edu6 cation shall be the lesser of—

7 ‘‘(A) the amount equal to 60 percent of the es8 tablished charges for the program of education; or

9 ‘‘(B) the aggregate amount of basic educational

10 assistance to which the individual remains entitled

11 under this chapter at the time of the payment.

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

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

14 the actual charges (as determined pursuant to regulations

15 prescribed by the Secretary) for tuition and fees which

16 similarly circumstanced nonveterans enrolled in the pro17 gram of education would be required to pay. Established

18 charges shall be determined on the following basis:

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

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

21 semester basis, the tuition and fees charged the indi22 vidual for the term, quarter, or semester.

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

24 program of education not offered on a term, quarter,
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1 or semester basis, the tuition and fees charged the

2 individual for the entire program of education.

3 ‘‘(3) The educational institution providing the pro4 gram of education for which an accelerated payment of

5 basic educational assistance allowance is elected by an in6 dividual under subsection (a) shall certify to the Secretary

7 the amount of the established charges for the program of

8 education.

9 ‘‘(d) An accelerated payment of basic educational as10 sistance made to an individual under this section for a

11 program of education shall be made not later than the last

12 day of the month immediately following the month in

13 which the Secretary receives a certification from the edu14 cational institution providing the program of education of

15 the individual’s enrollment in and pursuit of the program

16 of education.

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

18 accelerated payment of basic educational assistance made

19 to an individual under this section, the individual’s entitle20 ment to basic educational assistance under this chapter

21 shall be charged the number of months (and any fraction

22 thereof) determined by dividing the amount of the acceler23 ated payment by the full-time monthly rate of basic edu24 cational assistance allowance otherwise payable to the in25 dividual under section 3015 of this title as of the begin-
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1 ning date of the enrollment period for the program of edu2 cation for which the accelerated payment is made.

3 ‘‘(2) If the monthly rate of basic educational assist4 ance allowance otherwise payable to an individual under

5 section 3015 of this title increases during the enrollment

6 period of a program of education for which an accelerated

7 payment of basic educational assistance is made under

8 this section, the individual’s entitlement to basic edu9 cational assistance under this chapter shall be charged the

10 number of months (and any fraction thereof) determined

11 by computing the portion of the accelerated payment at12 tributable to each monthly rate that would have payable

13 for the enrollment, dividing each such portion by the appli14 cable monthly rate, and adding the results together.

15 ‘‘(f) The Secretary may, pursuant to such regulations

16 as the Secretary shall prescribe, recover overpayments of

17 basic educational assistance under this chapter resulting

18 from accelerated payments of basic educational assistance

19 under this section.

20 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to

21 carry out this section. The regulations shall include re22 quirements, conditions, and methods for electing and

23 using accelerated payments of basic educational assistance

24 under this section and for the recovery of overpayments

25 of basic educational assistance under this chapter result-
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1 ing from accelerated payments of basic educational assist2 ance under this section.’’.

3 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of that

4 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating

5 to section 3014 the following new item:

‘‘3014A. Accelerated payment of basic educational assistance for education leading to employment in high technology industry.’’.

6 (b) RESTATEMENT AND EXPANSION OF CERTAIN AD7 MINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES.—Subsection (g) of section

8 3680 of title 38, United States Code, is amended to read

9 as follows:

10 ‘‘(g)(1) The Secretary may, pursuant to regulations

11 which the Secretary shall prescribe, determine and define

12 with respect to an eligible veteran and eligible person the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(A) Enrollment in a course or a program of

15 education or training.

16 ‘‘(B) Pursuit of a course or program of edu17 cation or training.

18 ‘‘(C) Attendance at a course or program of edu19 cation and training.

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may withhold payment of benefits

21 to an eligible veteran or eligible person until the Secretary

22 receives such proof as the Secretary may require of enroll23 ment in and satisfactory pursuit of a program of education

24 by the eligible veteran or eligible person. The Secretary
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1 shall adjust the payment withheld, when necessary, on the

2 basis of the proof the Secretary receives.

3 ‘‘(3) In the case of an individual other than an indi4 vidual described in paragraph (4), the Secretary may ac5 cept the individual’s monthly certification of enrollment in

6 and satisfactory pursuit of a program of education as suf7 ficient proof of the certified matters.

8 ‘‘(4) In the case of an individual who has received

9 an accelerated payment of basic educational assistance

10 under section 3014A of this title during an enrollment pe11 riod for a program of education, the Secretary may accept

12 the individual’s certification of enrollment in and satisfac13 tory pursuit of the program of education as sufficient

14 proof of the certified matters if the certification is sub15 mitted after the enrollment period has ended.’’.

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

17 this section shall take effect eight months after the date

18 of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply with respect

19 to enrollments in courses or programs of education or

20 training beginning on or after that date.

21 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF CERTAIN PRIVATE TECHNOLOGY EN22 TITIES IN DEFINITION OF EDUCATIONAL IN23 STITUTION.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Sections 3452(c) and 3501(a)(6)

25 of title 38, United States Code, are each amended by add-
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1 ing at the end the following new sentence: ‘‘Such term

2 also includes any private entity (that meets such require3 ments as the Secretary may establish) that offers, either

4 directly or under an agreement with another entity (that

5 meets such requirements), a course or courses to fulfill

6 requirements for the attainment of a license or certificate

7 generally recognized as necessary to obtain, maintain, or

8 advance in employment in a profession or vocation in a

9 high technology occupation (as determined by the Sec10 retary).’’.

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

12 subsection (a) shall apply to enrollments in courses occur13 ring on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.

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