II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1555 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the administration of 

Post-9/11 Educational Assistance by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 13, 2017 

Mr. TILLIS (for himself and Mr. KAINE) 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 improve the 

administration of Post-9/11 Educational Assistance by 

the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘Veterans Education 

5 Experience Improvement Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRAINING FOR SCHOOL CERTIFYING OFFICIALS. 

7 (a) TRAINING REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of 

8 Veterans Affairs shall, in consultation with the State apVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Jul 21, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1555.IS S1555

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1 proving agencies, set forth requirements relating to train2 ing for school certifying officials employed by covered edu3 cational institutions offering courses of education ap4 proved under chapter 36 of title 38, United States Code. 

5 (b) DISAPPROVAL.—If a covered educational institu6 tion does not ensure that a school certifying official em7 ployed by the educational institution meets such require8 ments, the Secretary may disapprove any course of edu9 cation offered by such educational institution. 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) COVERED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.— 

12 The term ‘‘covered educational institution’’ means 

13 an educational institution that has enrolled 20 or 

14 more individuals using educational assistance under 

15 title 38, United States Code. 

16 (2) SCHOOL CERTIFYING OFFICIAL.—The term 

17 ‘‘school certifying official’’ means an employee of an 

18 educational institution with primary responsibility 

19 for certifying veteran enrollment at the educational 

20 institution. 

21 (3) STATE APPROVING AGENCY.—The term 

22 ‘‘State approving agency’’ means a department or 

23 agency of a State designated under section 3671 of 

24 title 38, United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF CERTIFICATIONS 

2 MADE BY SCHOOL CERTIFYING OFFICIALS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

4 shall, in consultation with the State approving agencies, 

5 set forth requirements for covered educational institutions 

6 offering courses of education approved under chapter 36 

7 of title 38, United States Code, to employ one school certi8 fying official for every 500 unduplicated certifications 

9 made during a fiscal year. If a covered educational institu10 tion does not ensure that enough school certifying officials 

11 are employed by the educational institution to meets such 

12 requirements, the Secretary may disapprove any course of 

13 education offered by such educational institution. 

14 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) COVERED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.— 

16 The term ‘‘covered educational institution’’ means 

17 an educational institution that has enrolled 20 or 

18 more individuals using educational assistance under 

19 title 38, United States Code. 

20 (2) SCHOOL CERTIFYING OFFICIAL.—The term 

21 ‘‘school certifying official’’ means an employee of an 

22 educational institution with primary responsibility 

23 for certifying veteran enrollment at the educational 

24 institution. 

25 (3) STATE APPROVING AGENCY.—The term 

26 ‘‘State approving agency’’ means a department or 


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1 agency of a State designated under section 3671 of 

2 title 38, United States Code. 

3 SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON USE OF REPORTING FEES PAYABLE 

4 TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND JOINT 

5 APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING COMMITTEES. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3684(c) of title 38, 

7 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(c)(1) The Secretary may pay to any educational in9 stitution, or to the sponsor of a program of apprenticeship, 

10 furnishing education or training under either this chapter 

11 or chapter 31, 34, or 35 of this title, a reporting fee which 

12 will be in lieu of any other compensation or reimbursement 

13 for reports or certifications which such educational institu14 tion or joint apprenticeship training committee is required 

15 to submit to the Secretary by law or regulation. 

16 ‘‘(2) Such reporting fee shall be computed for each 

17 calendar year by multiplying $16 by the number of eligible 

18 veterans or eligible persons enrolled under this chapter or 

19 chapter 31, 34, or 35 of this title. The reporting fee shall 

20 be paid to such educational institution or sponsor of a pro21 gram of apprenticeship as soon as feasible after the end 

22 of the calendar year for which it is applicable. 

23 ‘‘(3) No reporting fee payable to an educational insti24 tution under this subsection shall be subject to offset by 

25 the Secretary against any liability of such institution for 


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1 any overpayment for which such institution may be admin2 istratively determined to be liable under section 3685 of 

3 this title unless such liability is not contested by such in4 stitution or has been upheld by a final decree of a court 

5 of appropriate jurisdiction. 

6 ‘‘(4) Any reporting fee paid to an educational institu7 tion or joint apprenticeship training committee after the 

8 date of the enactment of the Post-9/11 Veterans Edu9 cational Assistance Improvements Act of 2011 (Public 

10 Law 111–377)— 

11 ‘‘(A) shall be utilized by such institution or 

12 committee solely for the making of certifications re13 quired under this chapter or chapter 31, 34, or 35 

14 of this title or for otherwise supporting programs for 

15 veterans; and 

16 ‘‘(B) with respect to an institution that has 75 

17 or more enrollees described in paragraph (2), may 

18 not be used for or merged with amounts available 

19 for the general fund of the educational institution or 

20 sponsor of a program of apprenticeship. 

21 ‘‘(5) The reporting fee payable under this subsection 

22 shall be paid from amounts appropriated for readjustment 

23 benefits.’’. 

24 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

25 subsection (a) shall take effect on August 1, 2018. 


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1 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 412(b) of 

2 the Jeff Miller and Richard Blumenthal Veterans Health 

3 Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2016 (Public Law 

4 114–315; 38 U.S.C. 3684 note) is amended— 

5 (1) in the matter before paragraph (1), by 

6 striking ‘‘on September 25, 2026’’ and inserting ‘‘on 

7 July 31, 2018’’; and 

8 (2) in the subsection heading, by striking 

9 ‘‘THROUGH SEPTEMBER 25, 2016’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘THROUGH JULY 31, 2018’’. 

11 SEC. 5. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROVISION 

12 OF ON-CAMPUS EDUCATIONAL AND VOCA13 TIONAL COUNSELING FOR VETERANS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 36 of title 38, United 

15 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3697A 

16 the following new section: 

17 ‘‘§ 3697B. On-campus educational and vocational 

18 counseling 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) The Secretary shall provide 

20 educational and vocational counseling services for veterans 

21 at locations on the campuses of institutions of higher 

22 learning selected by the Secretary. 

23 ‘‘(2) Such counseling services shall be provided by 

24 employees of the Department who provide such services 

25 under section 3697A of this title. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Such services shall include, when determined ap2 propriate by such employees, personalized learning plans 

3 for each veteran that map a defined program of study 

4 based on the veteran’s academic career goals. 

5 ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF LOCATIONS.—(1) To be selected 

6 by the Secretary under this section, an institution of high7 er learning shall provide an appropriate space on the cam8 pus of the institution where counseling services can be pro9 vided under this section. 

10 ‘‘(2) In selecting locations for the provision of coun11 seling services under this section, the Secretary shall seek 

12 to select locations where the maximum number of veterans 

13 would have access to such services. 

14 ‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this section and not 

16 less frequently than once each year thereafter, the Sec17 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the counseling 

18 services provided under this section. Such report shall in19 clude, for the year covered by the report— 

20 ‘‘(1) the average ratio of counselors providing 

21 such services to veterans who received such services 

22 at each location where such services were provided; 

23 ‘‘(2) a description of such services provided; 

24 ‘‘(3) the recommendations of the Secretary for 

25 improving the provision of such services; 


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1 ‘‘(4) a description of the training that the coun2 selors providing such services received so that such 

3 counselors could effectively provide veterans with 

4 current labor market information and regional work5 force trends; and 

6 ‘‘(5) such other matters as the Secretary deter7 mines appropriate.’’. 

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

9 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

10 after the item relating to section 3697A the following new 

11 item: 

‘‘3697B. On-campus educational and vocational counseling.’’. 

12 SEC. 6. PROVISION OF INFORMATION REGARDING ENTI13 TLEMENT OF VETERANS TO EDUCATIONAL 

14 ASSISTANCE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 36 of 

16 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

17 end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘§ 3699. Provision of certain information to edu19 cational institutions 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For each veteran or other indi21 vidual pursuing a course of education that has been ap22 proved under this chapter using educational assistance to 

23 which the veteran or other individual is entitled under 

24 chapter 30, 32, 33, or 35 of this title, the Secretary shall 

25 make available to the educational institution offering the 


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1 course information regarding the amount of such edu2 cational assistance to which the veteran or other individual 

3 is entitled. 

4 ‘‘(b) MANNER INFORMATION IS PROVIDED.—The 

5 Secretary shall provide information made available under 

6 subsection (a) to an educational institution through a se7 cure information technology system accessible by the edu8 cational institution. 

9 ‘‘(c) REGULAR UPDATES.—With respect to informa10 tion made available under subsection (a) relating to a vet11 eran or other individual, the Secretary shall regularly up12 date such information to reflect any amounts used by the 

13 veteran or other individual.’’. 

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

15 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

16 after the item relating to section 3698 the following new 

17 item: 

‘‘3699. Provision of certain information to educational institutions.’’. 

18 SEC. 7. MODIFICATIONS RELATING TO REIMBURSEMENT 

19 OF EXPENSES OF STATE APPROVING AGEN20 CIES FOR MATTERS RELATING TO ADMINIS21 TRATION OF VETERANS EDUCATIONAL AS22 SISTANCE. 

23 (a) INCREASE.—Section 3674(a) of title 38, United 

24 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘out of 

2 amounts available for the payment of readjustment 

3 benefits’’ and inserting ‘‘out of amounts in the De4 partment of Veterans Affairs readjustment benefits 

5 account and amounts appropriated to the Sec6 retary’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘The total’’ and inserting: 

9 ‘‘(A) The total’’; 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘$19,000,000’’ and insert11 ing ‘‘$23,000,000’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

13 subparagraph: 

14 ‘‘(B) Whenever there is an increase in ben15 efit amounts payable under title II of the Social 

16 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) as a result 

17 of a determination made under section 215(i) of 

18 such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)), the Secretary 

19 shall, effective on the date of such increase in 

20 benefit amounts, increase the amount in effect 

21 under subparagraph (A), as in effect imme22 diately prior to the date of such increase in ben23 efit amounts payable under title II of the Social 

24 Security Act, by the same percentage as the 


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1 percentage by which such benefit amounts are 

2 increased.’’. 

3 SEC. 8. TREATMENT, FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATIONAL AS4 SISTANCE ADMINISTERED BY THE SEC5 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, OF EDU6 CATIONAL COURSES THAT BEGIN SEVEN OR 

7 FEWER DAYS AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF AN 

8 ACADEMIC TERM. 

9 Section 3684(a) of title 38, United States Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para12 graph (5); and 

13 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol14 lowing new paragraph (4): 

15 ‘‘(4) A course offered by an educational institu16 tion that does not begin on the first day of an aca17 demic term, but does begin seven or fewer days after 

18 such day, shall be treated as beginning on such day 

19 for purposes of this section.’’. 

20 SEC. 9. EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR ADVISORY COM21 MITTEE ON EDUCATION. 

22 Section 3692(c) of title 38, United States Code, is 

23 amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 2017’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘December 31, 2022’’. 

Æ 


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