I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1989 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a high technology 

education pilot program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Mr. MCCARTHY (for himself, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Mr. HURD, Mr. PAULSEN, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. 

CRAWFORD, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. WALDEN, Mr. YODER, Mrs. BROOKS of 

Indiana, and Mrs. MCMORRIS RODGERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a high technology education pilot program. 

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 ‘‘Veteran Employment 

5 Through Technology Education Courses Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘VET TEC Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS HIGH TECH2 NOLOGY PILOT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Veterans Af4 fairs shall carry out a pilot program under which the Sec5 retary shall provide eligible veterans with the opportunity 

6 to enroll in high technology programs of education. 

7 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of the pilot program 

8 under this section, an eligible veteran is a veteran who 

9 is entitled to educational assistance under the laws admin10 istered by the Secretary. 

11 (c) CONTRACTS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of carrying out 

13 subsection (a), by not later than 180 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 shall seek to enter into contracts with multiple quali16 fied providers of high technology programs of edu17 cation for the provision of such programs to eligible 

18 veterans under the pilot program. 

19 (2) PAYMENT OF CONTRACTORS.—A contract 

20 under this subsection shall provide that the Sec21 retary shall pay to a provider— 

22 (A) 25 percent of the cost of providing the 

23 program of education upon the enrollment of an 

24 eligible veteran in the program; 

25 (B) 25 percent of such cost upon the com26 pletion of the program by the veteran; and 


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1 (C) 50 percent of such cost upon the em2 ployment of the veteran following completion of 

3 the program. 

4 (3) QUALIFIED PROVIDERS.—For purposes of 

5 the pilot program, a provider of a high technology 

6 program of education is qualified if the provider has 

7 been operational for at least two years. 

8 (4) TUITION REIMBURSEMENT.—In entering 

9 into contracts to carry out the pilot program, the 

10 Secretary shall give preference to a qualified pro11 vider that offers tuition reimbursement for any stu12 dent who— 

13 (A) completes a program of education of14 fered by the provider; and 

15 (B) does not find full-time meaningful em16 ployment within the 180-day period beginning 

17 on the date the student completes the program. 

18 (d) HOUSING STIPEND.—The Secretary shall pay to 

19 each eligible veteran who is enrolled in a high technology 

20 program of education under the pilot program on a full21 time basis a monthly housing stipend equal to the prod22 uct— 

23 (1) of— 

24 (A) in the case of a veteran pursuing resi25 dent training, the monthly amount of the basic 


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1 allowance for housing payable under section 

2 403 of title 37, United States Code, for a mem3 ber with dependents in pay grade E–5 residing 

4 in the military housing area that encompasses 

5 all or the majority portion of the ZIP code area 

6 in which is located the institution at which the 

7 individual is enrolled; or 

8 (B) in the case of a veteran pursuing a 

9 program of education through distance learn10 ing, a monthly amount equal to 50 percent of 

11 the amount payable under subparagraph (A), 

12 multiplied by 

13 (2) the lesser of— 

14 (A) 1.0; or 

15 (B) the number of course hours borne by 

16 the individual in pursuit of the program of edu17 cation involved, divided by the minimum num18 ber of course hours required for full-time pur19 suit of such program of education, rounded to 

20 the nearest multiple of 10. 

21 (e) HIGH TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM OF EDUCATION

22 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘high technology 

23 program of education’’ means a program of education 

24 that— 


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1 (1) is offered by an entity other than an institu2 tion of higher learning; 

3 (2) does not lead to a degree; and 

4 (3) provides instruction in computer program5 ming, computer software, media application, data 

6 processing, or information sciences. 

7 (f) REPORTS.— 

8 (1) SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—Not 

9 later than one year after the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

11 shall submit to Congress a report on the pilot pro12 gram under this section. 

13 (2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 

14 (A) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 

15 three years after the date on which the Sec16 retary first enters into a contract under this 

17 section, the Comptroller General of the United 

18 States shall submit to Congress a report con19 taining the results of the interim assessment of 

20 the Comptroller General. Such report shall in21 clude the recommendations of the Comptroller 

22 General for improving the pilot program and an 

23 assessment of each of the following: 

24 (i) The technology experience of the 

25 directors and instructors of the providers 


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1 of high technology programs of education 

2 under the pilot program. 

3 (ii) Whether the providers cooperated 

4 with the technology industry to create the 

5 curriculum for the program of education. 

6 (iii) Whether the providers use an 

7 open source curriculum for the program of 

8 education. 

9 (iv) The admittance rate into the pilot 

10 program. 

11 (v) The job placement rate for vet12 erans who completed a program of edu13 cation under the pilot program. 

14 (vi) The average salary of veterans 

15 who completed a program of education 

16 under the pilot program and were subse17 quently employed. 

18 (vii) The average age of veterans who 

19 participated in the pilot program. 

20 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than five 

21 years after the date on which the Secretary first 

22 enters into a contract under this section, the 

23 Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a 

24 final report on the pilot program. Such report 

25 shall include the recommendation of the CompVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Apr 13, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1989.IH H1989

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1 troller General with respect to whether the pro2 gram should be extended and an assessment of 

3 each of the following: 

4 (i) Each item described in clauses (i) 

5 through (vii) of subparagraph (A). 

6 (ii) The percentage of veterans who 

7 completed a program of education under 

8 the pilot program who were subsequently 

9 employed for a period of six months or 

10 longer. 

11 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Veterans 

13 Affairs $15,000,000 for each fiscal year during which the 

14 Secretary carries out a pilot program under this section. 

15 (h) TERMINATION.—The authority to carry out a 

16 pilot program under this section shall terminate on the 

17 date that is five years after the date on which the Sec18 retary first enters into a contract under this section. 

Æ 


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