I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 643 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into a contract with 

a non-government entity to conduct a survey of individuals who have 

used or are using their entitlement to educational assistance under the 

educational assistance programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2015 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself and Mrs. KIRKPATRICK) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into 

a contract with a non-government entity to conduct a 

survey of individuals who have used or are using their 

entitlement to educational assistance under the educational assistance programs administered by the Secretary 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 Survey Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SURVEY OF INDIVIDUALS USING THEIR ENTITLE2 MENT TO EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE UNDER 

3 THE EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 

4 ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VET5 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

6 (a) SURVEY REQUIRED.—By not later than 180 days 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

8 of Veterans Affairs shall enter into a contract with a non9 government entity for the conduct of a survey of a statis10 tically valid sample of individuals who have used or are 

11 using their entitlement to educational assistance under 

12 chapters 30, 32, 33, and 35 of title 38, United States 

13 Code, to pursue a program of education or training. The 

14 contract shall provide that— 

15 (1) not later than one month before the collec16 tion of data under the survey begins, the survey 

17 shall be submitted to the Committees on Veterans’ 

18 Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives; 

19 (2) the non-government entity shall complete 

20 the survey and submit to the Secretary the results 

21 of the survey by not later than 180 days after enter22 ing into the contract; and 

23 (3) the survey shall be conducted by electronic 

24 means and by any other means the non-government 

25 entity determines appropriate. 


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1 (b) INFORMATION TO BE COLLECTED.—The con2 tract under subsection (a) shall provide that the survey 

3 shall be designed to collect the following types of informa4 tion about each individual surveyed, where applicable: 

5 (1) Demographic information, including the 

6 highest level of education completed by the indi7 vidual, the military occupational specialty or special8 ties of the individual while serving on active duty as 

9 a member of the Armed Forces or as a member of 

10 the National Guard or of a Reserve Component of 

11 the Armed Forces, and whether the individual has a 

12 service-connected disability. 

13 (2) The opinion of the individual regarding par14 ticipation in the transition assistance program under 

15 section 1144 of title 10, United States Code, and 

16 the effectiveness of the program, including instruc17 tion on the use of the benefits under laws adminis18 tered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

19 (3) The resources the individual used to help 

20 the individual— 

21 (A) decide to use the individual’s entitle22 ment to educational assistance to enroll in a 

23 program of education or training; and 

24 (B) choose the program of education or 

25 training the individual pursued. 


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1 (4) The individual’s goal when the individual 

2 enrolled in the program of education or training. 

3 (5) The nature of the individual’s experience 

4 with the education benefits processing system of the 

5 Department of Veterans Affairs. 

6 (6) The nature of the individual’s experience 

7 with the school certifying official of the educational 

8 institution where the individual pursued the program 

9 of education or training who processed the individ10 ual’s claim. 

11 (7) Any services or benefits the educational in12 stitution or program of education or training pro13 vided to veterans while the individual pursued the 

14 program of education or training. 

15 (8) The type of educational institution at which 

16 the individual pursued the program of education or 

17 training. 

18 (9) Whether the individual completed the pro19 gram of education or training or the number of cred20 it hours completed by the individual as of the time 

21 of the survey, and, if applicable, any degree or cer22 tificate obtained by the individual for completing the 

23 program. 

24 (10) The employment status of the individual 

25 and whether such employment status differs from 


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1 the employment status of the individual prior to en2 rolling in the program of education or training. 

3 (11) Whether the individual is or was enrolled 

4 in a program of education on a full-time or part5 time basis. 

6 (12) The opinion of the individual on the effec7 tiveness of the educational assistance program of the 

8 Department of Veterans Affairs under which the in9 dividual was entitled to educational assistance. 

10 (13) Whether the individual was ever entitled to 

11 a rehabilitation under chapter 31 of title 38, United 

12 States Code, and whether the individual participated 

13 in such a program. 

14 (14) A description of any circumstances that 

15 prevented the individual from using the individual’s 

16 entitlement to educational assistance to pursue a de17 sired career path or degree. 

18 (15) Whether the individual is using the indi19 vidual’s entitlement to educational assistance to pur20 sue a program of education or training or has trans21 ferred such an entitlement to a dependent. 

22 (16) Such other matters as the Secretary deter23 mines appropriate. 

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

25 the results of the survey required under this section, the 


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1 Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af2 fairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report 

3 on the results of the survey and any recommendations of 

4 the Secretary relating to such results. Such report shall 

5 also include an unedited version of the results of the sur6 vey submitted by the non-government entity that con7 ducted the study. 

Æ 


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