I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 476 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the process of approving 

courses of education pursued using educational benefits administered 

by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 22, 2015 

Mr. WENSTRUP introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the process 

of approving courses of education pursued using educational benefits 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 ‘‘GI Bill Education 

5 Quality Enhancement Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ROLE OF STATE APPROVING AGENCIES. 

7 (a) APPROVAL OF CERTAIN COURSES.—Section 

8 3672(b)(2)(A) of title 38, United States Code, is amended 

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1 by striking ‘‘the following’’ and all that follows through 

2 the colon and inserting the following: ‘‘a program of edu3 cation is deemed to be approved for purposes of this chap4 ter if a State approving agency determines that the pro5 gram is one of the following programs:’’. 

6 (b) APPROVAL OF OTHER COURSES.—Section 3675 

7 of such title amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)(1)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘The Secretary or a State 

10 approving agency’’ and inserting ‘‘A State ap11 proving agency, or the Secretary when acting in 

12 the role of a State approving agency,’’; and 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘offered by proprietary for14 profit educational institutions’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘not covered by section 3672 of this title’’; and 

16 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘the Secretary 

17 or the State approving agency’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

18 State approving agency, or the Secretary when act19 ing in the role of a State approving agency,’’ each 

20 place it appears. 

21 SEC. 3. CRITERIA USED TO APPROVE NONACCREDITED 

22 COURSES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3676(c)(14) of such title 

24 is amended by inserting before the period the following: 

25 ‘‘if the Secretary, in consultation with the State approving 

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1 agency and pursuant to regulations prescribed to carry out 

2 this paragraph, determines such criteria are necessary and 

3 treat public, private, and proprietary for-profit educational 

4 institutions equitably’’. 

5 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub6 section (a) shall apply with respect to an investigation con7 ducted under section 3676(c) of title 38, United States 

8 Code, that is covered by a reimbursement of expenses paid 

9 by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to a State pursuant 

10 to section 3674 of such title on or after the first day of 

11 the first fiscal year following the date of the enactment 

12 of this Act. 

13 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF ASSISTANCE PROVIDED FOR 

14 CERTAIN FLIGHT TRAINING. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c)(1)(A) of section 

16 3313 of such title is amended— 

17 (1) in clause (i)— 

18 (A) by redesignating subclauses (I) and 

19 (II) as items (aa) and (bb), respectively; 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘In the case of a program 

21 of education pursued at a public institution of 

22 higher learning’’ and inserting ‘‘(I) Subject to 

23 subclause (II), in the case of a program of edu24 cation pursued at a public institution of higher 

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1 learning not described in clause (ii)(II)(bb)’’; 

2 and 

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

4 subclause: 

5 ‘‘(II) In determining the actual net 

6 cost for in-State tuition and fees pursuant 

7 to subclause (I), the Secretary may not 

8 pay for fees relating to flight training.’’; 

9 and 

10 (2) in clause (ii)— 

11 (A) in subclause (I), by redesignating 

12 items (aa) and (bb) as subitems (AA) and 

13 (BB), respectively; 

14 (B) in subclause (II), by redesignating 

15 items (aa) and (bb) as subitems (AA) and 

16 (BB), respectively; 

17 (C) by redesignating subclauses (I) and 

18 (II) as items (aa) and (bb), respectively; 

19 (D) by striking ‘‘In the case of a program 

20 of education pursued at a non-public or foreign 

21 institution of higher learning’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘(I) In the case of a program of education de23 scribed in subclause (II)’’; and 

24 (E) by adding at the end the following new 

25 subclause: 

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1 ‘‘(II) A program of education de2 scribed in this subclause is any of the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(aa) A program of education 

5 pursued at a non-public or foreign in6 stitution of higher learning. 

7 ‘‘(bb) A program of education 

8 pursued at a public institution of 

9 higher learning in which flight train10 ing is required to earn the degree 

11 being pursued (including with respect 

12 to a dual major, concentration, or 

13 other element of such a degree).’’. 

14 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by sub15 section (a) shall apply with respect to a quarter, semester, 

16 or term, as applicable, commencing on or after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 5. COMPLIANCE SURVEYS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3693 of such title is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

22 following new subsection (a): 

23 ‘‘(a)(1) Except as provided in subsection (b), the Sec24 retary shall conduct an annual compliance survey of edu25 cational institutions and training establishments offering 

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1 one or more courses approved for the enrollment of eligible 

2 veterans or persons if at least 20 such veterans or persons 

3 are enrolled in any such course. The Secretary shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) design the compliance surveys to ensure 

5 that such institutions or establishments, as the case 

6 may be, and approved courses are in compliance 

7 with all applicable provisions of chapters 30 through 

8 36 of this title; 

9 ‘‘(B) survey each such educational institution 

10 and training establishment not less than once during 

11 every two-year period; and 

12 ‘‘(C) assign not fewer than one education com13 pliance specialist to work on compliance surveys in 

14 any year for each 40 compliance surveys required to 

15 be made under this section for such year. 

16 ‘‘(2) The Secretary, in consultation with the State ap17 proving agencies, shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) annually determine the parameters of the 

19 surveys required under paragraph (1); and 

20 ‘‘(B) not later than September 1 of each year, 

21 make available to the State approving agencies a list 

22 of the educational institutions and training estab23 lishments that will be surveyed during the fiscal year 

24 following the date of making such list available.’’; 

25 and 

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1 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub2 section: 

3 ‘‘(c) In this section, the terms ‘educational institu4 tion’ and ‘training establishment’ have the meaning given 

5 such terms in section 3452 of this title.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Subsection (b) of 

7 such section is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘subsection (a) of this section 

9 for an annual compliance survey’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘subsection (a)(1) for a compliance survey’’; 

11 (2) by striking ‘‘institution’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘educational institution or training establishment’’; 

13 and 

14 (3) by striking ‘‘institution’s demonstrated 

15 record of compliance’’ and inserting ‘‘record of com16 pliance of such institution or establishment’’. 

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