I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1251 

To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants with minority 

serving institutions for the purpose of establishing verified delivery systems to address social and academic problems facing veterans enrolled 

at such institutions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2013 

Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD (for herself, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. BEN RAY

LUJA ́N of New Mexico, Mr. VARGAS, and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make 

grants with minority serving institutions for the purpose 

of establishing verified delivery systems to address social 

and academic problems facing veterans enrolled at such 

institutions, 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 ‘‘Veteran Excellence 

5 Through Education Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GRANTS TO 

2 MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTIONS TO AD3 DRESS SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC PROBLEMS 

4 FACING VETERANS. 

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

6 may make grants to minority serving institutions for the 

7 purpose of establishing verified delivery systems to address 

8 social and academic problems facing veterans enrolled at 

9 such institutions. 

10 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—The recipient of a grant under 

11 this section shall use the grant funds to carry out any 

12 of the following activities for veterans enrolled at the insti13 tution receiving the grant: 

14 (1) Providing education services, including post15 secondary education, courses in English as a second 

16 language, general education development prepara17 tion, financial literacy workshops and courses, 

18 generational diversity awareness programs, and 

19 health and wellness programs. 

20 (2) Activities designed to increase access to 

21 workforce services, including on-job training, intern22 ships, skills training, job placement, and personal 

23 development. 

24 (3) Other types of support services, including 

25 health and nutrition services, housing assistance, 

26 transportation, and child care. 


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1 (4) Establishing a center for veteran student 

2 success on the campus of the institution to provide 

3 a single point of contact to coordinate comprehensive 

4 support services for veterans who are enrolled in a 

5 program of education offered by the institution. 

6 (5) Establishing a veteran support team, in7 cluding representatives from the offices of the insti8 tution responsible for admissions, registration, finan9 cial aid, veterans benefits, academic advising, stu10 dent health, personal or mental health counseling, 

11 career advising, and disabilities services, and any 

12 other office of the institution that provides support 

13 to veteran students on campus. 

14 (6) Providing a coordinator whose primary re15 sponsibility is to coordinate the activities carried out 

16 under the grant. 

17 (7) Monitoring the rates of enrollment, persist18 ence, and completion of veterans who are enrolled in 

19 a program of education offered by the institution. 

20 (8) Developing a plan to sustain a center de21 scribed in paragraph (4) after the institution no 

22 longer receives funds under this section. 

23 (9) Providing outreach to veterans to encourage 

24 them to enroll in a program of education offered by 

25 the institution. 


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1 (10) Providing supportive instructional services 

2 for veterans enrolled in a program of education of3 fered by the institution, including— 

4 (A) personal, academic, and career coun5 seling; 

6 (B) tutoring and academic skill-building 

7 assistance; and 

8 (C) assistance with special admissions and 

9 transferring credits from previously attended 

10 institutions of higher learning or other relevant 

11 credits. 

12 (11) Providing assistance to veterans admitted 

13 for enrollment in a program of education offered by 

14 the institution in obtaining student financial aid. 

15 (12) Providing housing support for veterans en16 rolled in a program of education offered by the insti17 tution who live in institutional facilities or who com18 mute. 

19 (13) Academic programs, orientation programs, 

20 and other activities designed to ease the transition 

21 to campus life for such veterans. 

22 (14) Support for veteran student organizations 

23 and veteran student support groups at the institu24 tion. 


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1 (15) Coordination of academic advising and ad2 missions counseling with military installations and 

3 national guard units located in the same geographic 

4 area as the institution. 

5 (16) Other support services the institution de6 termines necessary to ensure the success of veterans 

7 enrolled in a program of education offered by the in8 stitution in achieving educational and career goals. 

9 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

10 under this section, a minority serving institution shall sub11 mit to the Secretary an application containing a program 

12 plan containing a strategy for meeting the needs of vet13 erans enrolled in the institution. Such a plan shall in14 clude— 

15 (1) an identification of the population to be 

16 served; 

17 (2) an identification of the education and em18 ployment needs of the population to be served and 

19 the manner in which the activities proposed to be 

20 provided using grant funds are designed to strength21 en the ability of such individuals to achieve their 

22 higher education goals; 

23 (3) a description of the activities proposed to be 

24 provided using grant funds and the manner in which 

25 such activities would be integrated with other approVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:43 Mar 22, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1251.IH H1251

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1 priate activities carried out by or at the institution; 

2 and 

3 (4) a description, developed in consultation with 

4 the Secretary, of the performance measures pro5 posed to be used to assess the performance of the 

6 institution in carrying out activities using grant 

7 funds. 

8 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) The term ‘‘minority serving institution’’ 

10 means a historically Black college or university, a 

11 Hispanic-serving institution, a Tribal College or Uni12 versity, or a Predominantly Black Institution. 

13 (2) The term ‘‘historically Black college’’ has 

14 the meaning given the term ‘‘part B institution’’ as 

15 defined in section 322(2) of the Higher Education 

16 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)). 

17 (3) The term ‘‘Hispanic-serving institution’’ has 

18 the meaning given that term in as section 502(a)(5) 

19 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a)(5)). 

20 (4) The term ‘‘Tribal College or University’’ 

21 has the meaning given that term in section 

22 316(b)(3) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)(3)). 

23 (5) The term ‘‘Predominantly Black Institu24 tion’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

25 Predominantly Black Institution has the meaning 


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1 given that term in section 318(b)(6)of such Act (20 

2 U.S.C. 1059e(b)(6)). 

3 (e) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may only make a 

4 grant under this section during fiscal years 2014 through 

5 2019. 

Æ 


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