II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1278 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand the scope of programs 

of education for which accelerated payments of educational assistance 

under the Montgomery GI Bill may be used, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2007 

Mr. HAGEL (for himself and Mr. REED) 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 expand the scope 

of programs of education for which accelerated payments 

of educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill 

may be used, 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 and Survivors 

5 Employment and Training Act of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS ELIGIBLE 

2 FOR ACCELERATED PAYMENT OF EDU3 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE UNDER THE MONT4 GOMERY GI BILL. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 3014A 

6 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking 

7 paragraph (1) and inserting the following new paragraph 

8 (1): 

9 ‘‘(1) enrolled in either— 

10 ‘‘(A) an approved program of education 

11 that leads to employment in a high technology 

12 occupation in a high technology industry (as de13 termined pursuant to regulations prescribed by 

14 the Secretary); or 

15 ‘‘(B) an approved program of education 

16 lasting less than two years that leads to em17 ployment in a sector of the economy, as identi18 fied by the Department of Labor, that— 

19 ‘‘(i) is projected to— 

20 ‘‘(I) experience a substantial in21 crease in the number of jobs; or 

22 ‘‘(II) positively affect the growth 

23 of another sector of the economy; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) consists of existing or emerging 

25 businesses that are being transformed by 


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1 technology and innovation and require new 

2 skills for workers; and’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING EXPANSION OF PROGRAM OF EDU4 CATION.—Such section is further amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub6 section (h); and 

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol8 lowing new subsection (g): 

9 ‘‘(g) For purposes of this section, a program of edu10 cation includes a program of education (as defined in sec11 tion 3002(3) of this title) pursued at a tribally controlled 

12 college or university (as such term is defined in section 

13 2 of the Tribally Controlled College or University Assist14 ance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801)).’’. 

15 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

16 (1) HEADING AMENDMENT.—The heading of 

17 such section is amended to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘§ 3014A. Accelerated payment of basic educational 

19 assistance’’. 

20 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item relating 

21 to such section in the table of sections at the begin22 ning of chapter 30 of such title is amended to read 

23 as follows: 

‘‘3014A. Accelerated payment of basic educational assistance.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. ACCELERATED PAYMENT OF SURVIVORS’ AND DE2 PENDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOR 

3 CERTAIN PROGRAMS OF EDUCATION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter IV of chapter 35 of 

5 title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

6 section 3532 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 3532A. Accelerated payment of educational assist8 ance allowance 

9 ‘‘(a) The educational assistance allowance payable 

10 under section 3531 of this title with respect to an eligible 

11 person described in subsection (b) may, upon the election 

12 of such eligible person, be paid on accelerated basis in ac13 cordance with this section. 

14 ‘‘(b) An eligible person described in this subsection 

15 is an individual who is— 

16 ‘‘(1) enrolled in either— 

17 ‘‘(A) an approved program of education 

18 that leads to employment in a high technology 

19 occupation in a high technology industry (as de20 termined pursuant to regulations prescribed by 

21 the Secretary); or 

22 ‘‘(B) an approved program of education 

23 lasting less than two years that leads to em24 ployment in a sector of the economy, as identi25 fied by the Department of Labor, that— 

26 ‘‘(i) is projected to— 


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1 ‘‘(I) experience a substantial in2 crease in the number of jobs; or 

3 ‘‘(II) positively affect the growth 

4 of another sector of the economy; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) consists of existing or emerging 

6 businesses that are being transformed by 

7 technology and innovation and require new 

8 skills for workers; and 

9 ‘‘(2) charged tuition and fees for the program 

10 of education that, when divided by the number of 

11 months (and fractions thereof) in the enrollment pe12 riod, exceeds the amount equal to 200 percent of the 

13 monthly rate of educational assistance allowance 

14 otherwise payable with respect to the individual 

15 under section 3531 of this title. 

16 ‘‘(c)(1) The amount of the accelerated payment of 

17 educational assistance payable with respect to an eligible 

18 person making an election under subsection (a) for a pro19 gram of education shall be the lesser of— 

20 ‘‘(A) the amount equal to 60 percent of the es21 tablished charges for the program of education; or 

22 ‘‘(B) the aggregate amount of educational as23 sistance allowance to which the individual remains 

24 entitled under this chapter at the time of the pay25 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘established 

2 charges’, in the case of a program of education, means 

3 the actual charges (as determined pursuant to regulations 

4 prescribed by the Secretary) for tuition and fees which 

5 similarly circumstanced nonveterans enrolled in the pro6 gram of education would be required to pay. Established 

7 charges shall be determined on the following basis: 

8 ‘‘(A) In the case of an individual enrolled in a 

9 program of education offered on a term, quarter, or 

10 semester basis, the tuition and fees charged the indi11 vidual for the term, quarter, or semester. 

12 ‘‘(B) In the case of an individual enrolled in a 

13 program of education not offered on a term, quarter, 

14 or semester basis, the tuition and fees charged the 

15 individual for the entire program of education. 

16 ‘‘(3) The educational institution providing the pro17 gram of education for which an accelerated payment of 

18 educational assistance allowance is elected by an eligible 

19 person under subsection (a) shall certify to the Secretary 

20 the amount of the established charges for the program of 

21 education. 

22 ‘‘(d) An accelerated payment of educational assist23 ance allowance made with respect to an eligible person 

24 under this section for a program of education shall be 

25 made not later than the last day of the month immediately 


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1 following the month in which the Secretary receives a cer2 tification from the educational institution regarding— 

3 ‘‘(1) the person’s enrollment in and pursuit of 

4 the program of education; and 

5 ‘‘(2) the amount of the established charges for 

6 the program of education. 

7 ‘‘(e)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), for each 

8 accelerated payment of educational assistance allowance 

9 made with respect to an eligible person under this section, 

10 the person’s entitlement to basic educational assistance 

11 under this chapter shall be charged the number of months 

12 (and any fraction thereof) determined by dividing the 

13 amount of the accelerated payment by the full-time 

14 monthly rate of educational assistance allowance otherwise 

15 payable with respect to the person under section 3531 of 

16 this title as of the beginning date of the enrollment period 

17 for the program of education for which the accelerated 

18 payment is made. 

19 ‘‘(2) If the monthly rate of educational assistance al20 lowance otherwise payable with respect to an eligible per21 son under section 3531 of this title increases during the 

22 enrollment period of a program of education for which an 

23 accelerated payment of educational assistance allowance is 

24 made under this section, the charge to the person’s entitle25 ment to educational assistance under this chapter shall be 


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1 determined by prorating the entitlement chargeable, in the 

2 manner provided for under paragraph (1), for the periods 

3 covered by the initial rate and increased rate, respectively, 

4 in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Sec5 retary. 

6 ‘‘(f) The Secretary may not make an accelerated pay7 ment of educational assistance allowance under this sec8 tion for a program of education with respect to an eligible 

9 person who has received an advance payment under sec10 tion 3680(d) of this title for the same enrollment period. 

11 ‘‘(g) For purposes of this section, a program of edu12 cation includes a program of education (as defined in sec13 tion 3002(3) of this title) pursued at a tribally controlled 

14 college or university (as such term is defined in section 

15 2 of the Tribally Controlled College or University Assist16 ance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801)). 

17 ‘‘(h) The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to 

18 carry out this section. The regulations shall include re19 quirements, conditions, and methods for the request, 

20 issuance, delivery, certification of receipt and use, and re21 covery of overpayment of an accelerated payment of edu22 cational assistance allowance under this section. The regu23 lations may include such elements of the regulations pre24 scribed under section 3014A of this title as the Secretary 

25 considers appropriate for purposes of this section’’. 


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

2 at the beginning of chapter 35 of such title is amended 

3 by inserting after the item relating to section 3532 the 

4 following new item: 

‘‘3532A. Accelerated payment of educational assistance allowance.’’. 

Æ 


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