SEC. 4. VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND ORIENTATION AND MO-
BILITY PROFESSIONALS EDUCATION ASSIST-
ANCE PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Chapter 76 of 
title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subchapter: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—VISUAL IMPAIRMENT AND 
ORIENTATION 
AND 
MOBILITY 
PROFES-
SIONALS SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 
‘‘§ 7691. Authority for program 
‘‘As part of the Educational Assistance Program and 
subject to the availability of appropriations for such pur-
pose, the Secretary shall carry out a scholarship program 
under this subchapter. The program shall be known as the 
Department of Veterans Affairs Visual Impairment and 
Orientation and Mobility Professionals Scholarship Pro-
gram (hereinafter in this subchapter referred to as the ‘Pro-
gram’). The purpose of the Program is to increase the sup-
ply of qualified blind rehabilitation specialists for the De-
partment and the Nation. 
‘‘§ 7692. Eligibility; agreement 
‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to participate in the 
Program, an individual must be accepted for enrollment or 
enrolled (as described in section 7602 of this title) as a full- 
time or part-time student in a field of education or training 
described in subsection (b). 
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‘‘(b) QUALIFYING FIELDS OF EDUCATION OR TRAIN-
ING.—A field of education or training described in this sub-
section is education or training leading to— 
‘‘(1) a degree or certificate in visual impairment 
or orientation and mobility, or a dual degree or cer-
tification in both such areas; and 
‘‘(2) appointment or retention in a position 
under section 7401 of this title. 
‘‘(c) AGREEMENT.—(1) An agreement between the Sec-
retary and a participant in the Program shall (in addition 
to the requirements set forth in section 7604 of this title) 
include the following: 
‘‘(A) The Secretary’s agreement to provide the 
participant with a scholarship under the Program for 
a specified number (from one to three) of school years 
during which the participant pursues a course of edu-
cation or training described in subsection (b) that 
meets the requirements set forth in section 7602(a) of 
this title. 
‘‘(B) The participant’s agreement to serve as a 
full-time employee in the Veterans Health Adminis-
tration for a period of three years (hereinafter in this 
subchapter referred to as the ‘period of obligated serv-
ice’) during the six-year period beginning on the date 
the participant completes the education or training 
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and receives a degree or certificate described in sub-
section (b)(1). 
‘‘(C) The participant’s agreement to serve under 
subparagraph (B) in a Department facility selected 
by the Secretary. 
‘‘(2) In a case in which an extension is granted under 
section 7673(c)(2) of this title, the number of years for 
which a scholarship may be provided under the Program 
shall be the number of school years provided for as a result 
of the extension. 
‘‘(3) In the case of a participant who is a part-time 
student, the period of obligated service shall be reduced in 
accordance with the proportion that the number of credit 
hours carried by such participant in any such school year 
bears to the number of credit hours required to be carried 
by a full-time student in the course of training being pur-
sued by the participant, but in no event to less than one 
year. 
‘‘§ 7693. Scholarship 
‘‘(a) SCHOLARSHIP.—A scholarship provided to a par-
ticipant in the Program for a school year shall consist of 
payment of the tuition (or such portion of the tuition as 
may be provided under subsection (b)) of the participant 
for that school year and payment of other reasonable edu-
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cational expenses (including fees, books, and laboratory ex-
penses) for that school year. 
‘‘(b) AMOUNTS.—The total amount of the scholarship 
payable under subsection (a)— 
‘‘(1) in the case of a participant in the Program 
who is a full-time student, may not exceed $15,000 for 
the equivalent of one year of full-time coursework; and 
‘‘(2) in the case of a participant in the Program 
who is a part-time student, shall bear the same ratio 
to the amount that would be paid under paragraph 
(1) if the participant were a full-time student in the 
course of education or training being pursued by the 
participant as the coursework carried by the partici-
pant to full-time coursework in that course of edu-
cation or training. 
‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS ON PERIOD OF PAYMENT.—(1) The 
maximum number of school years for which a scholarship 
may be paid under subsection (a) to a participant in the 
Program shall be six school years. 
‘‘(2) A participant in the Program may not receive 
a scholarship under subsection (a) for more than the equiva-
lent of three years of full-time coursework. 
‘‘(d) PAYMENT OF EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES BY EDU-
CATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.—The Secretary may arrange 
with an educational institution in which a participant in 
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