I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1399 
To reauthorize and improve a grant program to assist institutions of higher 
education in establishing, maintaining, improving, and operating Veteran 
Student Centers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2015 
Ms. FRANKEL of Florida (for herself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, and Mr. TAKANO) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To reauthorize and improve a grant program to assist insti-
tutions of higher education in establishing, maintaining, 
improving, and operating Veteran Student Centers. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Education 
Empowerment Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Over 1,000,000 veterans attended institu-
tions of higher education in 2014. 
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(2) 
Veterans 
face 
unique 
challenges 
in 
transitioning from the battlefield to the classroom 
and eventually to the workforce, often including: age 
differences, family obligations, significant time away 
from academic life, and service-related disabilities. 
(3) The National Endowment for the Human-
ities’ Warrior-Scholar Project found that ‘‘veterans 
transitioning to college likely have not used academic 
skills since high school and have difficulty adjusting 
to a fundamentally different social and cultural envi-
ronment, [leading] to veterans dropping out of col-
lege before earning their degree’’. 
(4) The National Education Association found 
that veteran students can feel lonely and vulnerable 
on campus and that ‘‘connecting student veterans 
can effectively ease this isolation’’ by bringing to-
gether new veteran students with those who have al-
ready successfully navigated the first few semesters 
of college. 
(5) The unemployment rate for post-9/11 vet-
erans far outpaces both the overall non-veteran un-
employment rate and the unemployment rate for 
non-veterans entering the workforce for the first 
time. 
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(6) According to Mission United—a United 
Way program that helps veterans re-acclimate to ci-
vilian life—it is often ‘‘essential’’ for veteran stu-
dents to be mentored by ‘‘another veteran who un-
derstands their mindset and experience’’. 
(7) Veteran Student Centers are recognized as 
an institutional best practice by Student Veterans of 
America. 
(8) The American Council on Education, which 
represents more than 1,700 institutions of higher 
education across the country, has called having a 
dedicated space for veterans on campus ‘‘a prom-
ising way for colleges and universities to better serve 
veterans on campus’’ and a ‘‘critical’’ component of 
many colleges’ efforts to serve their veteran stu-
dents. 
(9) The Department of Education included as 
one of its 8 Keys to Veterans’ Success that colleges 
and universities should ‘‘coordinate and centralize 
campus efforts for all veterans, together with the 
creation of a designated space for them’’. 
(10) Budget constraints often make it difficult 
or impossible for institutions of higher education to 
dedicate space to veteran offices, lounges, or student 
centers. 
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(11) The 110th Congress authorized the fund-
ing of Veteran Student Centers through the Centers 
of Excellence for Veteran Student Success under 
part T of title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161t). Congress also chose to ap-
propriate funding for this program for fiscal year 
2015 under the Consolidated and Further Con-
tinuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (Public Law 113– 
235). 
(12) According to the Department of Edu-
cation, federally funded Veteran Student Centers 
and staff have generated improved recruitment, re-
tention, and graduation rates, have helped veteran 
students feel better connected across campus, and 
have directly contributed to student veterans’ suc-
cessful academic outcomes. 
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN, AND 
IMPROVE VETERAN STUDENT CENTERS. 
Title VIII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is 
amended by striking part T (20 U.S.C. 1161t) and insert-
ing the following: 
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