I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 621 
To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants with minority 
serving institutions for the purpose of establishing verified delivery sys-
tems to address social and academic problems facing veterans enrolled 
at such institutions, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 28, 2015 
Mr. VARGAS 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. 
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 Excellence 
Through Education Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GRANTS TO 
MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTIONS TO AD-
DRESS SOCIAL AND ACADEMIC PROBLEMS 
FACING VETERANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
may make grants to minority serving institutions for the 
purpose of establishing verified delivery systems to address 
social and academic problems facing veterans enrolled at 
such institutions. 
(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The recipient of a grant under 
this section shall use the grant funds to carry out any 
of the following activities for veterans enrolled at the insti-
tution receiving the grant: 
(1) Providing education services, including post- 
secondary education, courses in English as a second 
language, general education development prepara-
tion, financial literacy workshops and courses, 
generational diversity awareness programs, and 
health and wellness programs. 
(2) Activities designed to increase access to 
workforce services, including on-job training, intern-
ships, skills training, job placement, and personal 
development. 
(3) Other types of support services, including 
health and nutrition services, housing assistance, 
transportation, and child care. 
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(4) Establishing a center for veteran student 
success on the campus of the institution to provide 
a single point of contact to coordinate comprehensive 
support services for veterans who are enrolled in a 
program of education offered by the institution. 
(5) Establishing a veteran support team, in-
cluding representatives from the offices of the insti-
tution responsible for admissions, registration, finan-
cial aid, veterans benefits, academic advising, stu-
dent health, personal or mental health counseling, 
career advising, and disabilities services, and any 
other office of the institution that provides support 
to veteran students on campus. 
(6) Providing a coordinator whose primary re-
sponsibility is to coordinate the activities carried out 
under the grant. 
(7) Monitoring the rates of enrollment, persist-
ence, and completion of veterans who are enrolled in 
a program of education offered by the institution. 
(8) Developing a plan to sustain a center de-
scribed in paragraph (4) after the institution no 
longer receives funds under this section. 
(9) Providing outreach to veterans to encourage 
them to enroll in a program of education offered by 
the institution. 
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(10) Providing supportive instructional services 
for veterans enrolled in a program of education of-
fered by the institution, including— 
(A) personal, academic, and career coun-
seling; 
(B) tutoring and academic skill-building 
assistance; and 
(C) assistance with special admissions and 
transferring credits from previously attended 
institutions of higher learning or other relevant 
credits. 
(11) Providing assistance to veterans admitted 
for enrollment in a program of education offered by 
the institution in obtaining student financial aid. 
(12) Providing housing support for veterans en-
rolled in a program of education offered by the insti-
tution who live in institutional facilities or who com-
mute. 
(13) Academic programs, orientation programs, 
and other activities designed to ease the transition 
to campus life for such veterans. 
(14) Support for veteran student organizations 
and veteran student support groups at the institu-
tion. 
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(15) Coordination of academic advising and ad-
missions counseling with military installations and 
national guard units located in the same geographic 
area as the institution. 
(16) Other support services the institution de-
termines necessary to ensure the success of veterans 
enrolled in a program of education offered by the in-
stitution in achieving educational and career goals. 
(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, a minority serving institution shall sub-
mit to the Secretary an application containing a program 
plan containing a strategy for meeting the needs of vet-
erans enrolled in the institution. Such a plan shall in-
clude— 
(1) an identification of the population to be 
served; 
(2) an identification of the education and em-
ployment needs of the population to be served and 
the manner in which the activities proposed to be 
provided using grant funds are designed to strength-
en the ability of such individuals to achieve their 
higher education goals; 
(3) a description of the activities proposed to be 
provided using grant funds and the manner in which 
such activities would be integrated with other appro-
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