jiayi-li23/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-01-22 00:00:00

GI Bill Processing Improvement Act of 2015

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to alter the information technology system of the Veterans Benefits Administration to ensure that: (1) all claims for post-9/11 educational assistance are electronically adjudicated, to the maximum extent possible; and (2) rule-based processing is used to decide such claims with little human intervention.

Changes from July 1, 2015, to July 1, 2016, the effective date of the requirement that the Secretary disapprove, for purposes of the All-Volunteer Force and the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance programs, courses of education provided by a public educational institution of higher education that charges veterans living in the state higher tuition and fees than it charges in-state residents, regardless of the veterans' state of residence.

Allows individuals to elect to convert their educational assistance to the post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance program if, as of August 1, 2009, they meet specified conditions with respect to their entitlements and elections under the all-volunteer force educational assistance program or certain other educational programs for professional military, selected reserve, or reserve component members. Conditions such post-9/11 program eligibility on the individual meeting the requirements for the post-9/11 program as of the date of election.

 Sets forth transitional rules with respect to the transfer or revocation of entitlements from a previous assistance program after an election to convert to the post-9/11 program. Requires certain assistance to remain available to individuals under their previous program if it is not available under the post-9/11 program.

Authorizes the Secretary, if an individual submits an election that the Secretary determines is against the interests of the individual, to make an alternative election on the individual's behalf. Allows such individual, during a specified period, to modify or revoke the Secretary's alternative selection.

 Requires individuals and educational institutions participating in the post-Vietnam era and post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance programs, in addition to those participating in the VA's other educational assistance programs, to report to the Secretary such enrollment and any updates on interruption or termination of the education (thereby making the enrollment reporting requirements for the post-Vietnam and post-9/11 programs consistent with other veterans' educational programs).

Defines "educational institution" to permit the inclusion of groups, districts, or consortiums of separately accredited educational institutions in the same state that are organized in a manner facilitating the centralized reporting of enrollments.

Directs the Secretary to make available to educational institutions, through an Internet website, information on the amount of educational assistance to which their students are entitled under the all-volunteer force, post-Vietnam era, post-9/11, and survivors' and dependents' educational assistance programs.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-01-22 00:00:00

GI Bill Education Quality Enhancement Act of 2015

Deems specified education programs to be approved for veterans' education benefit purposes if a state approving agency determines that they qualify. Authorizes a state approving agency, or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) acting in the role of a state approving agency, to approve other accredited programs for such purposes.

Continues to allow state approving agencies to establish additional criteria (other than those set forth in current law) for the approval of nonaccredited courses, but requires VA to determine that such criteria are necessary and treat public, private, and proprietary for-profit educational institutions equitably.

Prohibits VA from including flight training fees in the in-state tuition and fees at public institutions of higher education (IHEs) that are covered by post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance. Requires post-9/11 veterans' educational assistance for flight training programs at public IHEs to be determined in the same manner as such assistance for education programs pursued at non-public or foreign IHEs is determined.

Directs VA to conduct an annual compliance survey of educational institutions and training establishments offering courses approved for veterans' education benefits if at least 20 individuals who are eligible for such benefits are enrolled in any such course. (Currently, an annual compliance survey of each institution offering such courses must be conducted if at least 300 beneficiaries are enrolled or if any such course does not lead to a standard college degree.) Authorizes VA to waive the annual survey for institutions or establishments that have a record of compliance. Requires VA to conduct a biennial survey of each educational institution and training establishment that offers courses approved for veterans' education benefits.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-01-22 00:00:00

Student Loan Interest Deduction Act of 2015

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the maximum tax deduction for interest paid on any qualified education loan to $5,000 ($10,000 for married couples filing a joint tax return), and (2) repeal the limitation on such deduction based upon modified adjusted gross income.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-01-26 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on February 20, 2015. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

This bill makes changes to the rules for qualified tuition programs (known as 529 plans).

(Sec. 2) The Internal Revenue Code is amended to allow payments from 529 plans for the purchase of computer or peripheral equipment, computer software, or Internet access and related services to be used primarily by a 529 plan beneficiary while enrolled in an eligible educational institution.

(Sec. 3) The requirement that distributions from a 529 plan be aggregated for purposes of determining the amount includible in a taxpayer's income is eliminated.

(Sec. 4) Students who receive a refund from an eligible educational institution can recontribute such refund to a 529 plan without tax consequences if the recontribution is made not later than 60 days after the date of such refund and does not exceed the refunded amount.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-01-27 00:00:00

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow payment of home school expenses from Coverdell education savings accounts; (2) remove the dollar limitation on contributions to Coverdell education savings accounts and require such accounts to provide adequate safeguards to prevent contributions from exceeding the amount necessary to provide for the qualified education expenses of the account beneficiary; and (3) allow tax-exempt qualified tuition programs (529 tuition programs) to pay qualified pre-kindergarten, elementary, and secondary education expenses.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-01-27 00:00:00

Enhancing Educational Opportunities for all Students Act

Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow a state educational agency to allocate grant funds among local educational agencies based on the number of eligible children (children age 5 to 17 from a family with an income below the poverty level) enrolled in the public schools and the state-accredited private schools within each local agency's geographic jurisdiction.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow payment of home school expenses from Coverdell education savings accounts; (2) remove the dollar limitation on contributions to Coverdell education savings accounts and require such accounts to provide adequate safeguards to prevent contributions from exceeding the amount necessary to provide for the qualified education expenses of the account beneficiary; and (3) allow tax-exempt qualified tuition programs (529 tuition programs) to pay qualified pre-kindergarten, elementary, and secondary education expenses.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-01-28 00:00:00

Veteran Excellence Through Education Act of 2015

Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make grants, during FY2016-FY2021, to minority-serving institutions to establish verified delivery systems that address the social and academic problems facing enrolled veterans.

Includes among authorized grant activities: (1) educational services, including courses in English as a second language, financial literacy workshops and courses, and health and wellness programs; (2) increased access to workforce services; (3) support services such as housing, transportation, and child care; and (4) establishing a veteran support team.

Requires an institution, in order to receive such a grant, to submit to the Secretary a program plan and strategy to meet the needs of enrolled veterans.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-02-02 00:00:00

Veterans Education Survey Act of 2015

Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) to enter into a contract with a non-government entity to conduct a survey of a statistically valid sample of individuals who have used or are using their entitlement to veterans educational assistance to pursue a program of education or training.

Requires: (1) the survey to be submitted to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees not later than one month before the collection of data begins, and (2) the entity to conduct the survey electronically or by other appropriate means and to complete the survey and submit the results to the Secretary not later than 180 days after entering into the contract.

Requires the survey to be designed to collect specified types of information about each individual surveyed, including: (1) demographic information, including the highest level of education completed, military occupational specialties while serving in the Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves, and whether the individual has a service-connected disability; (2) the individual's opinion regarding participation in the transition assistance program and the effectiveness of the program; (3) the nature of the individual's experience with the VA's education benefits processing system; and (4) the individual's employment status and whether such status differs from the individual's status prior to enrolling in the program of education or training.

Directs the Secretary to report to the Committees on the results of the survey, including an unedited version of the results submitted, and any recommendations.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-02-02 00:00:00

Student Loan Refinancing Act

Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow a borrower of a loan under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program to modify the interest rate on such a loan so that its interest rate is equal to the interest rate it would bear if first disbursed at the time of modification.

Fixes that interest rate for the life of the loan, unless the borrower elects to modify it again.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-02-04 00:00:00

Helping Families Save for Education Act

 Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to Coverdell education savings accounts, to: (1) increase the age limit for beneficiaries of such accounts after which contributions may not be made from age 18 to age 22, and (2) increase the maximum contribution limit in any taxable year from $2,000 to $10,000.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Armed forces and national security
Date: 2015-02-05 00:00:00

GI Bill STEM Extension Act of 2015

Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay up to nine months of additional Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to a veteran who has used all of the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to which he or she was entitled and who: (1) is enrolled in a postsecondary education program that requires more than the standard 128 semester (or 192 quarter) credit hours for completion in a specified science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field; or (2) has earned a postsecondary degree in one of those fields and is enrolled in a teaching certification program.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-02-11 00:00:00

FAFSA Fairness Act of 2015

Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to disclose, on the form notifying students of their expected family contribution, the special circumstances under which students may qualify as independent for purposes of the determination regarding their need and eligibility for title IV assistance.

Allows students who may qualify as independent on the basis of those special circumstances to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid as independent students for purposes of the initial determination of their title IV assistance by a financial aid administrator at an institution of higher education to which they are applying.

Requires the financial aid administrators to: (1) provide those students with an initial determination regarding their title IV assistance in the same manner as, and by no later than the date that, they provide other independent students with that determination; and (2) use, in making a final determination regarding that assistance, the discretion provided to them under title IV to verify whether such students meet the special circumstances to qualify as independent students.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-02-12 00:00:00

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Professional Readiness Education Preparation Act or the STEM PREP Act of 2015

This bill amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to replace the TECH prep grant program with a STEM prep grant program for career and technical education programs focused on training students to enter the STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) fields.

A grant-receiving consortium may include a nonprofit institution of higher education offering a one-year certificate program or a one-year apprenticeship program.

The duration of a STEM program, currently 4- to 6-years, may extend from a 3-year to a 6-year length.

Special consideration shall be given to consortium applications showcasing curricula that lead to greater critical thinking and problem solving skills by incorporating fine arts into the STEM prep program.

A matching grant requirement is established for program eligibility.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-02-12 00:00:00

Fast Track to College Act of 2015

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award matching six-year grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) that partner with institutions of higher education (IHEs) to establish or support dual enrollment programs, such as early college high schools, that allow secondary school students to earn credit simultaneously toward a secondary school diploma and a postsecondary degree or certificate.

Gives grant priority to applicants: (1) that propose to establish or support a dual enrollment program for a student body at least 40% of which is impoverished; and (2) from states that provide assistance to dual enrollment programs, such as assistance defraying the costs of higher education.

Requires applicants to make assurances that: (1) students will not be required to pay tuition or fees for postsecondary courses, and (2) those courses will be taught by faculty that meet their partner IHE's normal standards.

Authorizes the Secretary to award matching five-year grants to states to: (1) plan and implement statewide strategies to make dual enrollment programs more accessible to students who are underrepresented in postsecondary education; (2) provide technical assistance to dual enrollment programs; and (3) engage in outreach, assessment, and teacher training activities designed to strengthen such programs.

Directs the Secretary to: (1) contract for an independent evaluation of this Act's programs, and (2) provide technical assistance to LEAs and their partners and disseminate information concerning best practices in dual enrollment programs.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-02-12 00:00:00

Pell Grant Funding Act

Directs the Secretary of Education to use any excess revenue generated by the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program during a fiscal year to carry out the Federal Pell Grant program in the next fiscal year.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-02-13 00:00:00

Supporting Academic Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act

Repeals certain Department of Education (ED) regulations that for purposes of determining whether a school is eligible to participate in programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA): (1) require institutions of higher education (IHEs) and postsecondary vocational institutions (except religious schools) to be legally authorized by the state in which they are situated, (2) delineate what such legal authorization requires of states and schools, (3) impose standards and disclosure requirements on programs that prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation, and (4) define "credit hour."

Prohibits ED from promulgating or enforcing any regulation or rule not in effect on the date of this Act's enactment regarding: (1) the state authorization for IHEs to operate within a state, (2) the definition or application of the term "gainful employment," or (3) a teacher preparation program accountability system. Ends that prohibition when a law is enacted that extends by at least two fiscal years the authorization or duration of one or more programs under the HEA.

Prohibits ED from promulgating or enforcing any regulation or rule that defines "credit hour" for any purpose under the HEA.

Prohibits ED from carrying out, developing, refining, promulgating, publishing, implementing, administering, or enforcing a postsecondary institution ratings system or any other performance system to rate IHEs.

Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the HEA to authorize nonprofit IHEs to make payments to third-party entities for services that include student recruitment and are based on the amount of tuition that the IHE generates from student enrollment if the third-party entity: (1) is not affiliated with the IHE, (2) does not provide incentive payments to its employees for their success in enrolling students or securing financial aid for them, (3) is not paid by the IHE solely or separately for student recruitment services, and (4) will not make student recruitment information available to any other person or entity.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-02-25 00:00:00

Access to Education and Training Act

Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow the Secretary of Education to award a student two Pell Grants during a single award year if the student is enrolled in an associate or baccalaureate degree or certificate program at an institution of higher education on at least a half-time basis for the equivalent of more than one academic year or more than two semesters during the Pell Grant award year.

Permits the total amount of Pell Grants awarded to such a student for the award year to exceed the maximum basic grant level specified in the appropriate appropriations Act for that award year.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-03-04 00:00:00

Eliminating the Hidden Student Loan Tax Act

Expresses the sense of Congress that no origination fees should be charged on any future loans under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan program. (Origination fees are the fees lenders charge for processing new loan applications.)

Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to repeal the Secretary of Education's authority to charge an origination fee on a Direct Loan first disbursed, or, in the case of a Direct Consolidation Loan, for which an application is received, on or after July 1, 2015.
Topic: Education — Higher
Subject: Education
Date: 2015-03-04 00:00:00

Higher Education Reform and Opportunity Act of 2015

Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make the following entities, programs, and courses eligible for funding under title IV if they are accredited by an authorized accreditation authority in a state that has an alternative accreditation agreement with the Secretary of Education:

 institutions that provide postsecondary courses; postsecondary apprenticeship programs; and postsecondary education courses or programs provided by institutions of postsecondary education, nonprofit organizations, or for-profit organizations or businesses. Lists the items to be included in a state's alternative accreditation agreement with the Secretary, including the standards those entities, programs, and courses must meet to receive and maintain their accreditation.

Requires that agreement to include the state's assurance that only entities, programs, and courses that provide credits toward a postsecondary certification, credential, or degree (as defined by the state in the agreement) will be accredited.

Establishes the formula for determining the administrative cost allowance for: (1) the entities, programs, and courses that are accredited through the alternative accreditation system and that administer the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant programs in accordance with the agreement; and (2) states that will administer those programs for such entities, programs, and courses in accordance with the agreement.