1.This Act may be cited as the
Veterans Education Tuition Support
Act
or the VETS
Act
.
2.
(a)Congress
makes the following findings:
(1)There is no more
important cause than the defense of the United States.
(2)Since 2003,
nearly 1,300,000 members of the Armed Forces have served in Iraq or Afghanistan
and over 420,000 members of the Armed Forces in the National Guard and Reserve
have been called to active duty.
(3)The men and women
of the Armed Forces put their lives on hold, leave their families, jobs, and
postsecondary education in order to serve the United States, and do so with
distinction.
(4)In 2005, 500,000
veterans claimed education benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and
approximately 47,000 of those veterans are members of the National Guard or
Reserve and recently returned from serving in the Armed Forces in Iraq or
Afghanistan.
(5)Many members of
the Armed Forces depend on various forms of financial aid in addition to their
Montgomery GI Bill benefits to help fund their college education.
(6)The 6 percent
interest rate cap on all debts of members of the Armed Forces called to active
duty guaranteed by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 501 et
seq.) has been interpreted narrowly by the Secretary of Education not to apply
to Federal student loans.
(7)Members of the
Armed Forces who return from deployment overseas in the Armed Forces and who
are unable to continue immediately a program of education that they were forced
to discontinue because of such deployment are being forced to begin making
payments on their private students loans only 1 month after such return.
(8)The transition
from service in the Armed Forces in a combat theater to a classroom is a
difficult challenge and should not be rushed merely to avoid paying back
student loans.
(9)As of the date of
the enactment of this Act, colleges are not required to make reasonable
accommodations for students who are called to active duty in the Armed Forces,
such as tuition reimbursement and relaxation of requirements for
reenrollment.
(10)Members of the
Armed Forces who return from deployment overseas and attempt to reenroll in a
program of education are overwhelmed with bureaucracy.
(11)Studies have
shown that symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other
non-apparent injuries may take up to a year to manifest.
(12)Members of the
Armed Forces deserve to have at least a full academic year to reintegrate into
society before they are required to begin paying back student loans.
(13)Members of the
Armed Forces who fight to protect the United States deserve a Government that
fights to protect them.
(b)The
purposes of this Act are—
(1)to assist members
of the Armed Forces who return from a deployment to transition from military
service to civilian life and to undertake programs of education they were
forced to discontinue because of such deployment;
(2)to provide a
13-month transition period for such members to reenroll in such a program of
education and to begin paying back student loans undertaken for such program of
education;
(3)to institute a 6
percent interest rate cap on student loans of a member of the Armed Forces
while such member is deployed on active duty; and
(4)to require
providers of programs of education to provide reasonable accommodations to
their students who are members of the Armed Forces and who discontinue a
program of education because of a deployment.
3.Relief for
students who discontinue education because of military service
(a)Title VII of the
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 591 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following new section:
707.Tuition,
reenrollment, and student loan relief for postsecondary students called to
military service
(a)In the case of a servicemember who because of
military service discontinues a program of education at an institution of
higher education that administers a Federal financial aid program, such
institution of higher education shall—
(1)refund to such
servicemember the tuition and fees paid by such servicemember from personal
funds, or from a loan, for the portion of the program of education for which
such servicemember did not receive academic credit because of such military
service; and
(2)provide such
servicemember an opportunity to reenroll in such program of education with the
same educational and academic status such servicemember had when such
servicemember discontinued such program of education because of such military
service.
(b)Deferment of
repayment of loansIn the case of a servicemember who because of
military service discontinues a program of education at an institution of
higher education, the following rules shall apply to a provider of student
loans who has provided a student loan to such servicemember that is not in
payment status on the date the period of military service begins:
(1)If such
servicemember reenrolls in the program of education (or a comparable program)
within 13 months following the period of military service, the provider shall
disregard the entire period the program of education was discontinued in
determining the date on which repayment of the student loan is to begin.
(2)If such
servicemember does not so reenroll, the provider shall not require repayment of
the student loan to begin before the later of the last day of such 13-month
period or the date the repayment was to begin without regard to this
subsection.
(c)Interest rate
limitation on student loans
(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, a
student loan shall be considered an obligation or liability for the purposes of
section 207.
(2)Subsection
(c) of section 207 shall not apply to a student loan.
(d)In
this section:
(1)The term
Federal financial aid program means a program providing loans
made, insured, or guaranteed under part B, D, or E of title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1077 et seq., 1087a et seq., 1087aa et
seq.).
(2)The term
institution of higher education means a 2-year or 4-year
institution of higher education as defined in section 102 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002).
(3)The term
student loan means any loan, whether Federal, State, or private,
to assist an individual to attend an institution of higher education, including
a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under part B, D, or E of title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1077 et seq., 1087a et seq., 1087aa et
seq.).
.
(b)The table of contents in section (1)(b) of such Act is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
Sec. 707. Tuition,
reenrollment, and student loan relief for postsecondary students called to
military
service.
.
(c)The amendments made by this section shall take effect for
periods of military service beginning after the date of the enactment of this
section.