[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2732 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2732

   To expand the definition of independent student under the Higher 
 Education Act of 1965 to include active members of the National Guard 
   or Reserve forces of the United States and to prevent payments of 
educational assistance for veterans and members of the Selected Reserve 
 from being offset in the calculation of financial aid under such Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 7, 2008

Mrs. McCaskill introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To expand the definition of independent student under the Higher 
 Education Act of 1965 to include active members of the National Guard 
   or Reserve forces of the United States and to prevent payments of 
educational assistance for veterans and members of the Selected Reserve 
 from being offset in the calculation of financial aid under such Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Student Veteran Financial Aid 
Fairness Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. INDEPENDENT STUDENT.

    (a) Amendment to Current Law.--
            (1) In general.--Section 480(d)(3) of the Higher Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(d)(3)) is amended by inserting 
        ``or is a current active member of the National Guard or 
        Reserve forces of the United States who has completed initial 
        military training'' after ``purposes''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall be effective on July 1, 2008.
    (b) Amendment to Law as Amended by the College Cost Reduction and 
Access Act.--
            (1) In general.--Section 480(d) of the Higher Education Act 
        of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(d)), as amended by section 604 of the 
        College Cost Reduction and Access Act (Public Law 110-84), is 
        amended in paragraph (1)(D), by inserting ``or is a current 
        active member of the National Guard or Reserve forces of the 
        United States who has completed initial military training'' 
        after ``purposes''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall be effective on July 1, 2009.

SEC. 3. TREATMENT AS OTHER FINANCIAL AID.

    Section 480(j)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087vv(j)(1)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``veterans' education benefits as defined 
        in subsection (c), and''; and
            (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 
        following: ``, but excluding any payments of educational 
        assistance to veterans under title 38, United States Code, and 
        to members of the Selected Reserve under chapters 1606 and 1607 
        of title 10, United States Code''.
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