112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H.R. 4057
In the Senate of the United
States,
December 19, 2012.
Amendment:
That the bill from the House of Representatives
(H.R. 4057) entitled An Act to amend title 38, United States Code, to
direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to develop a comprehensive policy to
improve outreach and transparency to veterans and members of the Armed Forces
through the provision of information on institutions of higher learning, and
for other purposes.
, do pass with the following
Strike all after
the enacting clause and insert the
following:
1.Comprehensive policy on
providing education information to veterans
(a)Comprehensive
policy required
(1)Chapter 36 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by
adding at the end the following new section:
3698.Comprehensive
policy on providing education information to veterans
(a)Comprehensive
policy requiredThe Secretary
shall develop a comprehensive policy to improve outreach and transparency to
veterans and members of the Armed Forces through the provision of information
on institutions of higher learning.
(b)In developing the policy required by
subsection (a), the Secretary shall include each of the following
elements:
(1)Effective and
efficient methods to inform individuals of the educational and vocational
counseling provided under section 3697A of this title.
(2)A
centralized mechanism for tracking and publishing feedback from students and
State approving agencies regarding the quality of instruction, recruiting
practices, and post-graduation employment placement of institutions of higher
learning that—
(A)allows
institutions of higher learning to verify feedback and address issues regarding
feedback before the feedback is published;
(B)protects the
privacy of students, including by not publishing the names of students;
and
(C)publishes only
feedback that conforms with criteria for relevancy that the Secretary shall
determine.
(3)The merit of and the manner in which a
State approving agency shares with an accrediting agency or association
recognized by the Secretary of Education under subpart 2 of part H of title IV
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b) information regarding the
State approving agency's evaluation of an institution of higher
learning.
(4)Description of
the information provided to individuals participating in the Transition
Assistance Program under section 1144 of title 10 relating to institutions of
higher learning.
(5)Effective and
efficient methods to provide veterans and members of the Armed Forces with
information regarding postsecondary education and training opportunities
available to the veteran or member.
(c)Postsecondary
education information(1)The Secretary shall
ensure that the information provided pursuant to subsection (b)(5)
includes—
(A)an explanation of the different types
of accreditation available to educational institutions and programs of
education;
(B)a description of Federal student aid
programs; and
(C)for each institution of higher learning,
for the most recent academic year for which information is available—
(i)whether the institution is public,
private nonprofit, or proprietary for-profit;
(ii)the name of the national or
regional accrediting agency that accredits the institution, including the
contact information used by the agency to receive complaints from
students;
(iii)information on the State approving agency,
including the contact information used by the agency to receive complaints from
students;
(iv)whether the institution participates in any
programs under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et
seq.);
(v)the tuition and fees;
(vi)the median amount of debt from Federal
student loans under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1070 et seq.) held by individuals upon completion of programs of education at
the institution of higher learning (as determined from information collected by
the Secretary of Education);
(vii)the cohort default rate, as defined in
section 435(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1085(m)), of the
institution;
(viii)the total enrollment, graduation
rate, and retention rate, as determined from information collected by the
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System of the Secretary of
Education;
(ix)whether the institution provides
students with technical support, academic support, and other support services,
including career counseling and job placement; and
(x)the information regarding the institution’s
policies related to transfer of credit from other institutions, as required
under section 485(h)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1092(h)(1)) and provided to the Secretary of Education under section
132(i)(1)(V)(iv) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1015a(i)(1)(V)(iv)).
(2)To the extent practicable, the Secretary
shall provide the information described in paragraph (1) by including
hyperlinks on the Internet website of the Department to other Internet websites
that contain such information, including the Internet website of the Department
of Education, in a form that is comprehensive and easily understood by
veterans, members of the Armed Forces, and other individuals.
(3)(A)If the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
requires, for purposes of providing information pursuant to subsection (b)(5),
information that has been reported, or information that is similar to
information that has been reported, by an institution of higher learning to the
Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Labor, or
the heads of other Federal agencies under a provision of law other than under
this section, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall obtain the information
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs requires from the Secretary or head with the
information rather than the institution of higher learning.
(B)If the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
requires, for purposes of providing information pursuant to subsection (b)(5),
information from an institution of higher learning that has not been reported
to another Federal agency, the Secretary shall, to the degree practicable,
obtain such information through the Secretary of Education.
(d)Consistency with
existing education policyIn carrying out this section, the
Secretary shall ensure that—
(1)the comprehensive
policy is consistent with any requirements and initiatives resulting from
Executive Order No. 13607; and
(2)the efforts of
the Secretary to implement the comprehensive policy do not duplicate the
efforts being taken by any Federal agencies.
(e)Communication
with institutions of higher learningTo the extent practicable,
if the Secretary considers it necessary to communicate with an institution of
higher learning to carry out the comprehensive policy required by subsection
(a), the Secretary shall carry out such communication through the use of a
communication system of the Department of Education.
(f)In
this section:
(1)The
term institution of higher learning has the meaning given that
term in section 3452(f) of this title.
(2)The term
postsecondary education and training opportunities means any
postsecondary program of education, including apprenticeships and on-job
training, for which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs provides assistance to a
veteran or member of the Armed
Forces.
.
(2)The table of
sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding after the item
relating to section 3697A the following new item:
3698. Comprehensive policy on providing
education information to
veterans.
.
(b)In
developing the policy required by section 3698(a) of title 38, United States
Code, as added by subsection (a), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
conduct a market survey to determine the availability of the following:
(1)A commercially available off-the-shelf
online tool that allows a veteran or member of the Armed Forces to assess
whether the veteran or member is academically ready to engage in postsecondary
education and training opportunities and whether the veteran or member would
need any remedial preparation before beginning such opportunities.
(2)A commercially available off-the-shelf
online tool that provides a veteran or member of the Armed Forces with a list
of providers of postsecondary education and training opportunities based on
criteria selected by the veteran or member.
(c)Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to
the appropriate committees of Congress a report that includes—
(1)a description of the policy developed by
the Secretary under section 3698(a) of title 38, United States Code, as added
by subsection (a);
(2)a
plan of the Secretary to implement such policy; and
(3)the
results of the survey conducted under subsection (b), including whether the
Secretary plans to implement the tools described in such subsection.
(d)In this section:
(1)Appropriate
committees of CongressThe term appropriate committees of
Congress means—
(A)the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
of the Senate; and
(B)the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House
of Representatives.
(2)Commercially
available off-the-shelfThe term commercially available
off-the-shelf has the meaning given that term in section 104 of title
41, United States Code.
(3)Postsecondary
education and training opportunitiesThe term postsecondary education and
training opportunities means any postsecondary program of education,
including apprenticeships and on-job training, for which the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs provides assistance to a veteran or member of the Armed
Forces.
2.Prohibition on
certain uses of inducements by educational institutionsSection 3696 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
(d)(1)The Secretary shall not approve under this
chapter any course offered by an educational institution if the educational
institution provides any commission, bonus, or other incentive payment based
directly or indirectly on success in securing enrollments or financial aid to
any persons or entities engaged in any student recruiting or admission
activities or in making decisions regarding the award of student financial
assistance.
(2)To the degree practicable, the Secretary
shall carry out paragraph (1) in a manner that is consistent with the Secretary
of Education's enforcement of section 487(a)(20) of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C.
1094(a)(20)).
.
3.Dedicated
points of contact for school certifying officialsSection 3684 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
(d)Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall ensure that the
Department provides personnel of educational institutions who are charged with
submitting reports or certifications to the Secretary under this section with
assistance in preparing and submitting such reports or
certifications.
.
4.Limitation on awards
and bonuses to employees of Department of Veterans AffairsFor fiscal year 2013, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs may not pay more than $395,000,000 in awards or bonuses under
chapter 45 or 53 of title 5, United States Code, or any other awards or bonuses
authorized under such title.
Secretary