[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3964 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3964

 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand the definition of 
                           eligible program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 5, 2015

Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mr. Costello of Pennsylvania, Mr. Langevin, 
and Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which 
      was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand the definition of 
                           eligible program.

    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 ``Career and Technical Education 
Opportunity Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS.

    The Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) in section 481(b), by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5)(A) For purposes of parts D and E, the term `eligible program' 
includes a program of not less than 250 clock hours of instruction, 
offered during a minimum of 5 weeks of instruction that leads an 
industry-recognized credential.
    ``(B) In this paragraph, the term `industry-recognized credential' 
means an industry-recognized credential that--
            ``(i) is demonstrated to be of high quality by the 
        institution offering the program in the program participation 
        agreement under section 487;
            ``(ii) meets the current, as of the date of the 
        determination, or projected needs of a local or regional 
        workforce for recruitment, screening, hiring, retention, or 
        advancement purposes--
                    ``(I) as determined by the State in which the 
                program is located, in consultation with business 
                entities; or
                    ``(II) as demonstrated by the institution offering 
                the program leading to the credential; and
            ``(iii) is, where applicable, endorsed by a nationally 
        recognized trade association or organization representing a 
        significant part of the industry or sector.''; and
            (2) in section 487(a), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(30) In the case of an institution that offers a program 
        of not less than 250 clock hours of instruction, offered during 
        a minimum of 5 weeks of instruction that leads an industry-
        recognized credential, as provided under section 481(b)(5), the 
        institution will demonstrate to the Secretary that the 
        industry-recognized credential is of high quality.''.
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