[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 643 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 643

 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into a contract 
  with a non-government entity to conduct a survey of individuals who 
  have used or are using their entitlement to educational assistance 
under the educational assistance programs administered by the Secretary 
              of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 2015

    Mr. Bilirakis (for himself and Mrs. Kirkpatrick) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to enter into a contract 
  with a non-government entity to conduct a survey of individuals who 
  have used or are using their entitlement to educational assistance 
under the educational assistance programs administered by the Secretary 
              of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Veterans Education Survey Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. SURVEY OF INDIVIDUALS USING THEIR ENTITLEMENT TO EDUCATIONAL 
              ASSISTANCE UNDER THE EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 
              ADMINISTERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) Survey Required.--By not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
enter into a contract with a non-government entity for the conduct of a 
survey of a statistically valid sample of individuals who have used or 
are using their entitlement to educational assistance under chapters 
30, 32, 33, and 35 of title 38, United States Code, to pursue a program 
of education or training. The contract shall provide that--
            (1) not later than one month before the collection of data 
        under the survey begins, the survey shall be submitted to the 
        Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of 
        Representatives;
            (2) the non-government entity shall complete the survey and 
        submit to the Secretary the results of the survey by not later 
        than 180 days after entering into the contract; and
            (3) the survey shall be conducted by electronic means and 
        by any other means the non-government entity determines 
        appropriate.
    (b) Information To Be Collected.--The contract under subsection (a) 
shall provide that the survey shall be designed to collect the 
following types of information about each individual surveyed, where 
applicable:
            (1) Demographic information, including the highest level of 
        education completed by the individual, the military 
        occupational specialty or specialties of the individual while 
        serving on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces or as a 
        member of the National Guard or of a Reserve Component of the 
        Armed Forces, and whether the individual has a service-
        connected disability.
            (2) The opinion of the individual regarding participation 
        in the transition assistance program under section 1144 of 
        title 10, United States Code, and the effectiveness of the 
        program, including instruction on the use of the benefits under 
        laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
            (3) The resources the individual used to help the 
        individual--
                    (A) decide to use the individual's entitlement to 
                educational assistance to enroll in a program of 
                education or training; and
                    (B) choose the program of education or training the 
                individual pursued.
            (4) The individual's goal when the individual enrolled in 
        the program of education or training.
            (5) The nature of the individual's experience with the 
        education benefits processing system of the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs.
            (6) The nature of the individual's experience with the 
        school certifying official of the educational institution where 
        the individual pursued the program of education or training who 
        processed the individual's claim.
            (7) Any services or benefits the educational institution or 
        program of education or training provided to veterans while the 
        individual pursued the program of education or training.
            (8) The type of educational institution at which the 
        individual pursued the program of education or training.
            (9) Whether the individual completed the program of 
        education or training or the number of credit hours completed 
        by the individual as of the time of the survey, and, if 
        applicable, any degree or certificate obtained by the 
        individual for completing the program.
            (10) The employment status of the individual and whether 
        such employment status differs from the employment status of 
        the individual prior to enrolling in the program of education 
        or training.
            (11) Whether the individual is or was enrolled in a program 
        of education on a full-time or part-time basis.
            (12) The opinion of the individual on the effectiveness of 
        the educational assistance program of the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs under which the individual was entitled to 
        educational assistance.
            (13) Whether the individual was ever entitled to a 
        rehabilitation under chapter 31 of title 38, United States 
        Code, and whether the individual participated in such a 
        program.
            (14) A description of any circumstances that prevented the 
        individual from using the individual's entitlement to 
        educational assistance to pursue a desired career path or 
        degree.
            (15) Whether the individual is using the individual's 
        entitlement to educational assistance to pursue a program of 
        education or training or has transferred such an entitlement to 
        a dependent.
            (16) Such other matters as the Secretary determines 
        appropriate.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 90 days after receiving the results of 
the survey required under this section, the Secretary shall submit to 
the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of 
Representatives a report on the results of the survey and any 
recommendations of the Secretary relating to such results. Such report 
shall also include an unedited version of the results of the survey 
submitted by the non-government entity that conducted the study.
                                 <all>