S.Amdt. 1816

SA 1816. Mr. BROWN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table, as follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1085. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR APPROVAL OF
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR PURPOSES OF
EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE UNDER LAWS ADMINISTERED
BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

(a) Automatic Approval by Secretary of Veterans Affairs of
Degree Programs Approved by Secretary of Education.--Clause
(i) of section 3672(b)(2)(A) of title 38, United States Code,
is amended to read as follows:
``(i) A course that is described by section 3675(a) of this
title.''.
(b) Approval by Secretary of Veterans Affairs of Non-Degree
Programs Approved by Secretary of Education.--
(1) In general.--Section 3675 of such title is amended--
(A) by striking subsection (a); and
(B) by inserting before subsection (b), the following new
subsection (a):
``(a) The Secretary or a State approving agency may only
approve a course when such course is an eligible program (as
defined in section 481 of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1088)) offered by an institution of higher
education (as defined in section 102 of such Act (20 U.S.C.
1002)) that has entered into, and is complying with, a
program participation agreement under section 487 of such Act
(20 U.S.C. 1094).''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--Such title is amended--
(A) in section 3452(g), by striking ``under the provisions
of section 3675 of this title'';
(B) in section 3501(11), by striking ``under the provisions
of section 3675 of this title''; and
(C) in the heading for section 3675, by striking
``accredited courses'' and inserting ``courses approved by
Secretary of Education''.
(3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 36 of such title is amended by striking
the item relating to section 3675 and inserting the following
new item:

``3675. Approval of courses approved by Secretary of Education.''.

(c) Approval by Secretary of Veterans Affairs of Non-Degree
Programs Not Approved by Secretary of Education.--
(1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 3676 of such
title is amended to read as follows:
``(a) No course of education which has not been approved by
the Secretary or a State approving agency under section 3675
of this title shall be approved for the purposes of this
chapter unless--
``(1) the course--
``(A) does not lead to an associate or higher degree;
``(B) was not an eligible program (as defined in section
481 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088)) at
any time during the most recent two-year period; and
``(C) is a course that the Secretary or State approving
agency determines, in accordance with this section and such
regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe and on a case-
by-case basis, that approval of which would further the
purposes of this chapter or any of chapters 30 through 35 of
this title; and
``(2) the educational institution offering such course
submits to the appropriate State approving agency a written
application for approval of such course in accordance with
the provisions of this chapter.''.
(2) Conforming amendments.--Section 3676 of such title is
amended--
(A) in the heading for such section, by striking
``nonaccredited courses'' and inserting ``courses not
approved by Secretary of Education''; and
(B) in subsection (c), in the matter before paragraph (1),
by striking ``non-accredited''.
(3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 36 of such title is amended by striking
the item relating to section 3676 and inserting the following
new item:

``3676. Approval of courses not approved by Secretary of Education.''.

(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on August 1, 2015.
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