United States 119th Congress Status: Passed House 1 R cosponsors

HR 981 — VETT Act

Last action — Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has passed the House. Introduced February 05, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the Senate.

Prognosis

Stalled 28% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Moderate

How often bills like it became law.

  • Passed House

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 1 sponsor

    1 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (1 R).

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Veterans Education Transparency and Training Act or the VETT ActThis bill modifies the approval process for certain courses of education for purposes of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) educational assistance benefits.Under current law, educational institutions must provide a personalized form to an individual with certain information (e.g., cost, financial aid, and graduation and job placement rates) prior to enrollment in a course, otherwise such institutions may be subject to certain disciplinary action from the VA or state approving agency. The bill provides that if an educational institution cannot provide the required personalized form to an individual prior to enrollment, the institution must provide notice that specifies which information in the form may be inaccurate or incomplete and the best estimate available for such information.The bill requires the VA to establish and regularly update a website to serve as a central location for information about training for school certifying officials regarding VA educational benefits.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

5 added · 1 removed

Plain-language change summary

The text indicates that the bill referred to as H.R. 981 has been sent to the Senate after being read twice and is now assigned to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. This marks a procedural step in the legislative process as it moves from the House to the Senate for further consideration.

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981 Engrossed in House (EH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H.
981 Referred in Senate (RFS)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H.
981 _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the processes to approve programs of education for purposes of the educational assistance programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
981 _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 10, 2025 Received;
read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the processes to approve programs of education for purposes of the educational assistance programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Clerk.
KEVIN F.
119th CONGRESS 1st Session H.
MCCUMBER, Clerk.
R.
981 _______________________________________________________________________ AN ACT To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the processes to approve programs of education for purposes of the educational assistance programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
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Sections of law this bill changes

1 section in 1 law

From the bill's own amending language, matched to the official United States Code (current through Public Law 119-121).

Administration of educational benefits · 38 U.S.C. ch. 36 1 section
  • § 3679 Disapproval of courses Amends

    38 U.S.C. § 3679 — at 3679(f)(5)

    The law today

    (a) (1) Except as provided by paragraph (2), any course approved for the purposes of this chapter which fails to meet any of the requirements of this chapter (including failure to comply with a risk-based survey under this chapter or secure an affirmation of approval by the appropriate State approving agency following the survey) shall be immediately disapproved by the Secretary or the appropriate State approving agency. An educational institution which has its courses disapproved by the Secretary or a State approving agency will be notified of such disapproval by a certified or registered letter of notification and a return receipt secured. (2) In the case of a course of education that would be subject to disapproval under paragraph (1) solely for the reason that the Secretary of Education withdraws the recognition of the accrediting agency that accredited the course, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, and notwithstanding the withdrawal, may continue to treat the course as an approved course of education under this chapter for a period not to exceed 18 months from the date of the withdrawal of recognition of the accrediting agency, unless the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the appropriate State approving agency determines that there is evidence to support the disapproval of the course under this chapter. The Secretary shall provide to any veteran enrolled in such a course of education notice of the status of the course of education. (3) In this section, the term “risk-based survey” means a risk-based survey developed under section 3673A(a) of this title. (b) Each State approving agency shall notify the Secretary of each course which it has disapproved under this section. The Secretary shall notify the State approving agency of the Secretary’s disapproval of any educational institution under chapter 31 of this title. (c) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter and subject to paragraphs (3) through (6), the Secretary shall disapprove a course of education provided by a public institution of higher learning if the institution charges tuition and fees for that course for covered individuals who are pursuing the course with educational assistance under chapter 30, 31, 33, or 35 of this title, or chapter 1606 of title 10, while living in the State in which the institution is located at a rate that is higher than the rate the institution charges for tuition and fees for that course for residents of the State in which the institution is located, regardless of the covered individual’s State of residence. (2) For purposes of this subsection, a covered individual is any individual as follows: (A) A veteran who was discharged or released from a period of not fewer than 90 days of service in the active military, naval, air, or space service. (B) An individual who is entitled to assistance under— (i) section 3311(b)(8) of this title; or (ii) section 3319 of this title by virtue of the individual’s relationship to— (I) a veteran described in subparagraph (A); or (II) a member of the uniformed services described in section 3319(b) of this title who is serving on active duty. (C) An individual who is entitled to rehabilitation under section 3102(a) of this title. (D) An individual who is entitled to assistance under section 3510 of this title. (E) An individual who is entitled to assistance under section 16131 of title 10. (3) If after enrollment in a course of education that is subject to disapproval under paragraph (1) by reason of paragraph (2)(A), (2)(B), or (2)(C) a covered individual pursues one or more courses of education at the same public institution of higher learning while remaining continuously enrolled (other than during regularly scheduled breaks between courses, semesters or terms) at that institution of higher learning, any course so pursued by the covered individual at that institution of higher learning while so continuously enrolled shall also be subject...

    24 other bills also change this section · Follow it → Official text at uscode.house.gov ↗

How this bill changes current law

4 changes Share ↗

Compared against current U.S. Code AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill amends existing law to enhance the processes for approving education programs for veterans by refining notification requirements and mandating the publication of training information for certifying officials.

  • Section 3679(f)(5)

    this paragraph → this subparagraph

    The reference to the paragraph is corrected to specifically refer to the subparagraph.

  • Section 3679(f)(5)

    this paragraph → subparagraph (A)

    The reference to the paragraph is corrected to refer to the appropriate subparagraph.

  • Section 3679

    If an educational institution cannot provide to an individual a form under paragraph (1) that contains all of the information required under subparagraph (A) of such paragraph, the educational institution shall provide to such individual, with the form under such paragraph, a notice-- (i) that specifies what such information may be inaccurate or incomplete; and (ii) that includes, in place of the information that may be inaccurate or incomplete, the best estimate available on the date of such notice.

    A new requirement is added for educational institutions to inform students when information may be incomplete or inaccurate.

  • The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a website to serve as a central location for the publication of information about the training that the Department of Veterans Affairs provides for school certifying officials and shall update such information on a regular basis.

    It mandates the creation of a centralized website for training information related to school certifying officials.

Action History

  1. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

  2. Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H1553)

  3. Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.

  4. On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. (text: 4/7/2025 CR H1431)

  5. Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.

  6. Mr. Bost moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill.

  7. Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H1430-4132)

  8. DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 981.

  9. At the conclusion of debate, the chair put the question on the motion to suspend the rules. Mr. Bost objected to the vote on the grounds that a quorum was not present. Further proceedings on the motion were postponed. The point of no quorum was considered as withdrawn.

  10. Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.

  11. Introduced in House

  12. Introduced in House

  13. Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 546 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (546)

546 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 546 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

veterans education
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HR 981 do?
Veterans Education Transparency and Training Act or the VETT ActThis bill modifies the approval process for certain courses of education for purposes of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) educational assistance benefits.Under current law, educational institutions must provide a personalized form to an individual with certain information (e.g., cost, financial aid, and graduation and job placement rates) prior to enrollment in a course, otherwise such institutions may be subject to certain disciplinary action from the VA or state approving agency. The bill provides that if an educational institution cannot provide the required personalized form to an individual prior to enrollment, the institution must provide notice that specifies which information in the form may be inaccurate or incomplete and the best estimate available for such information.The bill requires the VA to establish and regularly update a website to serve as a central location for information about training for school certifying officials regarding VA educational benefits.
Who sponsors HR 981?
HR 981 is sponsored by Van Orden, Derrick (Republican).
What is the current status of HR 981?
This bill has passed the House. Introduced February 05, 2025. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track HR 981?
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