Student Veteran Benefit Restoration Act

The bill's target shifted from Section 3699 (termination of courses due to fraud) to Section 3696 (prohibitions on advertising, sales, and enrollment practices). The original focused on institutions that closed or suspended programs due to fraud determinations; the new version focuses on institutions that engaged in prohibited marketing and enrollment conduct.

The original provisions addressing suspension or termination due to risk-based surveys under section 3673A, and determinations by the Secretary of Education based on borrower defense to repayment, were removed entirely.

New subsection 3696(i) provides that if an institution violated advertising/sales/enrollment prohibitions, the Secretary may determine that payments made to affected students are not charged against their educational assistance entitlement and not counted against aggregate period limits. This prevents veterans from losing unused benefit months due to institutional misconduct.

New repayment provision (3696(h)(5)) requires institutions that violated subsection (a) or (c) to repay all educational assistance paid during the violation period. Includes a detailed determination process with notice requirements, opportunity for the institution to provide information, a non-delegable decision by the Under Secretary for Benefits, and judicial review under section 7104(a).

New mandatory disapproval provision (3679(g)) requires the Secretary to disapprove all courses or programs offered by an institution that fails to repay amounts owed under the new repayment requirement, until full repayment is made.

Reinstatement of a previously disapproved institution now requires repayment of any amount owed under the new repayment provision as an additional condition (3696(k)(2)(F)).

The housing loan fee table date in section 3729(b)(2) was changed from November 15, 2031 to November 29, 2031, likely a technical correction to align with a statutory deadline.