H.R. 2878 would increase the annual funding limit for the Veteran Employment through Technology Education Courses (VET TEC) pilot program and would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a pilot program to provide on-campus education and career counseling at tribal colleges and universities. The estimated budgetary effects of the bill are shown in Table 1.
Under the VET TEC pilot program, VA contracts with institutions that provide training in computer programing, computer software, media applications, data processing, or information services. Under those contracts, veterans who are eligible for VA education benefits can attend that training and receive monthly housing stipends while they do so. Costs for the program are paid from mandatory appropriations. The authority to conduct the program expires in 2024, five years after the first contract was signed. To pay for the program, VA was authorized to spend $15 million annually in 2019 and 2020 and can spend $45 million in each remaining year of the pilot.
