Federal

Honoring Vocational Education Act

Source: Congress.gov · 488 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill requires the Bureau of the Census to add a new educational attainment category to the Current Population Survey. The new category will track people who have earned certain credentials after high school but have not earned a college degree. This change aims to recognize vocational education and training accomplishments.

Who It Affects

The Bureau of the Census will be required to implement this change. People who have completed postsecondary vocational training or certification programs will be counted in a separate category on the survey.

Key Provisions

• The Director of the Bureau of the Census must add a separate educational attainment category for Postsecondary Nondegree Awardees to the Current Population Survey, to the extent practicable (Sec. 2(a)) • A Postsecondary Nondegree Awardee is someone who has earned a regular high school diploma or equivalent and a recognized postsecondary credential, but has not earned an associate's degree, bachelor's degree, master's degree, graduate degree, or professional degree (Sec. 2(b)(1)(A)) • A person qualifies as a Postsecondary Nondegree Awardee regardless of whether they attended an institution of higher education (Sec. 2(b)(1)(B)) • A recognized postsecondary credential means any credential defined in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, except for associate or bachelor's degrees (Sec. 2(b)(2))

What Changes

The Current Population Survey will include a new separate category specifically for people who have completed postsecondary vocational credentials without earning a traditional college degree.

Important Definitions

Postsecondary Nondegree Awardee: A person who has a high school diploma (or equivalent) and a recognized postsecondary credential but no college degree of any kind. Recognized postsecondary credential: A credential as defined in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, excluding associate or bachelor's degrees.

Effective Date

Beginning no later than one year after the bill becomes law (Sec. 2(a))

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2621 To require the Bureau of the Census to add a new educational attainment category to the Current Population Survey. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 13, 2023 Ms. SCHOLTEN (for herself, Mr. MOLINARO, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, and Ms. CROCKETT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Oversight and Accountability A BILL To require the Bureau of the Census to add a new edu- cational attainment category to the Current Population Survey. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Vocational 4 Education Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY VOCATIONAL EDU- 6 CATION RECOGNITION. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than one year 8 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2621.IH H2621 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2621 IH of the Bureau of the Census shall ensure that, to the ex- 1 tent practicable, the Current Population Survey provides 2 for a separate category of educational attainment for Post- 3 secondary Nondegree Awardees. 4 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 5 (1) POSTSECONDARY NONDEGREE AWARDEE.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Postsec- 7 ondary Nondegree Awardee’’ means an indi- 8 vidual who— 9 (i) has received— 10 (I) a regular high school diploma 11 (as such term is defined in section 12 8101 of the Elementary and Sec- 13 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 14 U.S.C. 7801)) or its recognized equiv- 15 alent; and 16 (II) a recognized postsecondary 17 credential; and 18 (ii) has not received an associates, 19 bachelor’s, masters, graduate, or profes- 20 sional degree. 21 (B) COLLEGE ATTENDANCE.—An indi- 22 vidual who meets the criteria in subparagraph 23 (A) is a Postsecondary Nondegree Awardee re- 24 gardless of whether such individual attended an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2621.IH H2621 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2621 IH institution of higher education (as defined in 1 section 102(a) of the Higher Education Act of 2 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(a))). 3 (2) RECOGNIZED POSTSECONDARY CREDEN- 4 TIAL.—The term ‘‘recognized postsecondary creden- 5 tial’’ has the meaning given such term in section 3 6 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act 7 (29 U.S.C. 3102), except that such term does not 8 include an associate or baccalaureate degree. 9 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 10 the several States, the District of Columbia, and the 11 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:07 Apr 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2621.IH H2621 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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