1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Veteran Education Empowerment Act . 2. Findings Congress makes the following findings: (1) More than 1,000,000 veterans attended institutions of higher education in 2014. (2) Veterans face unique challenges in transitioning from the battlefield to the classroom and eventually to the workforce, often including age differences, family obligations, significant time away from academic life, and service-connected disabilities. (3) The National Education Association found that veteran students can feel lonely and vulnerable on campus and that connecting student veterans can effectively ease this isolation by bringing together new veteran students with those who have already successfully navigated the first few semesters of college. (4) The unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans far outpaces both the overall non-veteran unemployment rate and the unemployment rate for non-veterans entering the workforce for the first time. (5) According to Mission United—a United Way program that helps veterans re-acclimate to civilian life—it is often essential for veteran students to be mentored by another veteran who understands their mindset and experience . (6) Veteran Student Centers are recognized as an institutional best practice by Student Veterans of America. (7) The American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,700 institutions of higher education across the country, has called having a dedicated space for veterans on campus a promising way for colleges and universities to better serve veterans on campus and a critical component of the efforts of many institutions of higher education to serve veteran students. (8) The Department of Education included as one of its 8 Keys to Veterans’ Success that colleges and universities should coordinate and centralize campus efforts for all veterans, together with the creation of a designated space for them . (9) Budget constraints often make it difficult or impossible for institutions of higher education to dedicate space for