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Title 38 — Veterans' BenefitsRelease 119-73

§3684A Procedures relating to computer matching program

Title 38 › Part PART III— - READJUSTMENT AND RELATED BENEFITS › Chapter CHAPTER 36— - ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS › § 3684A

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary may suspend, cut, or stop education payments or take other bad actions against someone in certain veterans’ or military education programs, if a computer data match with the Department of Defense shows a problem. Before acting, the Secretary must give the person a written notice with the findings, the proposed action, and a chance to contest it within 10 days. The Secretary cannot act until that 10-day period ends. Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays do not count in the 10 days. Following these steps also counts as meeting a related federal privacy-notice rule. A "matching program" means a computer data comparison between agencies.

Full Legal Text

Title 38, §3684A

Veterans' Benefits — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Notwithstanding section 552a(p) of title 5 and subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Secretary may suspend, terminate, reduce, or make a final denial of any financial assistance or payment under an educational assistance program provided for in chapter 30 or 32 of this title or in chapter 106 of title 10 in the case of any individual, or take other adverse action against such individual, based on information produced by a matching program with the Department of Defense.
(2)The Secretary may not take any action referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection until—
(A)the individual concerned has been provided a written notice containing a statement of the findings of the Secretary based on the matching program, a description of the proposed action, and notice of the individual’s right to contest such findings within 10 days after the date of the notice; and
(B)the 10-day period referred to in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph has expired.
(3)In computing the 10-day period referred to in paragraph (2) of this subsection, Saturdays, Sundays, and Federal holidays shall be excluded.
(b)For the purposes of subsection (q) of section 552a of title 5, compliance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be considered compliance with the provisions of subsection (p) of such section 552a.
(c)For purposes of this section, the term “matching program” has the same meaning provided in section 552a(a)(8) of title 5.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1991—Pub. L. 102–83 renumbered section 1784A of this title as this section.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

38 U.S.C. § 3684A

Title 38 — Veterans' Benefits

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73