Court Legal Access and Student Support (CLASS) Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 608 To provide that chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code, relating to the enforcement of arbitration agreements, shall not apply to enroll- ment agreements made between students and certain institutions of high- er education, and to prohibit limitations on the ability of students to pursue claims against certain institutions of higher education. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. WARREN, Mr. REED, Mr. BROWN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide that chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code, relating to the enforcement of arbitration agree- ments, shall not apply to enrollment agreements made between students and certain institutions of higher edu- cation, and to prohibit limitations on the ability of stu- dents to pursue claims against certain institutions of higher education. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S608.IS S608 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 608 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Court Legal Access 2 and Student Support (CLASS) Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. INAPPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE 9, 4 UNITED STATES CODE, TO ENROLLMENT 5 AGREEMENTS MADE BETWEEN STUDENTS 6 AND CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER 7 EDUCATION. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 1 of title 9 of the United 9 States Code (relating to the enforcement of arbitration 10 agreements) shall not apply to an enrollment agreement 11 made between a student and an institution of higher edu- 12 cation. 13 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘institu- 14 tion of higher education’’ has the meaning given such term 15 in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 16 U.S.C. 1002). 17 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON LIMITATIONS ON ABILITY OF STU- 18 DENTS TO PURSUE CLAIMS AGAINST CER- 19 TAIN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 20 Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 21 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 22 following: 23 ‘‘(30) The institution will not require any stu- 24 dent to agree to, and will not enforce, any limitation 25 or restriction (including a limitation or restriction on 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S608.IS S608 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 608 IS any available choice of applicable law, a jury trial, 1 or venue) on the ability of a student to pursue a 2 claim, individually or with others, against an institu- 3 tion in court.’’. 4 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 5 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 6 take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:31 Mar 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S608.IS S608 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS