Break the Higher Education Monopoly Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2123 To amend the Federal Pell Grant Program to support career training opportunities for young Americans. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 16, 2019 Mr. HAWLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Federal Pell Grant Program to support career training opportunities for young Americans. 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 ‘‘Break the Higher Edu- 4 cation Monopoly Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. SUPPORTING CAREER TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES 6 FOR ALL YOUNG AMERICANS. 7 Section 401 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 8 U.S.C. 1070a) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2123.IS S2123 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2123 IS ‘‘(k) ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall devise 2 an alternative certification program to enable stu- 3 dents to use Federal Pell Grants to enroll in edu- 4 cational programs (either at eligible institutions or 5 institutions that are not eligible institutions) for 6 which students are not otherwise eligible to use Fed- 7 eral Pell Grants under this section. 8 ‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 9 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM COMPLETION RATE.—The 10 term ‘program completion rate’ means the per- 11 centage of enrollees in a program who success- 12 fully complete the program requirements within 13 the standard program duration. 14 ‘‘(B) JOB PLACEMENT RATE.—The term 15 ‘job placement rate’ means the percentage of 16 graduates who have obtained full-time employ- 17 ment in the graduate’s field of study. 18 ‘‘(3) NO REQUIREMENT FOR ACCREDITATION 19 OR STATE AUTHORIZATION.—The alternative certifi- 20 cation program shall not require accreditation, State 21 authorization, minimum instructional hours, or min- 22 imum classroom time of educational programs for 23 which students may use Federal Pell Grants to en- 24 roll pursuant to this subsection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2123.IS S2123 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2123 IS ‘‘(4) CONTINUOUS OPERATION; DETERMINA- 1 TION OF ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall— 2 ‘‘(A) only certify an educational program 3 under the alternative certification program 4 that— 5 ‘‘(i) has been in existence for not less 6 than 5 years; and 7 ‘‘(ii) has an annual cost of enrollment 8 for a year that is equal to or less than the 9 maximum Federal Pell Grant award appli- 10 cable to that year; 11 ‘‘(B) make an initial determination of edu- 12 cational program eligibility under the alter- 13 native certification program not later than 180 14 days after the date of application of the edu- 15 cational program; and 16 ‘‘(C) re-evaluate educational program eligi- 17 bility under the alternative certification pro- 18 gram not less often than once every 5 years. 19 ‘‘(5) INFORMATION TO ASSESS PROGRAM ELIGI- 20 BILITY.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each educational pro- 22 gram applying for certification or re-certifi- 23 cation under the alternative certification pro- 24 gram, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2123.IS S2123 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2123 IS Secretary of Labor shall submit to the Sec- 1 retary all data necessary for the Secretary to 2 assess educational program eligibility under the 3 alternative certification program. 4 ‘‘(B) PRIVACY.—The Secretary shall keep 5 all student data submitted under subparagraph 6 (A) private and confidential. 7 ‘‘(6) DETERMINATIONS OF PROGRAM ELIGI- 8 BILITY.—The Secretary shall make a determination 9 of educational program eligibility under the alter- 10 native certification program on the basis of student 11 outcomes in the educational program, including 12 based on each of the following: 13 ‘‘(A) Program completion rate. 14 ‘‘(B) Job placement rate within 90 days of 15 program completion. 16 ‘‘(C) Job placement rate within 12 months 17 of program completion. 18 ‘‘(D) Graduate median starting salary. 19 ‘‘(E) Graduate median salary 5 years after 20 program completion. 21 ‘‘(F) Graduate average starting salary. 22 ‘‘(G) Graduate average salary 5 years after 23 program completion. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2123.IS S2123 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2123 IS ‘‘(7) DECERTIFICATION.—The Secretary may 1 decertify an educational program under the alter- 2 native certification program if the program meets 3 any of the following: 4 ‘‘(A) The program completion rate is less 5 than 70 percent. 6 ‘‘(B) The job placement rate within 90 7 days of program completion is less than 50 per- 8 cent. 9 ‘‘(C) The job placement rate within 12 10 months of program completion is less than 70 11 percent. 12 ‘‘(D) The graduate median starting salary 13 is less than 200 percent of the Federal poverty 14 level for a one-person household. 15 ‘‘(E) The graduate median salary 5 years 16 after program completion is less than 300 per- 17 cent of the Federal poverty level for a one-per- 18 son household. 19 ‘‘(8) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 20 this subsection shall be construed to extend eligi- 21 bility with respect to an educational program that is 22 certified under the alternative certification program 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2123.IS S2123 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2123 IS under this subsection to other programs under this 1 title.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jul 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2123.IS S2123 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS