Stop College Closures Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4615 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require an institution of higher education to submit a teach-out plan under certain circumstances, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 4, 2019 Ms. SHALALA (for herself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MOULTON, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require an institution of higher education to submit a teach- out plan under certain circumstances, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Stop College Closures 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4615.IH H4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4615 IH SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCREDITING AGENCY REC- 1 OGNITION. 2 Section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 3 U.S.C. 1099b) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (c)— 5 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting before 6 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘or de- 7 cline’’; 8 (B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 9 follows: 10 ‘‘(3) requires an institution to submit for ap- 11 proval to the accrediting agency or association a 12 teach-out plan upon the occurrence of any of the fol- 13 lowing events— 14 ‘‘(A) the Secretary notifies the agency or 15 association that the Secretary has determined 16 under section 498(c) that the institution does 17 not have the financial responsibility required by 18 this title; 19 ‘‘(B) the Secretary notifies the agency of a 20 determination by the institution’s independent 21 auditor expressing doubt with the institution’s 22 ability to operate as a going concern or indi- 23 cating an adverse opinion or finding of material 24 weakness related to financial stability, except 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4615.IH H4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4615 IH that this subparagraph shall not apply with re- 1 spect to a public institution; 2 ‘‘(C) the agency or association acts to 3 place an institution on probation, show cause, 4 or equivalent status; or 5 ‘‘(D) the Secretary notifies the agency that 6 the institution is participating in title IV under 7 a provisional program participation agree- 8 ment;’’; 9 (C) by amending paragraph (6) to read as 10 follows: 11 ‘‘(6) requires that teach-out agreements among 12 institutions are subject to approval by the accred- 13 iting agency or association consistent with standards 14 promulgated by such agency or association, and that 15 such an agreement shall be required and subject to 16 such approval upon the occurrence of any of the fol- 17 lowing events: 18 ‘‘(A) the Secretary notifies the agency or 19 association that— 20 ‘‘(i) the Secretary has placed the in- 21 stitution on the reimbursement payment 22 method pursuant to section 487(c)(1)(B); 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4615.IH H4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4615 IH ‘‘(ii) the institution fails to meet cri- 1 teria prescribed by the Secretary regarding 2 ratios that demonstrate financial responsi- 3 bility as described in section 498(c)(2); 4 ‘‘(B) the Secretary notifies the accrediting 5 agency or association that the Secretary has 6 initiated— 7 ‘‘(i) an emergency action against the 8 institution pursuant to section 9 487(c)(1)(G); or 10 ‘‘(ii) an action under section 11 487(c)(1)(F) to limit, suspend, or termi- 12 nate the participation of the institution in 13 any program under this title; 14 ‘‘(C) the accrediting agency or association 15 acts to withdraw, terminate, or suspend the ac- 16 creditation of the institution; 17 ‘‘(D) the institution notifies the accrediting 18 agency or association that the institution in- 19 tends to cease operations; 20 ‘‘(E) the institution notifies the accrediting 21 agency or association that the institution in- 22 tends to close a location that provides one hun- 23 dred percent of at least one program; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4615.IH H4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4615 IH ‘‘(F) pursuant to section 495, the State 1 notifies the accrediting agency or association 2 that an institution’s license or legal authoriza- 3 tion to operate within the State has been or will 4 be revoked;’’; 5 (D) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 6 the end; 7 (E) in paragraph (9)(B), by striking the 8 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 9 (F) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(10) responds to complaints received with re- 11 spect to an institution during the period during 12 which the accrediting agency or association accredits 13 such institution not later than 30 days after receiv- 14 ing the complaint (including complaints shared with 15 the agency or association by the Secretary or a State 16 agency under section 495), monitors and assesses an 17 institution’s record of student complaints during 18 such period, and submits such complaints to the 19 Secretary and to the State agency involved.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:36 Oct 07, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4615.IH H4615 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS