Transparency in Off-Campus Housing Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4648 To improve estimates of off-campus room and board for students at institutions of higher education, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 11, 2019 Mr. HORSFORD (for himself and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To improve estimates of off-campus room and board for students at institutions of higher education, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Transparency in Off- 4 Campus Housing Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. INSTITUTIONAL CALCULATIONS FOR OFF-CAMPUS 6 ROOM AND BOARD. 7 (a) AUTHORITY TO PRESCRIBE REGULATIONS.—Sec- 8 tion 478(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 9 U.S.C. 1087rr(a)) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4648.IH H4648 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4648 IH (1) in paragraph (1)— 1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara- 2 graph (A); 3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 4 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(C) to prescribe— 7 ‘‘(i) at least one methodology that in- 8 stitutions of higher education (other than 9 institutions that receive a waiver under 10 clause (ii)) shall use in determining the al- 11 lowance for room and board costs incurred 12 by students described in subparagraph (A) 13 of section 472(3) and by students de- 14 scribed in subparagraph (D) of such sec- 15 tion, that shall— 16 ‘‘(I) ensure that each such allow- 17 ance determination is sufficient to 18 cover reasonable room and board costs 19 incurred by the students for whom 20 such allowance is being determined; 21 and 22 ‘‘(II) include the sources of infor- 23 mation that institutions shall use in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4648.IH H4648 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4648 IH making each such allowance deter- 1 mination; and 2 ‘‘(ii) a process for granting institu- 3 tions of higher education a waiver from the 4 requirements of clause (i), including— 5 ‘‘(I) a requirement that each in- 6 stitution of higher education seeking 7 such a waiver submit to the Sec- 8 retary— 9 ‘‘(aa) a description of the 10 methodology that the institution 11 will use for each allowance deter- 12 mination described in clause (i); 13 ‘‘(bb) an assurance that 14 each such allowance determina- 15 tion meets the requirements of 16 clause (i)(I); and 17 ‘‘(cc) a demonstration that 18 the institution will use reliable 19 sources of information for each 20 such allowance determination; 21 and 22 ‘‘(II) a requirement that each in- 23 stitution of higher education that re- 24 ceives such a waiver publicly disclose 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4648.IH H4648 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4648 IH on the website of the institution the 1 methodology and sources of informa- 2 tion used by the institution for each 3 allowance determination described in 4 clause (i).’’; and 5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(3) Any regulation proposed by the Secretary 7 under paragraph (1)(C) of this subsection shall not 8 be subject to the requirements of paragraph (2).’’. 9 (b) REQUIREMENT TO PRESCRIBE REGULATIONS.— 10 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 11 this Act, the Secretary of Education shall issue regulations 12 that meet the requirements of subparagraph (C) of section 13 478(a)(1) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 14 1087rr(a)(1)), as added by subsection (a). 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 11, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4648.IH H4648 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS