Protect Veterans' Education and Taxpayer Spending Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2857 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to count military and veterans education benefits as Federal educational assistance, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 14, 2019 Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. CASSIDY, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to count mili- tary and veterans education benefits as Federal edu- cational assistance, 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 ‘‘Protect Veterans’ Edu- 4 cation and Taxpayer Spending Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2857 IS SEC. 2. COUNTING MILITARY AND VETERAN EDUCATION 1 BENEFITS AS FEDERAL EDUCATIONAL AS- 2 SISTANCE. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 487(a)(24) of the Higher 4 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(24)) is amend- 5 ed to read as follows: 6 ‘‘(24)(A) In the case of a proprietary institution 7 of higher education (as defined in section 102(b)), 8 such institution will derive not less than ten percent 9 of such institution’s revenues from sources other 10 than Federal educational assistance, as calculated in 11 accordance with subsection (d)(1), or will be subject 12 to the sanctions described in subsection (d)(2). 13 ‘‘(B) In this paragraph, the term ‘Federal edu- 14 cational assistance’ means financial assistance that 15 is disbursed or delivered to an institution or on be- 16 half of a student or to a student to be used to at- 17 tend the institution provided under any of the fol- 18 lowing provisions of law: 19 ‘‘(i) This title. 20 ‘‘(ii) Chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, or 35 of 21 title 38, United States Code, except that such 22 term shall not include any monthly housing or 23 book stipend provided under the Post-9/11 Vet- 24 erans Educational Assistance Program under 25 chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2857 IS ‘‘(iii) Chapter 101, 105, 106A, 1606, 1 1607, or 1608 of title 10, United States Code. 2 ‘‘(iv) Section 1784a of title 10, United 3 States Code. 4 ‘‘(v) Any other educational assistance pro- 5 grams administered by the Department of Vet- 6 erans Affairs, Department of Defense, or any 7 other agency that directs funds to students who 8 are members of the Armed Forces or vet- 9 erans.’’. 10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made under 11 subsection (a) shall take effect with respect to a propri- 12 etary institution of higher education beginning with the 13 2022 institutional fiscal year. 14 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 487(d) of 15 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(d)) 16 is amended— 17 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘NON 18 TITLE IV’’ and inserting ‘‘FEDERAL EDUCATIONAL 19 ASSISTANCE’’; and 20 (2) in paragraph (1)— 21 (A) by striking subparagraph (E); and 22 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 23 subparagraph (E). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2857 IS SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION AND ELIGIBILITY REQUIRE- 1 MENTS. 2 Section 487(d)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(d)(2)) is amended— 4 (1) in subparagraph (A), by adding at the end 5 the following: ‘‘The provisions of this subparagraph 6 shall apply only until the beginning of the 2022 in- 7 stitutional fiscal year.’’; 8 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘In addi- 9 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘Until the beginning of the 2022 10 institutional fiscal year, in addition’’; 11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(C) BEGINNING WITH THE 2022 INSTITU- 13 TIONAL FISCAL YEAR.— 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 15 any other provision of this section, begin- 16 ning with the 2022 institutional fiscal 17 year, a proprietary institution of higher 18 education that fails to meet the require- 19 ment of subsection (a)(24) shall be subject 20 to the following: 21 ‘‘(I) If the failure to meet the re- 22 quirement of subsection (a)(24) is in 23 a year that is immediately subsequent 24 to a year in which the institution met 25 the requirement of subsection (a)(24), 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2857 IS no Federal educational assistance 1 shall be paid by the Department of 2 Veterans Affairs or the Department of 3 Defense— 4 ‘‘(aa) to the institution for 5 new enrollments; or 6 ‘‘(bb) on behalf of a student 7 or to a student to be used to at- 8 tend the institution if the student 9 is a new student. 10 ‘‘(II) If the failure to meet the 11 requirement of subsection (a)(24) is 12 the second consecutive failure— 13 ‘‘(aa) no Federal educational 14 assistance shall be paid by the 15 Department of Veterans Affairs 16 or the Department of Defense— 17 ‘‘(AA) to the institution 18 for new enrollments; or 19 ‘‘(BB) on behalf of a 20 student or to a student to be 21 used to attend the institu- 22 tion if the student is a new 23 student; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2857 IS ‘‘(bb) no Federal educational 1 assistance shall be paid to the in- 2 stitution or on behalf of a stu- 3 dent or to a student to be used 4 to attend the institution unless 5 the enrollment total at the insti- 6 tution for the academic year that 7 is subsequent to the year of the 8 second consecutive failure is 9 equal to or less than the enroll- 10 ment total of the previous aca- 11 demic year. 12 ‘‘(III) If the failure to meet the 13 requirement of subsection (a)(24) is 14 the third consecutive failure, the insti- 15 tution shall be ineligible to participate 16 in or receive funds under any program 17 of Federal educational assistance for a 18 period of not less than two institu- 19 tional fiscal years. 20 ‘‘(ii) REGAINING ELIGIBILITY.—For a 21 proprietary institution of higher education 22 to regain eligibility to participate in or re- 23 ceive funds after being ineligible pursuant 24 to a failure to meet a requirement as de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2857 IS scribed in clause (i), the Secretary shall 1 certify that the institution has dem- 2 onstrated compliance with all eligibility 3 and certification requirements for the pro- 4 gram. 5 ‘‘(iii) APPEAL FOR RELIEF FROM 6 SANCTIONS.— 7 ‘‘(I) SUBMISSION OF APPEAL.— 8 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—A pro- 9 prietary institution of higher edu- 10 cation described in item (bb) that 11 fails to meet the requirement of 12 subsection (a)(24) for an institu- 13 tional fiscal year may submit an 14 appeal to the Secretary to remain 15 eligible to participate in or re- 16 ceive funds under any program of 17 Federal educational assistance 18 for the institutional fiscal year. 19 In order to regain eligibility to 20 participate in or receive funds 21 under any program of Federal 22 educational assistance for the 23 succeeding institutional fiscal 24 year, the proprietary institution 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2857 IS of higher education shall dem- 1 onstrate compliance as described 2 in clause (ii). 3 ‘‘(bb) ELIGIBILITY TO AP- 4 PEAL.—In order to be eligible to 5 submit an appeal under item 6 (aa), proprietary institution of 7 education shall derive not less 8 than 10 percent of such institu- 9 tion’s revenues from sources 10 other than funds provided under 11 this title. 12 ‘‘(II) 90/10 COMPLIANCE 13 PLAN.—In the appeal under subclause 14 (I), a proprietary institution of higher 15 education shall submit a plan explain- 16 ing the reasons for failure to comply 17 with the requirement of subsection 18 (a)(24) and describing the steps the 19 institution will take to comply moving 20 forward, including descriptions of any 21 partnerships proposed or existing on 22 the date of the appeal between the in- 23 stitution and employers, as well as a 24 description of the expected tuition 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2857 IS rates for the institution for the next 3 1 institutional fiscal years. 2 ‘‘(III) DETERMINATION OF RE- 3 LIEF.— 4 ‘‘(aa) IN GENERAL.—Not 5 later than 30 days after the date 6 the Secretary receives an appeal 7 submitted under subclause (I), 8 the Secretary shall determine 9 whether the appeal should be 10 granted. Such determination 11 shall be based only on the insti- 12 tution meeting all of the fol- 13 lowing conditions: 14 ‘‘(AA) The institution 15 has had no final adverse ac- 16 tion taken by the institu- 17 tion’s accrediting agency or 18 association in the 5-year pe- 19 riod preceding the date of 20 the determination. 21 ‘‘(BB) The institution 22 has not been found to be in 23 violation or noncompliance 24 with any provision in this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2857 IS title in the 5-year period 1 preceding the date of the de- 2 termination. 3 ‘‘(CC) The institution 4 has not been found to be in 5 violation or noncompliance 6 with the Department of De- 7 fense Voluntary Education 8 Partnership Memorandum of 9 Understanding (MOU) in 10 the 5-year period preceding 11 the date of the determina- 12 tion. 13 ‘‘(DD) The institution 14 has not been found by the 15 Department of Veterans Af- 16 fairs or the relevant State 17 approving agency to be in 18 violation or noncompliance 19 with the Principles of Excel- 20 lence program established 21 under Executive Order 22 13607 (77 Fed. Reg. 25861; 23 relating to establishing prin- 24 ciples of excellence for edu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2857 IS cational institutions serving 1 service members, veterans, 2 spouses, and other family 3 members) in the 5-year pe- 4 riod preceding the date of 5 the determination. 6 ‘‘(EE) The institution 7 has not been found in a final 8 order by the Federal Trade 9 Commission to have engaged 10 in unfair or deceptive acts or 11 practices in the 5-year pe- 12 riod preceding the date of 13 the determination. 14 ‘‘(FF) The institution 15 offers high-quality academic 16 or job-training programs, 17 and positions veterans and 18 service members after grad- 19 uation for success in the 20 workforce. 21 ‘‘(bb) LIMITATION ON AP- 22 PEALS; NONCOMPLIANCE.— 23 ‘‘(AA) IN GENERAL.—A 24 proprietary institution of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2857 IS higher education may sub- 1 mit not more than 3 con- 2 secutive appeals and not 3 more than 5 appeals in 10 4 years under subclause (I). 5 ‘‘(BB) COMPLIANCE.— 6 If the Secretary grants an 7 appeal under this clause and 8 subsequently determines 9 that the proprietary institu- 10 tion of higher education is 11 not in compliance with the 12 plan described in subclause 13 (II), the Secretary shall im- 14 pose the sanction for which 15 the appeal was granted. If 16 the Secretary grants con- 17 secutive appeals under this 18 clause and subsequently de- 19 termines that the propri- 20 etary institution of higher 21 education is not in compli- 22 ance with the plan described 23 in subclause (II), the Sec- 24 retary shall impose the cu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 2857 IS mulative sanctions for the 1 consecutive years for which 2 the appeals were granted. 3 ‘‘(IV) SUBMISSION TO VA, DOD, 4 SAA, ACCREDITING AGENCY OR ASSO- 5 CIATION, AND CONGRESS.—The Sec- 6 retary shall submit a copy of each de- 7 termination under subclause (III) to 8 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the 9 Secretary of Defense, the relevant 10 State approving agency, the relevant 11 accrediting agency or association, and 12 the authorizing committees. 13 ‘‘(iv) ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT.— 14 In addition to such other means of enforc- 15 ing the requirements of this subparagraph 16 as may be available to the Secretary, if a 17 proprietary institution of higher education 18 fails to meet a requirement of subsection 19 (a)(24) for any institutional fiscal year, 20 then the institution’s eligibility to partici- 21 pate in the programs authorized by this 22 title becomes provisional for the two insti- 23 tutional fiscal years after the institutional 24 fiscal year in which the institution failed to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 2857 IS meet the requirement of subsection 1 (a)(24), except that such provisional eligi- 2 bility shall terminate— 3 ‘‘(I) on the expiration date of the 4 institution’s program participation 5 agreement under this subsection that 6 is in effect on the date the Secretary 7 determines that the institution failed 8 to meet the requirement of subsection 9 (a)(24); or 10 ‘‘(II) in the case that the Sec- 11 retary determines that the institution 12 failed to meet a requirement of sub- 13 section (a)(24) for three consecutive 14 institutional fiscal years, on the date 15 the institution is determined ineligible 16 in accordance with this subparagraph. 17 ‘‘(v) FEDERAL EDUCATIONAL ASSIST- 18 ANCE.—In this subparagraph, the term 19 ‘Federal educational assistance’ has the 20 meaning given the term in subsection 21 (a)(24)(B).’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:57 Nov 20, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2857.IS S2857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 15 •S 2857 IS SEC. 4. UPDATING 90/10 DISCLOSURE AND DATA REPORT- 1 ING REQUIREMENTS. 2 Section 487(d) [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]