Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2925 To provide consumer protections for students. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide consumer protections for students. 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 ‘‘Protecting Students 4 from Worthless Degrees Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PRO- 8 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal financial assistance pro- 9 gram’’ means a program authorized and funded by 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2925 IS the Federal Government under any of the following 1 provisions of law: 2 (A) Title IV of the Higher Education Act 3 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 4 (B) Title I of the Workforce Innovation 5 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.). 6 (C) The Adult Education and Family Lit- 7 eracy Act (29 U.S.C. 3271 et seq.). 8 (D) Chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, or 35 of 9 title 38, United States Code. 10 (E) Chapter 101, 105, 106A, 1606, 1607, 11 or 1608 of title 10, United States Code. 12 (F) Section 1784a, 2005, or 2007 of title 13 10, United States Code. 14 (2) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 15 ‘‘freely associated States’’ means the Republic of the 16 Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micro- 17 nesia, and the Republic of Palau. 18 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 19 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’— 20 (A) with respect to a program authorized 21 under paragraph (1)(A), has the meaning given 22 the term in section 102 of the Higher Edu- 23 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2925 IS (B) with respect to a program authorized 1 under paragraph (1)(B), has the meaning given 2 the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innova- 3 tion and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102); 4 (C) with respect to a program authorized 5 under paragraph (1)(C), has the meaning given 6 the term ‘‘postsecondary educational institu- 7 tion’’ under section 203 of the Adult Education 8 and Family Literacy Act (29 U.S.C. 3272); 9 (D) with respect to a program authorized 10 under paragraph (1)(D), has the meaning given 11 the term ‘‘educational institution’’ under section 12 3452 of title 38, United States Code; 13 (E) with respect to a program authorized 14 under paragraph (1)(E), means an educational 15 institution that awards a degree or certificate 16 and is located in any State; and 17 (F) with respect to a program authorized 18 under paragraph (1)(F), means an educational 19 institution that awards a degree or certificate 20 and is located in any State. 21 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes, in ad- 22 dition to the several States of the United States, the 23 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Co- 24 lumbia, Guam, American Samoa, the United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2925 IS Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 1 Mariana Islands, and the freely associated States. 2 SEC. 3. PROTECTIONS IN OCCUPATIONS REQUIRING STATE 3 LICENSURE. 4 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an insti- 5 tution of higher education is not eligible to participate in 6 a Federal financial assistance program with respect to any 7 program of postsecondary education or training, including 8 a degree or certificate program and any program offered 9 by distance education or correspondence courses to stu- 10 dents located in a State other than where the institution 11 is physically located, that is designed to prepare students 12 for entry into a recognized occupation or profession that 13 requires licensing or other established requirements as a 14 pre-condition for entry into such occupation or profession, 15 unless, by not later than 1 year after the date of enact- 16 ment of this Act— 17 (1) the successful completion of the program 18 fully qualifies a student, in the metropolitan statis- 19 tical area in which the student resides, in the State 20 in which the student resides, and in any State in 21 which the institution indicates, through advertising 22 or marketing activities or direct contact with poten- 23 tial students, that a student will be prepared to work 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2925 IS in the occupation or profession after successfully 1 completing the program, to— 2 (A) take any examination required for 3 entry into the recognized occupation or profes- 4 sion in the metropolitan statistical area and any 5 State described in this paragraph, including 6 satisfying all Federal, State, or professionally 7 mandated programmatic and specialized accred- 8 itation requirements, if any; and 9 (B) be certified or licensed or meet any 10 other academically related pre-conditions that 11 are required for entry into the recognized occu- 12 pation or profession in any such State; and 13 (2) the institution offering the program pro- 14 vides timely placement for all of the academically re- 15 lated pre-licensure requirements for entry into the 16 recognized occupation or profession, such as clinical 17 placements, internships, or apprenticeships. 18 SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINFUL EM- 19 PLOYMENT PROGRAMS. 20 Section 487 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 21 U.S.C. 1094) is amended— 22 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 23 following: 24 ‘‘(30) The institution will— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2925 IS ‘‘(A) provide to the Secretary not later 1 than the first December 31 following the date 2 of enactment of the Protecting Students from 3 Worthless Degrees Act (or, for any institution 4 that does not have an active program participa- 5 tion agreement as of such date, the first De- 6 cember 31 after the institution enters into the 7 agreement), in accordance with procedures es- 8 tablished by the Secretary, a certification 9 signed by the most senior executive officer of 10 the institution that the institution and each of 11 the eligible gainful employment programs in- 12 cluded on the eligibility and certification ap- 13 proval report of the institution meets the re- 14 quirements of subsection (k); 15 ‘‘(B) include with its certification an expla- 16 nation of how each eligible gainful employment 17 program is not substantially similar to any in- 18 eligible or discontinued program described in 19 subsection (k)(2)(D); and 20 ‘‘(C) update the certification within 10 21 days if there are any changes in the approvals 22 for an eligible gainful employment program, or 23 other changes for an eligible gainful employ- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2925 IS ment program that make the existing certifi- 1 cation no longer accurate.’’; and 2 (2) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(k) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINFUL 4 EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.— 5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT 6 PROGRAM.—The term ‘gainful employment program’ 7 means a program of training that— 8 ‘‘(A) in order to qualify for assistance 9 under this title, is required under subsection 10 (b)(1)(A)(i) or (c)(1)(A) of section 102, or sec- 11 tion 101(b)(1), to satisfy gainful employment 12 requirements; and 13 ‘‘(B) is offered by an institution eligible to 14 receive assistance under this title. 15 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible gainful em- 16 ployment program included on the eligibility and cer- 17 tification approval report of an institution of higher 18 education shall comply with each of the following: 19 ‘‘(A) The gainful employment program is 20 approved by a recognized accrediting agency or 21 is otherwise included in the institution’s accred- 22 itation by its recognized accrediting agency, or, 23 if the institution is a public postsecondary voca- 24 tional institution, the program is approved by a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2925 IS recognized State agency for the approval of 1 public postsecondary vocational education in 2 lieu of accreditation. 3 ‘‘(B) The gainful employment program is 4 programmatically accredited, if such accredita- 5 tion is required by— 6 ‘‘(i) a Federal governmental entity; 7 ‘‘(ii) a governmental entity in the 8 State in which the institution is located; or 9 ‘‘(iii) a governmental entity in a State 10 in which the institution is not physically lo- 11 cated, if the institution— 12 ‘‘(I) offers postsecondary edu- 13 cation through distance education or 14 correspondence courses to students lo- 15 cated in that State; or 16 ‘‘(II) is otherwise subject to that 17 State’s jurisdiction, as determined by 18 that State. 19 ‘‘(C) The gainful employment program sat- 20 isfies the applicable educational prerequisites 21 for professional licensure or certification re- 22 quirements in the State in which the institution 23 is located or a State described in subparagraph 24 (B)(iii), so that a student who completes the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2925 IS program and seeks employment in any such 1 State qualifies to take any licensure or certifi- 2 cation examination that is needed for the stu- 3 dent to practice or find employment in an occu- 4 pation that the program prepares students to 5 enter. 6 ‘‘(D) The gainful employment program is 7 not substantially similar to a program offered 8 by the institution that, in any of the 3 years 9 prior to the date of the eligibility and certifi- 10 cation approval report, became ineligible for 11 funding under this title due to the debt to earn- 12 ing rates measure, or any subsequent outcome 13 measure, or was failing, in the zone, or other- 14 wise close to failing with respect to, the debt to 15 earning rates measure, or any subsequent out- 16 come measure, and was voluntarily discontinued 17 by the institution. 18 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS ENSURING STUDENT 19 AWARENESS.—Before an institution offering a gain- 20 ful employment program enrolls any student who in- 21 tends to reside, practice, or seek employment in a 22 State for which the program does not satisfy the ap- 23 plicable educational prerequisites for professional li- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 2925 IS censure or certification requirements needed for that 1 occupation in that State, the institution shall— 2 ‘‘(A) notify the student that the gainful 3 employment program does not satisfy the pre- 4 requisites; and 5 ‘‘(B) obtain from the student a hand- 6 written statement, in the student’s own words 7 and signed by the student, acknowledging that 8 the student wishes to enroll in the gainful em- 9 ployment program despite knowing that the 10 gainful employment program does not meet the 11 licensure or certification requirements for the 12 occupation in the State in which the student in- 13 tends to reside, practice, or seek employment. 14 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING REESTAB- 15 LISHMENT OF ELIGIBILITY.—The institution shall 16 not seek to reestablish the eligibility of a gainful em- 17 ployment program that is ineligible for funding 18 under this subsection until not less than 3 years fol- 19 lowing the date specified in the notice of determina- 20 tion informing the institution of the program’s ineli- 21 gibility.’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 2925 IS SEC. 5. STATE AUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DIS- 1 TANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 2 Section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 3 U.S.C. 101(a)) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘, in ac- 5 cordance with subsection (d)’’ before the semicolon; 6 and 7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘(d) STATE AUTHORIZATION.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An institution that offers 10 postsecondary education through distance education 11 or correspondence courses shall meet the require- 12 ments of subsection (a)(2) by being legally author- 13 ized within each State in which the institution’s en- 14 rolled students are located, subject to paragraph (2). 15 ‘‘(2) STATE RECIPROCITY AGREEMENTS.—An 16 institution described in paragraph (1) that is located 17 in a State that participates in a State authorization 18 reciprocity agreement with another State and that is 19 covered by such State authorization reciprocity 20 agreement, is considered to meet State requirements 21 for the institution to be legally offering postsec- 22 ondary distance education or correspondence courses 23 in the other State— 24 ‘‘(A) subject to any additional require- 25 ments of that State; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Nov 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2925.IS S2925 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 2925 IS ‘‘(B) if the institution documents, in the 1 manner required by the Secretary, that each 2 State in which the institution’s enrolled stu- 3 dents are located has a State process— 4 ‘‘(i) to review and take appropriate 5 action on complaints from any of such en- 6 rolled students concerning the institution, 7 including enforcing applicable State law; 8 and 9 ‘‘(ii) to make the complaints public. 10 ‘‘(3) STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY 11 AGREEMENT DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term 12 ‘State authorization reciprocity agreement’ means an 13 agreement between 2 or more States that— 14 ‘‘(A) authorizes an institution located and 15 legally authorized in a State covered by the 16 agreement to provide postsecondary education 17 through distance education or correspondence 18 courses to students located in other States cov- 19 ered by the agreement; and 20 ‘‘(B) does not prohibit any State in the 21 agreement from enforcing the State’s own s [Text truncated for display. 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