Providing Distance Education for Foreign Institutions Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1168 To amend title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide program eligibility for distance education programs offered by foreign institutions of higher education. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 17, 2023 Mr. BRAUN (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide program eligibility for distance education pro- grams offered by foreign institutions of higher education. 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 ‘‘Providing Distance 4 Education for Foreign Institutions Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Apr 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1168.IS S1168 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1168 IS SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS 1 OFFERED BY FOREIGN INSTITUTIONS OF 2 HIGHER EDUCATION. 3 Section 481(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 4 (20 U.S.C. 1088(b)) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para- 6 graph (5); and 7 (2) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(4)(A) An otherwise eligible program that is offered 10 by a foreign institution and is offered in part through dis- 11 tance education is eligible for the purposes of this title 12 if— 13 ‘‘(i) not more than 12.5 percent of such pro- 14 gram consists of courses offered principally through 15 distance education; 16 ‘‘(ii) the foreign institution has been evaluated 17 and determined by an outside oversight entity, such 18 as an accrediting agency or association or govern- 19 ment entity, to have the capability to effectively de- 20 liver distance education programs; and 21 ‘‘(iii) the students receiving aid under this title 22 are physically present in the country where the for- 23 eign institution is located during the distance edu- 24 cation instruction. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Apr 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1168.IS S1168 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1168 IS ‘‘(B) In calculating the percentage of a program of- 1 fered through distance education for purposes of clause 2 (i) of subparagraph (A), any course that is part of such 3 a program that requires a student’s regular in-person at- 4 tendance for more than 50 percent of the instruction, but 5 also includes one or more distance education components 6 as part of the course, shall not be considered to be offered 7 principally through distance education.’’. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Apr 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1168.IS S1168 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB