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Preventing Risky Operations from Threatening the Education and Career Trajectories of Students Act of 2019

H.R. 3512 · 116th Congress · Jun 26, 2019 · Lineage

A BILL

To protect students of institutions of higher education and the taxpayer investment in institutions of higher education by improving oversight and accountability of institutions of higher education, particularly for-profit colleges, improving protections for students and borrowers, and ensuring the integrity of postsecondary education programs, and for other purposes.

Section 1 Short title; table of contents

(a)
Short title— This Act may be cited as the “Preventing Risky Operations from Threatening the Education and Career Trajectories of Students Act of 2019” or the “PROTECT Students Act of 2019”.
(b)
Table of contents— The table of contents for this Act is as follows:

Sec. 2 References

Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).

Sec. 3 Effective date

Except as otherwise specified, this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect beginning on July 1, 2020.

Sec. 4 Definitions

(a)
In general— Section 103 (20 U.S.C. 1003) is amended—
(1)
by redesignating paragraphs (15) through (22), (23), and (24) as paragraphs (17) through (24), (26), and (27);
(2)
by inserting after paragraph (14) the following:

“(16) Revenue sharing arrangements—The term revenue sharing arrangement means an arrangement between an institution of higher education and a third party contractor under which—

“(A) the third party contractor provides, exclusively or nonexclusively, educational products or services to prospective students or students attending the institution of higher education; and

“(B) the third party contractor or institution of higher education pays a fee or provides other material benefits, including revenue- or profit-sharing, to the institution of higher education or third party contractor in connection with the educational products or services provided to prospective students or students attending the institution of higher education.”

(3)
by inserting after paragraph (24), as redesignated by paragraph (1), the following:

“(25) Third party contractor—The term third party contractor means any State, person, or entity that enters into a contract or agreement, including a revenue sharing arrangement, with an eligible institution of higher education to act on the institution’s behalf, including any entity that—

“(A) sells the names of prospective students (also known as a “lead generator”); or

“(B) offers services including recruiting, financial aid packaging, curriculum development, facilities management, hiring and oversight of faculty, and the provision of student services representatives, job placement counselors, or other employees (also known as an “online program manager”).”

(b)
Renaming proprietary institutions for-Profit institutions—
(1)
In general— Section 102 (20 U.S.C. 1002) is amended—
(A)
in subsection (a)(1)(A), by striking “proprietary institution” and inserting “for-profit institution”; and
(B)
in subsection (b)—
(i)
in the subsection heading, by striking “Proprietary” and inserting “For-Profit”;
(ii)
in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), by striking “proprietary” and inserting “for-profit”; and
(iii)
in paragraph (2), by striking “proprietary” each place the term appears and inserting “for-profit”.
(2)
Conforming amendments—
(A)
Department of Education Organization Act— The Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.) is amended—
(i)
in section 219 (20 U.S.C. 3426)—
(I)
in the section heading, by striking “Proprietary” and inserting “For-profit”;
(II)
by striking “Proprietary” each place the term appears and inserting “For-Profit”; and
(III)
by striking “proprietary” each place the term appears and inserting “for-profit”; and
(ii)
in section 1, by striking the item relating to section 219 in the table of contents and inserting the following:
(B)
Higher Education Act of 1965— The Act (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended—
(i)
in each of sections 435 and 443(b)(8), by striking “proprietary” each place the term appears and inserting “for-profit”; and
(ii)
in section 807(d)(1)(A)(iii), by striking “proprietary” and inserting “for-profit”.
(C)
Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992— Section 3(j)(2)(B) of the Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 (20 U.S.C. 1862i(j)(2)(B)) is amended by striking “proprietary institution” and inserting “for-profit institution”.
(3)
References—
(A)
Proprietary institution— Any reference to a proprietary institution, as defined in section 102(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002) on the day before the date of enactment of this Act, in any law, rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or other official paper in force on the date of enactment of this Act shall be considered to refer and apply to a for-profit institution, as defined in section 102(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(b)), as amended by this Act.
(B)
Liaison— Any reference to the Liaison for Proprietary Institutions of Higher Education in any law, rule, regulation, certificate, directive, instruction, or other official paper in force on the date of enactment of this Act shall be considered to refer and apply to the Liaison for For-Profit Institutions of Higher Education established under section 219 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 U.S.C. 3401), as amended by this Act.