II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 850 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish fair and consistent 

eligibility requirements for graduate medical schools operating outside 

the United States and Canada. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 5 (legislative day, APRIL 4), 2017 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) 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 establish 

fair and consistent eligibility requirements for graduate 

medical schools operating outside the United States and 

Canada. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Foreign Medical School 

5 Accountability Fairness Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 To establish consistent eligibility requirements for 

8 graduate medical schools operating outside of the United 


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1 States and Canada in order to increase accountability and 

2 protect American students and taxpayer dollars. 

3 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) Three for-profit schools in the Caribbean receive nearly 3 6 ⁄4 of all Federal funding under title IV 

7 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

8 1070 et seq.) that goes to students enrolled at for9 eign graduate medical schools, despite those three 

10 schools being exempt from meeting the same eligi11 bility requirements as the majority of graduate med12 ical schools located outside of the United States and 

13 Canada. 

14 (2) The National Committee on Foreign Med15 ical Education and Accreditation and the Depart16 ment of Education recommend that all foreign grad17 uate medical schools should be required to meet the 

18 same eligibility requirements to participate in Fed19 eral funding under title IV of the Higher Education 

20 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 

21 (3) The attrition rate at United States medical 

22 schools averaged 3.4 percent in 2014, while rates at 

23 for-profit Caribbean medical schools have been 

24 known to reach 30 percent. 


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1 (4) In 2016, residency match rates for foreign 

2 trained graduates averaged 54 percent compared to 

3 94 percent for graduates of medical schools in the 

4 United States. 

5 (5) On average, students at for-profit medical 

6 schools operating outside of the United States and 

7 Canada amass more student debt than those at med8 ical schools in the United States. 

9 SEC. 4. REPEAL GRANDFATHER PROVISIONS. 

10 Section 102(a)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(a)(2)) is amended— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking clause (i) 

13 and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) in the case of a graduate medical 

15 school located outside the United States— 

16 ‘‘(I) at least 60 percent of those 

17 enrolled in, and at least 60 percent of 

18 the graduates of, the graduate med19 ical school outside the United States 

20 were not persons described in section 

21 484(a)(5) in the year preceding the 

22 year for which a student is seeking a 

23 loan under part D of title IV; and 

24 ‘‘(II) at least 75 percent of the 

25 individuals who were students or 


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1 graduates of the graduate medical 

2 school outside the United States or 

3 Canada (both nationals of the United 

4 States and others) taking the exami5 nations administered by the Edu6 cational Commission for Foreign Med7 ical Graduates received a passing 

8 score in the year preceding the year 

9 for which a student is seeking a loan 

10 under part D of title IV;’’; and 

11 (2) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by adding at the 

12 end the following: 

13 ‘‘(V) EXPIRATION OF AUTHOR14 ITY.—The authority of a graduate 

15 medical school described in subclause 

16 (I) to qualify for participation in the 

17 loan programs under part D of title 

18 IV pursuant to this clause shall expire 

19 beginning on the first July 1 following 

20 the date of enactment of the Foreign 

21 Medical School Accountability Fair22 ness Act of 2017.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. LOSS OF ELIGIBILITY. 

24 If a graduate medical school loses eligibility to par25 ticipate in the loan programs under part D of title IV of 


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1 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et 

2 seq.) due to the enactment of the amendments made by 

3 section 4, then a student enrolled at such graduate med4 ical school on or before the date of enactment of this Act 

5 may, notwithstanding such loss of eligibility, continue to 

6 be eligible to receive a loan under such part D while at7 tending such graduate medical school in which the student 

8 was enrolled upon the date of enactment of this Act, sub9 ject to the student continuing to meet all applicable re10 quirements for satisfactory academic progress, until the 

11 earliest of— 

12 (1) withdrawal by the student from the grad13 uate medical school; 

14 (2) completion of the program of study by the 

15 student at the graduate medical school; or 

16 (3) the fourth June 30 after such loss of eligi17 bility. 

Æ 


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