II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 889 

To provide consumer protections for students. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2023 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To provide consumer protections for students. 

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 ‘‘Protecting Students 

5 from Worthless Degrees Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PRO9 GRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal financial assistance pro10 gram’’ means a program authorized and funded by 


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1 the Federal Government under any of the following 

2 provisions of law: 

3 (A) Title IV of the Higher Education Act 

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

5 (B) Title I of the Workforce Innovation 

6 and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.). 

7 (C) The Adult Education and Family Lit8 eracy Act (29 U.S.C. 3271 et seq.). 

9 (D) Chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, or 36 

10 of title 38, United States Code. 

11 (E) Chapter 101, 105, 106A, 1606, 1607, 

12 or 1608 of title 10, United States Code. 

13 (F) Section 1784a, 2005, or 2007 of title 

14 10, United States Code. 

15 (2) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 

16 ‘‘freely associated States’’ means the Republic of the 

17 Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micro18 nesia, and the Republic of Palau. 

19 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

20 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’— 

21 (A) with respect to a program authorized 

22 under paragraph (1)(A), has the meaning given 

23 the term in section 102 of the Higher Edu24 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002); 


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1 (B) with respect to a program authorized 

2 under paragraph (1)(B), has the meaning given 

3 the term in section 3 of the Workforce Innova4 tion and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102); 

5 (C) with respect to a program authorized 

6 under paragraph (1)(C), has the meaning given 

7 the term ‘‘postsecondary educational institu8 tion’’ under section 203 of the Adult Education 

9 and Family Literacy Act (29 U.S.C. 3272); 

10 (D) with respect to a program authorized 

11 under paragraph (1)(D), has the meaning given 

12 the term ‘‘educational institution’’ under section 

13 3452 of title 38, United States Code; 

14 (E) with respect to a program authorized 

15 under paragraph (1)(E), means an educational 

16 institution that awards a degree or certificate 

17 and is located in any State; and 

18 (F) with respect to a program authorized 

19 under paragraph (1)(F), means an educational 

20 institution that awards a degree or certificate 

21 and is located in any State. 

22 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes, in ad23 dition to the several States of the United States, the 

24 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Co25 lumbia, Guam, American Samoa, the United States 


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1 Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

2 Mariana Islands, and the freely associated States. 

3 SEC. 3. PROTECTIONS IN OCCUPATIONS REQUIRING STATE 

4 LICENSURE. 

5 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an insti6 tution of higher education is not eligible to participate in 

7 a Federal financial assistance program with respect to any 

8 program of postsecondary education or training, including 

9 a degree or certificate program and any program offered 

10 by distance education or correspondence courses to stu11 dents located in a State other than where the institution 

12 is physically located, that is designed to prepare students 

13 for entry into a recognized occupation or profession that 

14 requires licensing or other established requirements as a 

15 pre-condition for entry into such occupation or profession, 

16 unless, by not later than 1 year after the date of enact17 ment of this Act— 

18 (1) the successful completion of the program 

19 fully qualifies a student, in the metropolitan statis20 tical area in which the student resides, in the State 

21 in which the student resides, and in any State in 

22 which the institution indicates, through advertising 

23 or marketing activities or direct contact with poten24 tial students, that a student will be prepared to work 


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1 in the occupation or profession after successfully 

2 completing the program, to— 

3 (A) take any examination required for 

4 entry into the recognized occupation or profes5 sion in the metropolitan statistical area and any 

6 State described in this paragraph, including 

7 satisfying all Federal, State, or professionally 

8 mandated programmatic and specialized accred9 itation requirements, if any; and 

10 (B) be certified or licensed or meet any 

11 other academically related pre-conditions that 

12 are required for entry into the recognized occu13 pation or profession in any such State; and 

14 (2) the institution offering the program pro15 vides timely placement for all of the academically re16 lated pre-licensure requirements for entry into the 

17 recognized occupation or profession, such as clinical 

18 placements, internships, or apprenticeships. 

19 SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINFUL EM20 PLOYMENT PROGRAMS. 

21 Section 487 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

22 U.S.C. 1094) is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

24 following: 

25 ‘‘(30) The institution will— 


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1 ‘‘(A) provide to the Secretary not later 

2 than the first December 31 following the date 

3 of enactment of the Protecting Students from 

4 Worthless Degrees Act (or, for any institution 

5 that does not have an active program participa6 tion agreement as of such date, the first De7 cember 31 after the institution enters into the 

8 agreement), in accordance with procedures es9 tablished by the Secretary, a certification 

10 signed by the most senior executive officer of 

11 the institution that the institution and each of 

12 the eligible gainful employment programs in13 cluded on the eligibility and certification ap14 proval report of the institution under subpart 3 

15 of part H meet the requirements of subsection 

16 (k); 

17 ‘‘(B) include with its certification an expla18 nation of how each eligible gainful employment 

19 program is not substantially similar to any in20 eligible or discontinued program described in 

21 subsection (k)(2)(D); and 

22 ‘‘(C) update the certification within 10 

23 days if there are any changes in the approvals 

24 for an eligible gainful employment program, or 

25 other changes for an eligible gainful employVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S889.IS S889

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1 ment program that make the existing certifi2 cation no longer accurate.’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(k) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINFUL

5 EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT

7 PROGRAM.—The term ‘gainful employment program’ 

8 means a program of training that— 

9 ‘‘(A) in order to qualify for assistance 

10 under this title, is required under subsection 

11 (b)(1)(A)(i) or (c)(1)(A) of section 102, or sec12 tion 101(b)(1), to satisfy gainful employment 

13 requirements; and 

14 ‘‘(B) is offered by an institution eligible to 

15 receive assistance under this title. 

16 ‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible gainful em17 ployment program included on the eligibility and cer18 tification approval report of an institution of higher 

19 education shall comply with each of the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) The gainful employment program is 

21 approved by a recognized accrediting agency or 

22 is otherwise included in the institution’s accred23 itation by its recognized accrediting agency, or, 

24 if the institution is a public postsecondary voca25 tional institution, the program is approved by a 


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1 recognized State agency for the approval of 

2 public postsecondary vocational education in 

3 lieu of accreditation. 

4 ‘‘(B) The gainful employment program is 

5 programmatically accredited, if such accredita6 tion is required by— 

7 ‘‘(i) a Federal governmental entity; 

8 ‘‘(ii) a governmental entity in the 

9 State in which the institution is located; or 

10 ‘‘(iii) a governmental entity in a State 

11 in which the institution is not physically lo12 cated, if the institution— 

13 ‘‘(I) offers postsecondary edu14 cation through distance education or 

15 correspondence courses to students lo16 cated in that State; or 

17 ‘‘(II) is otherwise subject to that 

18 State’s jurisdiction, as determined by 

19 that State. 

20 ‘‘(C) The gainful employment program sat21 isfies the applicable educational prerequisites 

22 for professional licensure or certification re23 quirements in the State in which the institution 

24 is located or a State described in subparagraph 

25 (B)(iii), so that a student who completes the 


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1 program and seeks employment in any such 

2 State qualifies to take any licensure or certifi3 cation examination that is needed for the stu4 dent to practice or find employment in an occu5 pation that the program prepares students to 

6 enter. 

7 ‘‘(D) The gainful employment program is 

8 not substantially similar to a program offered 

9 by the institution that, in any of the 3 years 

10 prior to the date of the eligibility and certifi11 cation approval report— 

12 ‘‘(i) became ineligible for funding 

13 under this title due to a debt to earning 

14 rates measure, or any subsequent outcome 

15 measure, that the Secretary determines 

16 serves the best interests of students and 

17 taxpayers; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) was voluntarily discontinued by 

19 the institution. 

20 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS ENSURING STUDENT

21 AWARENESS.—Before an institution offering a gain22 ful employment program enrolls any student who in23 tends to reside, practice, or seek employment in a 

24 State for which the program does not satisfy the ap25 plicable educational prerequisites for professional liVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S889.IS S889

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1 censure or certification requirements needed for that 

2 occupation in that State, the institution shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) notify the student that the gainful 

4 employment program does not satisfy the pre5 requisites; and 

6 ‘‘(B) obtain from the student a hand7 written statement, in the student’s own words 

8 and signed by the student, acknowledging that 

9 the student wishes to enroll in the gainful em10 ployment program despite knowing that the 

11 gainful employment program does not meet the 

12 licensure or certification requirements for the 

13 occupation in the State in which the student in14 tends to reside, practice, or seek employment. 

15 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING REESTAB16 LISHMENT OF ELIGIBILITY.—The institution shall 

17 not seek to reestablish the eligibility of a gainful em18 ployment program that is ineligible for funding 

19 under this subsection until not less than 3 years fol20 lowing the date specified in the notice of determina21 tion informing the institution of the program’s ineli22 gibility.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. STATE AUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DIS2 TANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 

3 Section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1001(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘, in ac6 cordance with subsection (d)’’ before the semicolon; 

7 and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(d) STATE AUTHORIZATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An institution that offers 

11 postsecondary education through distance education 

12 or correspondence courses shall meet the require13 ments of subsection (a)(2) by being legally author14 ized within each State in which the institution’s en15 rolled students are located, subject to paragraph (2). 

16 ‘‘(2) STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY

17 AGREEMENTS.—An institution described in para18 graph (1) that is located in a State that participates 

19 in a State authorization reciprocity agreement with 

20 another State and that is covered by such State au21 thorization reciprocity agreement, is considered to 

22 meet State requirements for the institution to be le23 gally offering postsecondary distance education or 

24 correspondence courses in the other State— 

25 ‘‘(A) subject to any additional require26 ments of that State; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) if the institution documents, in the 

2 manner required by the Secretary, that each 

3 State in which the institution’s enrolled stu4 dents are located has a State process— 

5 ‘‘(i) to review and take appropriate 

6 action on complaints from any of such en7 rolled students concerning the institution, 

8 including enforcing applicable State law; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ii) to make the complaints public. 

11 ‘‘(3) STATE AUTHORIZATION RECIPROCITY

12 AGREEMENT DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term 

13 ‘State authorization reciprocity agreement’ means an 

14 agreement between 2 or more States that— 

15 ‘‘(A) authorizes an institution located and 

16 legally authorized in a State covered by the 

17 agreement to provide postsecondary education 

18 through distance education or correspondence 

19 courses to students located in other States cov20 ered by the agreement; and 

21 ‘‘(B) does not prohibit any State in the 

22 agreement from enforcing the State’s own stat23 utes and regulations, regardless as to whether 

24 such statutes and regulations are general and 

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1 cally directed at a subset of educational institu2 tions.’’. 

Æ 


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