I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2637 

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from engaging in regulatory overreach 

with regard to institutional eligibility under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 10, 2013 

Ms. FOXX (for herself, Mr. KLINE, and Mr. HASTINGS of Florida) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce 

A BILL 

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from engaging in 

regulatory overreach with regard to institutional eligibility under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

1965, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Supporting Academic 

5 Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REGULATORY RELIEF. 

7 (a) REGULATIONS REPEALED.— 


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1 (1) REPEAL.—The following regulations (in2 cluding any supplement or revision to such regula3 tions) are repealed and shall have no legal effect: 

4 (A) STATE AUTHORIZATION.—Sections 

5 600.4(a)(3), 600.5(a)(4), 600.6(a)(3), 600.9, 

6 and 668.43(b) of title 34, Code of Federal Reg7 ulations (relating to State authorization), as 

8 added or amended by the final regulations pub9 lished by the Department of Education in the 

10 Federal Register on October 29, 2010 (75 Fed. 

11 Reg. 66832 et seq.). 

12 (B) DEFINITION OF CREDIT HOUR.—The 

13 definition of the term ‘‘credit hour’’ in section 

14 600.2 of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, 

15 as added by the final regulations published by 

16 the Department of Education in the Federal 

17 Register on October 29, 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 

18 66946), and clauses (i)(A), (ii), and (iii) of sub19 section (k)(2) of section 668.8 of such title, as 

20 amended by such final regulations (75 Fed. 

21 Reg. 66949 et seq.). 

22 (C) GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT.—Sections 

23 600.10(c), 600.20(d), 668.6, and 668.7, of title 

24 34, Code of Federal Regulations as added or 

25 amended by the final regulations published by 


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1 the Department of Education in the Federal 

2 Register on October 29, 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 

3 66832 et seq. and 75 Fed. Reg. 66665 et seq.) 

4 and June 13, 2011 (76 Fed. Reg. 34386 et 

5 seq.). 

6 (2) EFFECT OF REPEAL.—To the extent that 

7 regulations repealed by paragraph (1) amended reg8 ulations that were in effect on June 30, 2011, the 

9 provisions of the regulations that were in effect on 

10 June 30, 2011, and were so amended are restored 

11 and revived as if the regulations repealed by para12 graph (1) had not taken effect. 

13 (b) REGULATIONS PROHIBITED.— 

14 (1) STATE AUTHORIZATION AND GAINFUL EM15 PLOYMENT.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Edu17 cation shall not, during the period described in 

18 subparagraph (B), promulgate or enforce any 

19 regulation or rule not in effect on the date of 

20 enactment of this Act for any purpose under 

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

22 1001 et seq.) with respect to— 

23 (i) the State authorization for institu24 tions of higher education to operate within 

25 a State; or 


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1 (ii) the definition or application of the 

2 term ‘‘gainful employment’’. 

3 (B) PERIOD OF PROHIBITION.—The period 

4 during which the Secretary is prohibited from 

5 promulgating or enforcing a regulation de6 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be the period 

7 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act 

8 and ending on the date of enactment of a law 

9 that extends by not less than 2 fiscal years the 

10 authorization or duration of one or more pro11 grams under the Higher Education Act of 1965 

12 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

13 (2) CREDIT HOUR.—The Secretary of Edu14 cation shall not, on or after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, promulgate or enforce any regulation or 

16 rule with respect to the definition of the term ‘‘cred17 it hour’’ for any purpose under the Higher Edu18 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

19 SEC. 3. THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

20 Section 487(a)(20) of the Higher Education Act of 

21 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(20)) is amended by adding at 

22 the end the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding 

23 sentence, an institution described in section 101 may pro24 vide payment, based on the amount of tuition generated 

25 by the institution from student enrollment, to a thirdVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:50 Jul 11, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2637.IH H2637

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1 party entity that provides a set of services to the institu2 tion that includes student recruitment services, regardless 

3 of whether the third-party entity is affiliated with an insti4 tution that provides educational services other than the 

5 institution providing such payment, if— 

6 ‘‘(A) the third-party entity is not affiliated 

7 with the institution providing such payment; 

8 ‘‘(B) the third-party entity does not make 

9 compensation payments to its employees that 

10 are prohibited under this paragraph; 

11 ‘‘(C) the set of services provided to the in12 stitution by the third-party entity include serv13 ices in addition to student recruitment services, 

14 and the institution does not pay the third-party 

15 entity solely or separately for student recruit16 ment services provided by the third-party enti17 ty; and 

18 ‘‘(D) any student recruitment information 

19 available to the third-party entity, including 

20 personally identifiable information, will not be 

21 used by, shared with, or sold to any other per22 son or entity, including any institution that is 

23 affiliated with the third-party entity.’’. 

Æ 


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