II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1908 

To amend the Higher Education Opportunity Act to restrict institutions 

of higher education from using revenues derived from Federal educational 

assistance funds for advertising, marketing, or recruiting purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2015 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. MURPHY) 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 Opportunity Act to restrict 

institutions of higher education from using revenues derived from Federal educational assistance funds for advertising, marketing, or recruiting 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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Protecting Financial Aid for Students and Taxpayers 

6 Act’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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•S 1908 IS

1 (1) From 1998 to 2013, enrollment in for-profit 

2 institutions of higher education increased by 314 

3 percent, from 498,176 students to 2,064,920 stu4 dents. 

5 (2) In the 2012–2013 academic year, students 

6 who enrolled at for-profit institutions of higher edu7 cation received $26,469,028,523 in Federal Pell 

8 Grants and student loans. 

9 (3) Eight out of the 10 top recipients of Post10 9/11 Educational Assistance funds are for-profit in11 stitutions of higher education. These 8 companies 

12 have received $2,900,000,000 in taxpayer funds to 

13 enroll veterans from 2009 to 2013. 

14 (4) An analysis of 15 publicly traded companies 

15 that operate institutions of higher education shows 

16 that, on average, such companies spend 28 percent 

17 of expenditures on advertising, marketing, and re18 cruiting. 

19 SEC. 2. RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF FUNDS FOR RE20 CRUITING AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES. 

21 Section 119 of the Higher Education Opportunity 

22 Act (20 U.S.C. 1011m) is amended— 

23 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

24 RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF FUNDS FOR


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1 RECRUITING AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES’’ 

2 after ‘‘FUNDS’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsections 

4 (a) through (c)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a), (b), 

5 (c), and (e)’’; 

6 (3) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub7 section (f); and 

8 (4) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(e) RESTRICTIONS ON SOURCES OF FUNDS FOR RE11 CRUITING AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An institution of higher 

13 education, or other postsecondary educational insti14 tution, may not use revenues derived from Federal 

15 educational assistance funds for recruiting or mar16 keting activities described in paragraph (2). 

17 ‘‘(2) COVERED ACTIVITIES.—Except as pro18 vided in paragraph (3), the recruiting and marketing 

19 activities subject to paragraph (1) shall include the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(A) Advertising and promotion activities, 

22 including paid announcements in newspapers, 

23 magazines, radio, television, billboards, elec24 tronic media, naming rights, or any other public 

25 medium of communication, including paying for 


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1 displays or promotions at job fairs, military in2 stallations, or college recruiting events. 

3 ‘‘(B) Efforts to identify and attract pro4 spective students, either directly or through a 

5 contractor or other third party, including con6 tact concerning a prospective student’s potential 

7 enrollment or application for grant, loan, or 

8 work assistance under title IV of the Higher 

9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et 

10 seq.) or participation in preadmission or advis11 ing activities, including— 

12 ‘‘(i) paying employees responsible for 

13 overseeing enrollment and for contacting 

14 potential students in-person, by phone, by 

15 email, or by other Internet communications 

16 regarding enrollment; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) soliciting an individual to provide 

18 contact information to an institution of 

19 higher education, including websites estab20 lished for such purpose and funds paid to 

21 third parties for such purpose. 

22 ‘‘(C) Such other activities as the Secretary 

23 of Education may prescribe, including paying 

24 for promotion or sponsorship of education or 

25 military-related associations. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—Any activity that is re2 quired as a condition of receipt of funds by an insti3 tution under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

4 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), is specifically author5 ized under such title, or is otherwise specified by the 

6 Secretary of Education, shall not be considered to be 

7 a covered activity under paragraph (2). 

8 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE

9 FUNDS.—In this subsection, the term ‘Federal edu10 cational assistance funds’ means funds provided di11 rectly to an institution or to a student attending 

12 such institution under any of the following provi13 sions of law: 

14 ‘‘(A) Title IV of the Higher Education Act 

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

16 ‘‘(B) Chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, or 35 of 

17 title 38, United States Code. 

18 ‘‘(C) Chapter 101, 105, 106A, 1606, 1607, 

19 or 1608 of title 10, United States Code. 

20 ‘‘(D) Section 1784a, 2005, or 2007 of title 

21 10, United States Code. 

22 ‘‘(E) Title I of the Workforce Innovation 

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

24 ‘‘(F) The Adult Education and Family Lit25 eracy Act (29 U.S.C. 3271 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

2 this section shall be construed as a limitation on the 

3 use by an institution of revenues derived from 

4 sources other than Federal educational assistance 

5 funds. 

6 ‘‘(6) REPORTS.—Each institution of higher 

7 education, or other postsecondary educational insti8 tution, that derives 65 percent or more of revenues 

9 from Federal educational assistance funds shall re10 port annually to the Secretary and to Congress and 

11 shall include in such report— 

12 ‘‘(A) the institution’s expenditures on ad13 vertising, marketing, and recruiting; 

14 ‘‘(B) a verification from an independent 

15 auditor that the institution is in compliance 

16 with the requirements of this subsection; and 

17 ‘‘(C) a certification from the institution 

18 that the institution is in compliance with the re19 quirements of this subsection.’’. 

Æ 


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