I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8552 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of 

higher education to establish record-management plans in order to be 

accredited or continue to be accredited, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 9, 2020 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require 

institutions of higher education to establish record-management plans in order to be accredited or continue 

to be accredited, 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 ‘‘Student Records Pro5 tection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RECORD-MANAGEMENT PLANS REQUIRED. 

2 (a) ACCREDITING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 496(c) 

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

4 1099b(c)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

6 end; 

7 (2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at 

8 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(10) beginning on the date that is 5 years 

11 after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, 

12 requires an institution to submit for approval to the 

13 accrediting agency a records management plan upon 

14 the institution’s notifying the accrediting agency 

15 that the institution intends to cease operations. Such 

16 plan shall include— 

17 ‘‘(A) a plan for the custody, continued ac18 cess, and disposition of student records, includ19 ing student transcripts, billing, and financial 

20 aid records; 

21 ‘‘(B) a plan to provide to the Secretary, 

22 State authorizing agency, and such accrediting 

23 agency or association a list that includes the 

24 name and contact information of each student 

25 enrolled in such institution— 


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1 ‘‘(i) on the date such institution 

2 closed; 

3 ‘‘(ii) on the date that is 120 days be4 fore the date described in clause (i); and 

5 ‘‘(iii) on the date that is 180 days be6 fore the date described in clause (i); 

7 ‘‘(C) an assurance from the institution 

8 that such institution— 

9 ‘‘(i) will release all financial holds 

10 placed on student records; 

11 ‘‘(ii) for the 1-year period beginning 

12 on the date of the closure of such institu13 tion, will not require any student or former 

14 student who requests the student records 

15 of such student to purchase such records 

16 or otherwise charge such student a fee 

17 with respect to such records; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) after the 1-year period described 

19 in clause (ii), will either continue to not re20 quire the purchase of the records described 

21 in such subclause or charge a nominal fee 

22 with respect to such records, as determined 

23 by the Secretary; and 

24 ‘‘(D) an estimate of the costs necessary to 

25 carry out the record-management plan and a 


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1 plan for how such institution will provide fund2 ing for such costs.’’. 

3 (b) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT.— 

4 (1) AMENDMENT.—Section 487(f)(1) of the 

5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

6 1094(f)(1)) is amended by striking the period at the 

7 end and inserting ‘‘and to prepare and submit to the 

8 Secretary a record-management plan that includes 

9 the information required under subparagraphs (A) 

10 through (D) of section 496(c)(10).’’ 

11 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

12 by paragraph (1) shall take effect on the date that 

13 is 6 months after the date of the enactment of this 

14 Act. 

Æ 


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