II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3474 

To provide consumer protections for students. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2012 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Ms. MIKULSKI, and Mr. HARKIN) 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. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

8 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (A) FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

10 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal financial assist11 ance program’’ means a program authorized 


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1 and funded by the Federal Government under 

2 any of the following provisions of law: 

3 (i) Title IV of the Higher Education 

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

5 (ii) Title I of the Workforce Invest6 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801 et 

7 seq.). 

8 (iii) The Adult Education and Family 

9 Literacy Act (20 U.S.C. 9201 et seq.). 

10 (iv) Chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, or 35 

11 of title 38, United States Code. 

12 (v) Chapter 101, 105, 106A, 1606, 

13 1607, or 1608 of title 10, United States 

14 Code. 

15 (vi) Section 1784a, 2005, or 2007 of 

16 title 10, United States Code. 

17 (B) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU18 CATION.—The term ‘‘institution of higher edu19 cation’’— 

20 (i) with respect to a program author21 ized under subparagraph (A)(i), has the 

22 meaning given the term in section 102 of 

23 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

24 U.S.C. 1002); 


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1 (ii) with respect to a program author2 ized under subparagraph (A)(ii), has the 

3 meaning given the term ‘‘postsecondary 

4 educational institution’’ as defined in sec5 tion 101 of the Workforce Investment Act 

6 of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2801); 

7 (iii) with respect to a program author8 ized under subparagraph (A)(iii), has the 

9 meaning given the term ‘‘postsecondary 

10 educational institution’’ as defined in sec11 tion 203 of the Adult Education and Fam12 ily Literacy Act (20 U.S.C. 9202); 

13 (iv) with respect to a program author14 ized under subparagraph (A)(iv), has the 

15 meaning given the term ‘‘educational insti16 tution’’ under section 3452 of title 38, 

17 United States Code; 

18 (v) with respect to a program author19 ized under subparagraph (A)(v), means an 

20 educational institution that awards a de21 gree or certificate and is located in any 

22 State; and 

23 (vi) with respect to a program author24 ized under subparagraph (A)(vi), means an 

25 educational institution that awards a deVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:35 Aug 07, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3474.IS S3474

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1 gree or certificate and is located in any 

2 State. 

3 (C) STATE.— 

4 (i) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ in5 cludes, in addition to the several States of 

6 the United States, the Commonwealth of 

7 Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, 

8 Guam, American Samoa, the United States 

9 Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the 

10 Northern Mariana Islands, and the Freely 

11 Associated States. 

12 (ii) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.— 

13 The term ‘‘Freely Associated States’’ 

14 means the Republic of the Marshall Is15 lands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 

16 and the Republic of Palau. 

17 (2) CONSUMER PROTECTIONS.—Notwith18 standing any other provision of law, an institution of 

19 higher education is not eligible to participate in a 

20 Federal financial assistance program with respect to 

21 any program of postsecondary education or training, 

22 including a degree or certificate program, that is de23 signed to prepare students for entry into a recog24 nized occupation or profession that requires licensing 

25 or other established requirements as a pre-condition 


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1 for entry into such occupation or profession, un2 less— 

3 (A) the successful completion of the pro4 gram fully qualifies a student, in the State in 

5 which the institution offering the program is lo6 cated (and in any State in which the institution 

7 indicates, through advertising or marketing ac8 tivities or direct contact with potential students, 

9 that a student will be prepared to work in the 

10 occupation or profession after successfully com11 pleting the program), to— 

12 (i) take any examination required for 

13 entry into the recognized occupation or 

14 profession in the State, including satisfying 

15 all State or professionally mandated pro16 grammatic and specialized accreditation re17 quirements, if any; and 

18 (ii) be certified or licensed or meet 

19 any other academically related pre-condi20 tions that are required for entry into the 

21 recognized occupation or profession in the 

22 State; 

23 (B) the institution offering the program 

24 provides timely placement for all of the aca25 demically related pre-licensure requirements for 


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1 entry into the recognized occupation or profes2 sion in the State, such as clinical placements, 

3 internships, or apprenticeships; 

4 (C) in the case of State licensing or profes5 sionally mandated requirements for entry into 

6 the recognized occupation or profession in the 

7 State in which the institution offering the pro8 gram is located (and in any State in which the 

9 institution indicates, through advertising or 

10 marketing activities or direct contact with po11 tential students, that a student will be prepared 

12 to work in the occupation or profession after 

13 successfully completing the program) that re14 quire specialized accreditation— 

15 (i) the program meets that require16 ment for specialized accreditation through 

17 its accreditation or pre-accreditation by an 

18 accrediting agency or association recog19 nized by the Secretary of Education as a 

20 reliable authority as to the quality or train21 ing offered by the institution in that pro22 gram; and 

23 (ii) if the program is in a pre-accred24 ited, probation, or show cause status by an 

25 accrediting agency or association described 


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1 in clause (i), and the requirement for spe2 cialized accreditation is for full accredita3 tion, the institution— 

4 (I) establishes, to the satisfaction 

5 of the Secretary of Education, that 

6 each student who enrolls before the 

7 program is fully accredited attests of 

8 being advised that the program is in 

9 a pre-accredited, probation, or show 

10 cause status and of being informed of 

11 the effect on the student’s eligibility 

12 for assistance under this title and on 

13 the student’s ability to satisfy State 

14 or professionally mandated require15 ments for entry into the recognized 

16 occupation or profession if full accred17 itation is delayed, denied, terminated, 

18 or withdrawn; and 

19 (II) publicly and prominently dis20 closes in any advertising, marketing, 

21 or recruitment materials and activities 

22 for the institution, the institution’s 

23 pre-accredited, probation, or show 

24 cause status and the implications of 


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1 such status for prospective students; 

2 and 

3 (D) the institution— 

4 (i) discloses on the application to en5 roll in the institution that its program does 

6 not necessarily satisfy out-of-State require7 ments, if applicable; and 

8 (ii) upon receipt of an application to 

9 enroll in the institution, notifies the stu10 dent, prior to enrollment, if the program in 

11 which the student intends to enroll does 

12 not satisfy the requirements of the State in 

13 which the student is a resident, if applica14 ble. 

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall be effec16 tive 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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