I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4653 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prevent conflicts of interest 

on accreditation boards. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 11, 2019 

Mrs. LEE of Nevada (for herself and Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois) 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 prevent 

conflicts of interest on accreditation boards. 

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 Under5 graduates with Board Limitations from Influence and 

6 Conflicts Act’’ or the ‘‘PUBLIC Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT DEFINED. 

8 Section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

9 U.S.C. 1099b) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(3)(A), by inserting before 

2 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, and any 

3 institution described in subsection (b)’’; and 

4 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting: 

5 ‘‘(b) SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT DEFINED.—For 

6 the purpose of subsection (a)(3), the term ‘separate and 

7 independent’ means that— 

8 ‘‘(1) the members of the postsecondary edu9 cation governing body and any other decision-mak10 ing body of the accrediting agency or association are 

11 not— 

12 ‘‘(A) elected or selected by the board or 

13 chief executive officer of any related, associated, 

14 or affiliated trade association or membership 

15 organization; or 

16 ‘‘(B) individuals (such as executives and 

17 owners of an institution) who exercise substan18 tial control over an institution— 

19 ‘‘(i) required to provide the Secretary 

20 with satisfactory evidence of its financial 

21 responsibility in accordance with para22 graph (3)(A) of section 498(c) because the 

23 institution fails to meet criteria under 

24 paragraphs (1) and (2) of such section; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) that the Secretary has placed on 

2 a reimbursement system of payment pursu3 ant to section 487(c)(1)(B); 

4 ‘‘(iii) against which the Secretary has 

5 initiated an emergency action in accord6 ance with section 487(c)(1)(G); 

7 ‘‘(iv) against which the Secretary has 

8 limited, suspended, or terminated the insti9 tution’s participation in any program 

10 under this title in accordance with section 

11 487(c)(1)(F); or 

12 ‘‘(v) that has been placed on proba13 tion, show cause, or had its accreditation 

14 withdrawn; 

15 ‘‘(2) among the membership of the board of the 

16 accrediting agency or association there shall be 1 

17 public member for each 3 members of the board, 

18 with a minimum of 1 such public member, and 

19 guidelines are established for such members to avoid 

20 conflicts of interest, including guidelines ensuring 

21 that such each such public member— 

22 ‘‘(A) is selected to serve on such board in 

23 the same manner that other board members are 

24 selected for such service; 


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1 ‘‘(B) has not served on such board as a 

2 nonpublic member in the preceding 10 years; 

3 ‘‘(C) is not (or has not been in the pre4 ceding 5-year period) a full-time employee of, or 

5 a member of the governing board, an owner, or 

6 shareholder of, or consultant to, an institution 

7 or program that— 

8 ‘‘(i) is accredited or preaccredited by 

9 the agency or association; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) has applied for accreditation or 

11 preaccreditation from such agency or asso12 ciation; 

13 ‘‘(D) is not a member of any trade associa14 tion or membership organization related to, af15 filiated with, or associated with the agency or 

16 association or an institution that is accredited 

17 by such agency or association; and 

18 ‘‘(E) is not a spouse, parent, child, or sib19 ling of an individual identified in subparagraph 

20 (C) or (D); 

21 ‘‘(3) dues to the accrediting agency or associa22 tion are paid separately from any dues paid to any 

23 related, associated, or affiliated trade association or 

24 membership organization; and 


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1 ‘‘(4) the budget of the accrediting agency or as2 sociation is developed and determined by the accred3 iting agency or association without review or resort 

4 to consultation with any other entity or organiza5 tion.’’. 

Æ 


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