I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4615 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require an institution of 

higher education to submit a teach-out plan under certain circumstances, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 4, 2019 

Ms. SHALALA (for herself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, 

Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MOULTON, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) 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 

an institution of higher education to submit a teachout plan under certain circumstances, 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 ‘‘Stop College Closures 

5 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCREDITING AGENCY REC2 OGNITION. 

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

4 U.S.C. 1099b) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (c)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting before 

7 the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘or de8 cline’’; 

9 (B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘(3) requires an institution to submit for ap12 proval to the accrediting agency or association a 

13 teach-out plan upon the occurrence of any of the fol14 lowing events— 

15 ‘‘(A) the Secretary notifies the agency or 

16 association that the Secretary has determined 

17 under section 498(c) that the institution does 

18 not have the financial responsibility required by 

19 this title; 

20 ‘‘(B) the Secretary notifies the agency of a 

21 determination by the institution’s independent 

22 auditor expressing doubt with the institution’s 

23 ability to operate as a going concern or indi24 cating an adverse opinion or finding of material 

25 weakness related to financial stability, except 


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1 that this subparagraph shall not apply with re2 spect to a public institution; 

3 ‘‘(C) the agency or association acts to 

4 place an institution on probation, show cause, 

5 or equivalent status; or 

6 ‘‘(D) the Secretary notifies the agency that 

7 the institution is participating in title IV under 

8 a provisional program participation agree9 ment;’’; 

10 (C) by amending paragraph (6) to read as 

11 follows: 

12 ‘‘(6) requires that teach-out agreements among 

13 institutions are subject to approval by the accred14 iting agency or association consistent with standards 

15 promulgated by such agency or association, and that 

16 such an agreement shall be required and subject to 

17 such approval upon the occurrence of any of the fol18 lowing events: 

19 ‘‘(A) the Secretary notifies the agency or 

20 association that— 

21 ‘‘(i) the Secretary has placed the in22 stitution on the reimbursement payment 

23 method pursuant to section 487(c)(1)(B); 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the institution fails to meet cri2 teria prescribed by the Secretary regarding 

3 ratios that demonstrate financial responsi4 bility as described in section 498(c)(2); 

5 ‘‘(B) the Secretary notifies the accrediting 

6 agency or association that the Secretary has 

7 initiated— 

8 ‘‘(i) an emergency action against the 

9 institution pursuant to section 

10 487(c)(1)(G); or 

11 ‘‘(ii) an action under section 

12 487(c)(1)(F) to limit, suspend, or termi13 nate the participation of the institution in 

14 any program under this title; 

15 ‘‘(C) the accrediting agency or association 

16 acts to withdraw, terminate, or suspend the ac17 creditation of the institution; 

18 ‘‘(D) the institution notifies the accrediting 

19 agency or association that the institution in20 tends to cease operations; 

21 ‘‘(E) the institution notifies the accrediting 

22 agency or association that the institution in23 tends to close a location that provides one hun24 dred percent of at least one program; or 


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1 ‘‘(F) pursuant to section 495, the State 

2 notifies the accrediting agency or association 

3 that an institution’s license or legal authoriza4 tion to operate within the State has been or will 

5 be revoked;’’; 

6 (D) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (E) in paragraph (9)(B), by striking the 

9 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (F) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(10) responds to complaints received with re12 spect to an institution during the period during 

13 which the accrediting agency or association accredits 

14 such institution not later than 30 days after receiv15 ing the complaint (including complaints shared with 

16 the agency or association by the Secretary or a State 

17 agency under section 495), monitors and assesses an 

18 institution’s record of student complaints during 

19 such period, and submits such complaints to the 

20 Secretary and to the State agency involved.’’. 

Æ 


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