I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 838

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide greater academic 

freedom for institutions of higher education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2003

Mr. PETRI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide 

greater academic freedom for institutions of higher education, 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; REFERENCES. 

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

5 ‘‘Higher Education Accrediting Agency Responsibility Act 

6 of 2003’’. 

7 (b) REFERENCES TO HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF

8 1965.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever 

9 in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

10 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
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1 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

2 section or other provision of the Higher Education Act of 

3 1965. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Accrediting agencies were originally in7 tended to provide voluntary, nongovernmental over8 sight of institutions of higher education. 

9 (2) However, Congress has allowed accreditors 

10 to become gatekeepers of more than 

11 $40,000,000,000 of Federal student aid funds due 

12 to such agencies role, enshrined in current Federal 

13 law, to help determine an institution’s eligibility to 

14 participate in Federal student aid programs. 

15 (3) More effective and less costly mechanisms 

16 are already in place to protect students and parents, 

17 as no institution can receive Federal funds until the 

18 Department of Education certifies its financial and 

19 administrative capacity. Additionally, the amount of 

20 useful information publicly available about the qual21 ity of academic institutions has grown dramatically 

22 in recent years and now far exceeds the minimal 

23 amount conveyed by the accreditation system. 

24 (4) It is virtually unknown for an institution to 

25 be denied accreditation because of low educational 
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1 values, despite growing public concern that Amer2 ican college graduates are lacking the skills nec3 essary for participation in civic life. 

4 (5) The time and effort required of institutions 

5 of higher education to comply with the accreditation 

6 process imposes costs which must ultimately be 

7 borne by students and parents. 

8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are as fol9 lows: 

10 (1) To refocus the purpose of accreditation on 

11 providing comparative information about the quality 

12 of institutions of higher education, rather than de13 termining student aid eligibility, which should prop14 erly be the responsibility of the Department of Edu15 cation. 

16 (2) To end the virtual monopoly that today’s 

17 accrediting agencies enjoy, and require them to oper18 ate in a competitive environment like any other in19 dustry. 

20 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS AND REPEALS. 

21 (a) QUALIFICATION OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER

22 EDUCATION.—Section 101 (20 U.S.C. 1001) is amend23 ed—

24 (1) in subsection (a)—
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1 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of para2 graph (3); 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of para4 graph (4) and inserting a period; and 

5 (C) by striking paragraph (5); and 

6 (2) by striking subsection (c). 

7 (b) QUALIFICATION OF PROPRIETARY INSTITUTIONS

8 OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—Section 102(b)(1) (20 U.S.C. 

9 1002(b)(1)) is amended—

10 (1) by striking subparagraph (D); and 

11 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and 

12 (F) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively. 

13 (c) NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON INSTITU14 TIONAL QUALITY AND INTEGRITY.—Section 114 (20 

15 U.S.C. 1011c) is repealed. 

16 (d) DISCLOSURES OF FOREIGN GIFTS.—Section 

17 117(h)(4) (20 U.S.C. 1011f(h)(4)) is amended—

18 (1) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara19 graph (A); and 

20 (2) by striking subparagraph (C). 

21 (e) TITLE III ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS.—Section 

22 312(b)(1) (20 U.S.C. 1058(b)(1)) is amended—

23 (1) by striking subparagraph (D); and 

24 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (E) and 

25 (F) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively. 
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1 (f) TITLE III DEFINITIONS.—Section 322(2) (20 

2 U.S.C. 1061(2)) is amended—

3 (1) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘1964,’’; and 

4 (2) by striking ‘‘and that is accredited’’ and all 

5 that follows through ‘‘toward accreditation,’’. 

6 (g) HBCU CAPITAL FINANCING.—Section 342(5) 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1066a(5)) is amended—

8 (1) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara9 graph (F); 

10 (2) by striking subparagraph (G); and 

11 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (H) as sub12 paragraph (G). 

13 (h) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 365 (20 

14 U.S.C. 1067k) is amended—

15 (1) by striking paragraph (1); and 

16 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

17 (9) as paragraphs (1) through (8), respectively. 

18 (i) DISTANCE EDUCATION DEMONSTRATION PRO19 GRAMS.—Section 486(c)(2) (20 U.S.C. 1093(c)(2)) is 

20 amended—

21 (1) by striking subparagraph (A); and 

22 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

23 through (F) as subparagraphs (A) through (E), re24 spectively. 
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1 (j) PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.—Sec2 tion 487 (20 U.S.C. 1094) is amended—

3 (1) in subsection (a)(3)—

4 (A) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of sub5 paragraph (A); 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of sub7 paragraph (B) and inserting a period; and 

8 (C) by striking subparagraph (C); 

9 (2) in subsection (a)(15), by striking ‘‘accred10 iting agencies,’’; 

11 (3) in subsection (a)(21), by striking ‘‘and ac12 crediting agencies or associations’’; and 

13 (4) in subsection (c)(5)—

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘eligible lend15 ers,’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘, and accrediting agencies 

17 or associations’’. 

18 (k) ACCREDITING AGENCY RECOGNITION.—Section 

19 496 (20 U.S.C. 1099b) is repealed. 

20 (l) ELIGIBILITY AND CERTIFICATION PROCE21 DURES.—Section 498 (20 U.S.C. 1099c) is amended—

22 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘accredita23 tion’’; and 

24 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘accredita25 tion,’’ each place it appears. 
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1 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act shall be effective 

3 on September 1, 2003.

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