II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 559 

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from engaging in regulatory overreach 

with regard to institutional eligibility under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2015 

Mr. BURR (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. COTTON, Mr. HATCH, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. ROBERTS, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. 

FLAKE, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. 

RUBIO, Mr. ENZI, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To prohibit the Secretary of Education from engaging in 

regulatory overreach with regard to institutional eligibility under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

1965, 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 ‘‘Supporting Academic 

5 Freedom through Regulatory Relief Act’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 559 IS

1 SEC. 2. REGULATORY RELIEF. 

2 (a) REGULATIONS REPEALED.— 

3 (1) REPEAL.—The following regulations (in4 cluding any supplement or revision to such regula5 tions) are repealed and shall have no legal effect: 

6 (A) STATE AUTHORIZATION.—Sections 

7 600.4(a)(3), 600.5(a)(4), 600.6(a)(3), 600.9, 

8 and 668.43(b) of title 34, Code of Federal Reg9 ulations (relating to State authorization), as 

10 added or amended by— 

11 (i) the final regulations published by 

12 the Department of Education in the Fed13 eral Register on October 29, 2010 (75 

14 Fed. Reg. 66832 et seq.); or 

15 (ii) the negotiated rulemaking com16 mittee established after the notice of inten17 tion to establish such committee published 

18 in the Federal Register on November 20, 

19 2013 (78 Fed. Reg. 69612 et seq). 

20 (B) DEFINITION OF CREDIT HOUR.—The 

21 definition of the term ‘‘credit hour’’ in section 

22 600.2 of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, 

23 as added by the final regulations published by 

24 the Department of Education in the Federal 

25 Register on October 29, 2010 (75 Fed. Reg. 

26 66946), and clauses (i)(A), (ii), and (iii) of subVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Mar 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 559 IS

1 section (k)(2) of section 668.8 of such title, as 

2 amended by such final regulations (75 Fed. 

3 Reg. 66949 et seq.). 

4 (C) GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT.—Sections 

5 600.10(c), 600.20(d), 668.6, and 668.7, of title 

6 34, Code of Federal Regulations as added or 

7 amended by the final regulations published by 

8 the Department of Education in the Federal 

9 Register on October 31, 2014 (79 Fed. Reg. 

10 64889 et seq.). 

11 (2) EFFECT OF REPEAL.—To the extent that 

12 regulations repealed by paragraph (1) amended reg13 ulations that were in effect on June 30, 2011, the 

14 provisions of the regulations that were in effect on 

15 June 30, 2011, and were so amended are restored 

16 and revived as if the regulations repealed by para17 graph (1) had not taken effect. 

18 (b) CERTAIN REGULATIONS AND OTHER ACTIONS

19 PROHIBITED.— 

20 (1) STATE AUTHORIZATION, GAINFUL EMPLOY21 MENT, AND TEACHER PREPARATION.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Edu23 cation shall not, during the period described in 

24 subparagraph (B), promulgate or enforce any 

25 regulation or rule not in effect on the date of 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 559 IS

1 enactment of this Act for any purpose under 

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

3 1001 et seq.) with respect to— 

4 (i) the State authorization for institu5 tions of higher education to operate within 

6 a State; 

7 (ii) the definition or application of the 

8 term ‘‘gainful employment’’; or 

9 (iii) a teacher preparation program 

10 accountability system. 

11 (B) PERIOD OF PROHIBITION.—The period 

12 during which the Secretary is prohibited from 

13 promulgating or enforcing a regulation de14 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall be the period 

15 beginning on the date of enactment of this Act 

16 and ending on the date of enactment of a law 

17 that extends by not less than 2 fiscal years the 

18 authorization or duration of 1 or more pro19 grams under the Higher Education Act of 1965 

20 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

21 (2) CREDIT HOUR.—The Secretary of Edu22 cation shall not, on or after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act, promulgate or enforce any regulation or 

24 rule with respect to the definition of the term ‘‘credVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:30 Mar 05, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S559.IS S559

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 559 IS

1 it hour’’ for any purpose under the Higher Edu2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

3 (3) POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTION RATINGS

4 SYSTEM.—The Secretary of Education shall not 

5 carry out, develop, refine, promulgate, publish, im6 plement, administer, or enforce a postsecondary in7 stitution ratings system or any other performance 

8 system to rate institutions of higher education (as 

9 defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act 

10 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)). 

11 SEC. 3. THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS. 

12 Section 487(a)(20) of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(20)) is amended by adding at 

14 the end the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding the preceding 

15 sentence, an institution described in section 101 may pro16 vide payment, based on the amount of tuition generated 

17 by the institution from student enrollment, to a third18 party entity that provides a set of services to the institu19 tion that includes student recruitment services, regardless 

20 of whether the third-party entity is affiliated with an insti21 tution that provides educational services other than the 

22 institution providing such payment, if— 

23 ‘‘(A) the third-party entity is not affiliated 

24 with the institution providing such payment; 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 559 IS

1 ‘‘(B) the third-party entity does not make 

2 compensation payments to its employees that 

3 are prohibited under this paragraph; 

4 ‘‘(C) the set of services provided to the in5 stitution by the third-party entity include serv6 ices in addition to student recruitment services, 

7 and the institution does not pay the third-party 

8 entity solely or separately for student recruit9 ment services provided by the third-party enti10 ty; and 

11 ‘‘(D) any student recruitment information 

12 available to the third-party entity, including 

13 personally identifiable information, will not be 

14 used by, shared with, or sold to any other per15 son or entity, including any institution that is 

16 affiliated with the third-party entity.’’. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS