I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2815 
To require the Secretary of Education to complete a data analysis study 
on the impacts of all income- or employment-based outcome measures 
of quality in higher education before issuing or implementing regulations 
utilizing such metrics, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 17, 2015 
Mr. SALMON (for himself, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. HUN-
TER, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. ROKITA, and Ms. SINEMA) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Education to complete a data 
analysis study on the impacts of all income- or employ-
ment-based outcome measures of quality in higher edu-
cation before issuing or implementing regulations uti-
lizing such metrics, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Assuring Quality Out-
comes in Higher Education Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. DATA ANALYSIS REQUIREMENT FOR USE OF 
INCOME- OR EMPLOYMENT-BASED METRICS 
FOR MEASURING QUALITY IN HIGHER EDU-
CATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—During the period specified in 
subsection (c), the Secretary of Education shall not issue 
or otherwise implement any final rule with respect to any 
proposed regulation or other performance framework that 
utilizes any income- or employment-based metric or data, 
including any such regulation or framework relating to 
college ratings, teacher preparation, or gainful employ-
ment, or implement or enforce any existing regulation or 
performance framework that utilizes any such metric, 
until 90 days after— 
(1) the Secretary of Education conducts and 
makes publicly available a complete data analysis re-
quired under subsection (b) with respect to such reg-
ulation or performance framework; and 
(2) the Comptroller General of the United 
States makes publicly available a report that reviews 
such data analysis for data accuracy and complete-
ness. 
(b) DATA ANALYSIS.—The data analysis required 
under this subsection with respect to a regulation or per-
formance framework shall— 
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(1) analyze the impact of the income- or em-
ployment-based outcome metrics utilized under the 
regulation or performance framework (including any 
substantial employment thresholds and measures of 
short-term earnings, long-term earnings, and debt- 
to-earnings) on all postsecondary education pro-
grams and students at all categories of institutions 
of higher education that participate in a program 
under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), including— 
(A) the impact on, and educational alter-
natives for, students who— 
(i) receive Federal Pell Grants under 
subpart 1 of part A of title IV of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1070a et seq.); 
(ii) are minority students; 
(iii) are older than age 24; 
(iv) are veterans; 
(v) are independent students; and 
(vi) are dependent students; 
(B) for each of the impacted student 
groups described in subparagraph (A), the ex-
tent to which students impacted by the income- 
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or employment-based outcome metric would 
abandon pursuit of any educational alternative; 
(C) the impact on, and educational alter-
natives for, students who will be displaced from 
their postsecondary education program as a re-
sult of the proposed use of the income- or em-
ployment-based outcome metric, including— 
(i) the ability of educational alter-
natives to add capacity to absorb addi-
tional displaced students; 
(ii) the required additional Federal 
and State subsidies required to provide 
such additional capacity; and 
(iii) the number of displaced students 
who would abandon pursuit of any edu-
cational alternative; and 
(D) the impact on economic sectors— 
(i) with known elements of public or 
government service, such as social work 
and Federal, State, and local public or gov-
ernment service; and 
(ii) with projected workforce skills 
gaps, such as manufacturing, healthcare, 
and education; 
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(2) analyze the degree of correlation between 
variables other than quality of education that could 
affect income and debt-to-income or employment 
outcomes, including— 
(A) regional and urban differences; 
(B) economic conditions at time of gradua-
tion; 
(C) patterns of discrimination (including 
those based on gender and race); 
(D) family income prior to enrollment; and 
(E) credential pursued or program of 
study; and 
(3) compare the various sources of income and 
debt data utilized under the regulation or perform-
ance framework, highlighting the differences between 
data sets, the availability of the data, the quality 
and completeness of the data, the student privacy 
issues with the use of data, and the data collection 
burden on the relevant institutions. 
(c) PERIOD OF PROHIBITION.—The period specified 
in this subsection is the period beginning on the date of 
the enactment of this Act and ending on the date of the 
enactment of a law that extends the authorization or dura-
tion of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 
et seq.) by not less than 2 fiscal years beyond the author-
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ization or duration of such Act in effect on such date of 
enactment. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) INDEPENDENT STUDENT.—The term ‘‘inde-
pendent student’’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 480(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1087vv(d)). 
(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), except 
that the term does not include institutions described 
in subparagraph (C) of section 102(a)(1) of such 
Act. 
(3) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 480(c) of the 
Higher 
Education 
Act 
of 
1965 
(20 
U.S.C. 
1087vv(c)). 
(4) EDUCATIONAL
ALTERNATIVE.—The term 
‘‘educational alternative’’ means a comparable or 
similar program of study offered at the same institu-
tion that a student attends or at another institution 
of higher education, which has the meaning of the 
term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), except that the term does 
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not include any institution described in subpara-
graph (C) of section 102(a)(1) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965. 
Æ 
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