I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9440 
To provide consumer protections for students. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 6, 2022 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committees 
on Armed Services, and Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide consumer protections for students. 
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 ‘‘Protecting Students 
from Worthless Degrees Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) FEDERAL
FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE
PRO-
GRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal financial assistance pro-
gram’’ means a program authorized and funded by 
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the Federal Government under any of the following 
provisions of law: 
(A) Title IV of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.). 
(B) Title I of the Workforce Innovation 
and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3111 et seq.). 
(C) The Adult Education and Family Lit-
eracy Act (29 U.S.C. 3271 et seq.). 
(D) Chapter 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, or 35 of 
title 38, United States Code. 
(E) Chapter 101, 105, 106A, 1606, 1607, 
or 1608 of title 10, United States Code. 
(F) Section 1784a, 2005, or 2007 of title 
10, United States Code. 
(2) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term 
‘‘freely associated States’’ means the Republic of the 
Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micro-
nesia, and the Republic of Palau. 
(3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’— 
(A) with respect to a program authorized 
under paragraph (1)(A), has the meaning given 
the term in section 102 of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002); 
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Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, and the freely associated States. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTIONS IN OCCUPATIONS REQUIRING STATE 
LICENSURE. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an insti-
tution of higher education is not eligible to participate in 
a Federal financial assistance program with respect to any 
program of postsecondary education or training, including 
a degree or certificate program and any program offered 
by distance education or correspondence courses to stu-
dents located in a State other than where the institution 
is physically located, that is designed to prepare students 
for entry into a recognized occupation or profession that 
requires licensing or other established requirements as a 
pre-condition for entry into such occupation or profession, 
unless, by not later than 1 year after the date of enact-
ment of this Act— 
(1) the successful completion of the program 
fully qualifies a student, in the metropolitan statis-
tical area in which the student resides, in the State 
in which the student resides, and in any State in 
which the institution indicates, through advertising 
or marketing activities or direct contact with poten-
tial students, that a student will be prepared to work 
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in the occupation or profession after successfully 
completing the program, to— 
(A) take any examination required for 
entry into the recognized occupation or profes-
sion in the metropolitan statistical area and any 
State described in this paragraph, including 
satisfying all Federal, State, or professionally 
mandated programmatic and specialized accred-
itation requirements, if any; and 
(B) be certified or licensed or meet any 
other academically related pre-conditions that 
are required for entry into the recognized occu-
pation or profession in any such State; and 
(2) the institution offering the program pro-
vides timely placement for all of the academically re-
lated pre-licensure requirements for entry into the 
recognized occupation or profession, such as clinical 
placements, internships, or apprenticeships. 
SEC. 4. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINFUL EM-
PLOYMENT PROGRAMS. 
Section 487 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1094) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(30) The institution will— 
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‘‘(A) provide to the Secretary not later 
than the first December 31 following the date 
of enactment of the Protecting Students from 
Worthless Degrees Act (or, for any institution 
that does not have an active program participa-
tion agreement as of such date, the first De-
cember 31 after the institution enters into the 
agreement), in accordance with procedures es-
tablished by the Secretary, a certification 
signed by the most senior executive officer of 
the institution that the institution and each of 
the eligible gainful employment programs in-
cluded on the eligibility and certification ap-
proval report of the institution meet the re-
quirements of subsection (k); 
‘‘(B) include with its certification an expla-
nation of how each eligible gainful employment 
program is not substantially similar to any in-
eligible or discontinued program described in 
subsection (k)(2)(D); and 
‘‘(C) update the certification within 10 
days if there are any changes in the approvals 
for an eligible gainful employment program, or 
other changes for an eligible gainful employ-
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ment program that make the existing certifi-
cation no longer accurate.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(k) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GAINFUL 
EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITION
OF
GAINFUL
EMPLOYMENT 
PROGRAM.—The term ‘gainful employment program’ 
means a program of training that— 
‘‘(A) in order to qualify for assistance 
under this title, is required under subsection 
(b)(1)(A)(i) or (c)(1)(A) of section 102, or sec-
tion 101(b)(1), to satisfy gainful employment 
requirements; and 
‘‘(B) is offered by an institution eligible to 
receive assistance under this title. 
‘‘(2) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible gainful em-
ployment program included on the eligibility and cer-
tification approval report of an institution of higher 
education shall comply with each of the following: 
‘‘(A) The gainful employment program is 
approved by a recognized accrediting agency or 
is otherwise included in the institution’s accred-
itation by its recognized accrediting agency, or, 
if the institution is a public postsecondary voca-
tional institution, the program is approved by a 
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recognized State agency for the approval of 
public postsecondary vocational education in 
lieu of accreditation. 
‘‘(B) The gainful employment program is 
programmatically accredited, if such accredita-
tion is required by— 
‘‘(i) a Federal governmental entity; 
‘‘(ii) a governmental entity in the 
State in which the institution is located; or 
‘‘(iii) a governmental entity in a State 
in which the institution is not physically lo-
cated, if the institution— 
‘‘(I) offers postsecondary edu-
cation through distance education or 
correspondence courses to students lo-
cated in that State; or 
‘‘(II) is otherwise subject to that 
State’s jurisdiction, as determined by 
that State. 
‘‘(C) The gainful employment program sat-
isfies the applicable educational prerequisites 
for professional licensure or certification re-
quirements in the State in which the institution 
is located or a State described in subparagraph 
(B)(iii), so that a student who completes the 
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program and seeks employment in any such 
State qualifies to take any licensure or certifi-
cation examination that is needed for the stu-
dent to practice or find employment in an occu-
pation that the program prepares students to 
enter. 
‘‘(D) The gainful employment program is 
not substantially similar to a program offered 
by the institution that, in any of the 3 years 
prior to the date of the eligibility and certifi-
cation approval report— 
‘‘(i) became ineligible for funding 
under this title due to a debt to earning 
rates measure, or any subsequent outcome 
measure, that the Secretary determines 
serves the best interests of students and 
taxpayers; and 
‘‘(ii) was voluntarily discontinued by 
the institution. 
‘‘(3) 
REQUIREMENTS
ENSURING
STUDENT 
AWARENESS.—Before an institution offering a gain-
ful employment program enrolls any student who in-
tends to reside, practice, or seek employment in a 
State for which the program does not satisfy the ap-
plicable educational prerequisites for professional li-
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SEC. 5. STATE AUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DIS-
TANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 
Section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 101(a)) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(2), by inserting ‘‘, in ac-
cordance with subsection (d)’’ before the semicolon; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) STATE AUTHORIZATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An institution that offers 
postsecondary education through distance education 
or correspondence courses shall meet the require-
ments of subsection (a)(2) by being legally author-
ized within each State in which the institution’s en-
rolled students are located, subject to paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) 
STATE
AUTHORIZATION
RECIPROCITY 
AGREEMENTS.—An institution described in para-
graph (1) that is located in a State that participates 
in a State authorization reciprocity agreement with 
another State and that is covered by such State au-
thorization reciprocity agreement, is considered to 
meet State requirements for the institution to be le-
gally offering postsecondary distance education or 
correspondence courses in the other State— 
‘‘(A) subject to any additional require-
ments of that State; and 
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‘‘(B) if the institution documents, in the 
manner required by the Secretary, that each 
State in which the institution’s enrolled stu-
dents are located has a State process— 
‘‘(i) to review and take appropriate 
action on complaints from any of such en-
rolled students concerning the institution, 
including enforcing applicable State law; 
and 
‘‘(ii) to make the complaints public. 
‘‘(3) 
STATE
AUTHORIZATION
RECIPROCITY 
AGREEMENT DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term 
‘State authorization reciprocity agreement’ means an 
agreement between 2 or more States that— 
‘‘(A) authorizes an institution located and 
legally authorized in a State covered by the 
agreement to provide postsecondary education 
through distance education or correspondence 
courses to students located in other States cov-
ered by the agreement; and 
‘‘(B) does not prohibit any State in the 
agreement from enforcing the State’s own stat-
utes and regulations, regardless as to whether 
such statutes and regulations are general and 
apply to all educational institutions or specifi-
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cally directed at a subset of educational institu-
tions.’’. 
Æ 
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