approved such public or nonprofit status of the insti-
tution; 
‘‘(C) the State has given final approval to the 
institution as a public or nonprofit institution of 
higher education, as applicable; and 
‘‘(D) in the case of an institution seeking non-
profit status, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue 
has approved the institution as tax exempt pursuant 
to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
‘‘(10) Not later than 270 days after the date of enact-
ment of the Change of Ownership and Conversion Im-
provement Act, and periodically thereafter, the Secretary 
shall publish (and update as necessary) in the Federal 
Register— 
‘‘(A) descriptions of the documents and mate-
rials the Secretary expects or requires institutions of 
higher education to submit (including any standard-
ized forms) as part of any pretransaction application 
or change in ownership application under this sec-
tion, including a description of what the Secretary 
considers to be a materially complete application; 
and 
‘‘(B) after at least a 30-day notice and com-
ment period, responses to any public comments re-
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ceived with respect to such descriptions or updates 
to such descriptions. 
‘‘(11) In a case in which the Secretary requests a doc-
ument under this section as part of a pretransaction or 
change in ownership application that is not described in 
the Federal Register under paragraph (10), the Secretary 
shall— 
‘‘(A) substantiate, in writing to the institution, 
the reasons why the Secretary is requesting such 
documents; and 
‘‘(B) publish such reasons in the Federal Reg-
ister, including whether the Secretary may request 
other institutions that submit applications under this 
section to produce similar documentation. 
‘‘(12)(A) Not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of the Change of Ownership and Conversion 
Improvement Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary 
shall submit a report to authorizing committees, and post 
such report on a publicly available website regarding im-
plementation of the amendments made to this section by 
such Act, including the following information: 
‘‘(i) The mean and median length of time taken 
by the Secretary to review applications under this 
section during the preceding 12-month period. 
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‘‘(ii) The number of applications approved or 
denied during the preceding 12-month period. 
‘‘(iii) For any application not processed during 
the 90-day period beginning on the date of receipt 
of the application for which the Secretary found 
good cause under paragraph (6)(A) to extend the 
deadline in which the application shall be processed, 
a copy of the letter sent to the institution explaining 
why the Secretary believed good cause existed for 
such extension. 
‘‘(iv) For any application not processed during 
such 90-day period, which was deemed to be auto-
matically approved by the requirements of this sec-
tion under paragraph (6)(B), the name of each insti-
tution involved and an explanation for why the appli-
cation was not processed in a timely manner. 
‘‘(v) Any legislative suggestions the Secretary 
may have to improve the application or monitoring 
process under this section. 
‘‘(B) If the Secretary fails to submit a report under 
this paragraph by not later than 90 days after the dead-
line for such submission under subparagraph (A), the Sec-
retary may not, for the 12-month period following such 
failure, spend the fees remitted by institutions under this 
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section or remit such fees to the Commissioner unless 
Congress provides for such use by further appropriation. 
‘‘(13) For the purposes of this subsection, the term 
‘conversion’ means any transaction under which— 
‘‘(A) a proprietary institution is reorganized 
and seeks recognition as a public or other nonprofit 
institution; or 
‘‘(B) the control of a proprietary institution is 
transferred as a result of a sale, donation, or other 
method to an entity that seeks certification under 
this section as a public or other nonprofit institu-
tion.’’. 
(b) APPLICATION.—The amendments made by this 
section shall be apply with respect to applications sub-
mitted for change of control or conversion submitted on 
or after January 1, 2026. 
SEC. 4. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE. 
Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the 
Committee on Education and Workforce of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, 
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, a report on the imple-
mentation of the amendments made by this Act, including 
recommendations to improve— 
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(1) the application process under section 498(i) 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1099c(i)), as amended by section 3, for institutions 
of higher education seeking a change in ownership 
resulting in a change in control; or 
(2) the monitoring process under such section 
for institutions of higher education that have re-
cently converted from being recognized as a propri-
etary institution to a public or other nonprofit insti-
tution. 
Æ 
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