I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4658 
To provide consumer protections for students. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 14, 2017 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI (for himself and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Work-
force, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Vet-
erans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction 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. CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR STUDENTS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) FEDERAL
FINANCIAL
ASSISTANCE
PRO-
GRAM.—The term ‘‘Federal financial assistance pro-
gram’’ means a program authorized and funded by 
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(E) with respect to a program authorized 
under paragraph (1)(E), means an educational 
institution that awards a degree or certificate 
and is located in any State; and 
(F) with respect to a program authorized 
under paragraph (1)(F), means an educational 
institution that awards a degree or certificate 
and is located in any State. 
(3) STATE.— 
(A) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes, 
in addition to the several States of the United 
States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, 
the United States Virgin Islands, the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
the freely associated States. 
(B) FREELY
ASSOCIATED
STATES.—The 
term ‘‘freely associated States’’ means the Re-
public of the Marshall Islands, the Federated 
States of Micronesia, and the Republic of 
Palau. 
(b) 
CONSUMER
PROTECTIONS.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, an institution of higher edu-
cation is not eligible to participate in a Federal financial 
assistance program with respect to any program of post-
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secondary education or training, including a degree or cer-
tificate program, that is designed to prepare students for 
entry into a recognized occupation or profession that re-
quires 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 and State in which the student resides 
(and in any State in which the institution indicates, 
through advertising or marketing activities or direct 
contact with potential students, that a student will 
be prepared to work 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 
State in which the student resides, 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 
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are required for entry into the recognized occu-
pation or profession in the 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. 3. 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 provide to the Sec-
retary not later than the first December 31 following 
the date of enactment of Protecting Students from 
Worthless Degrees Act, in accordance with proce-
dures established by the Secretary, a certification 
signed by the most senior executive officer of the in-
stitution that each of the eligible gainful employment 
programs included on the eligibility and certification 
approval report of the institution meets the require-
ments of subsection (k).’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(k) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR GE PRO-
GRAMS.—Each of the eligible gainful employment pro-
grams included on the eligibility and certification approval 
report of an institution of higher education shall comply 
with each of the following: 
‘‘(1) The gainful employment program is ap-
proved by a recognized accrediting agency or is oth-
erwise included in the institution’s accreditation by 
its recognized accrediting agency, or, if the institu-
tion is a public postsecondary vocational institution, 
the program is approved by a recognized State agen-
cy for the approval of public postsecondary voca-
tional education in lieu of accreditation. 
‘‘(2) The gainful employment program is pro-
grammatically accredited, if such accreditation is re-
quired by a Federal governmental entity or by a gov-
ernmental entity in the State in which the institu-
tion is located or in which the institution is other-
wise required to obtain State approval pursuant to 
section 600.9 of title 34, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, or a similar successor regulation. 
‘‘(3) The gainful employment program satisfies 
the applicable educational prerequisites for profes-
sional licensure or certification requirements in the 
State in which the institution is located or in which 
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the institution is otherwise required to obtain State 
approval pursuant to section 600.9 of title 34, Code 
of Federal Regulations, or a similar successor regu-
lation, so that a student who completes the program 
and seeks employment in such a State qualifies to 
take any licensure or certification exam that is need-
ed for the student to practice or find employment in 
an occupation that the program prepares students to 
enter. 
‘‘(4) The gainful employment program is not 
substantially similar to a program offered by the in-
stitution that, in any of the 3 years prior to the date 
of the determination, became ineligible for funding 
under this title due to the debt to earning rates 
measure or was failing, or in the zone with respect 
to, the debt to earning rates measure and was volun-
tarily discontinued by the institution. The institution 
shall include with its certification an explanation of 
how the gainful employment program is not substan-
tially similar to any such ineligible or discontinued 
program.’’. 
Æ 
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