and marketing activities and executive 
compensation; 
‘‘(xii) in the case of proprietary insti-
tutions of higher education, have large 
profit margins and profit growth; 
‘‘(xiii) have been put on notice, warn-
ing, or probation by, or is subject to a 
show cause order from, a nationally recog-
nized accrediting agency or association 
that is recognized by the Secretary pursu-
ant to part H of title IV; 
‘‘(xiv) has been found to have compli-
ance problems under this title, or is at sig-
nificant risk of failing to comply with ap-
plicable Federal or State laws, by a rel-
evant Federal agency or a relevant State 
entity or agency, including the Comptroller 
General of the United States; 
‘‘(xv) has had a large amount of funds 
returned under section 484B; or 
‘‘(xvi) in the case of proprietary insti-
tutions of higher education, have experi-
enced a change in ownership or control of 
the institution, including a buyout. 
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‘‘(B) CRITERIA
FOR
RISK-BASED
RE-
VIEWS.—The Secretary shall publish, and up-
date as necessary, the specific criteria that the 
Secretary will use to determine which institu-
tions of higher education are selected for risk- 
based reviews under subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(4) PUBLIC
DISCLOSURE
OF
VIOLATIONS.— 
The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) post on the College Navigator 
website, or any successor website, of the De-
partment, the name of each institution of high-
er education that is found to have violated a 
provision of this title knowingly and willfully or 
with gross negligence; 
‘‘(B) indicate on such website, with respect 
to each such institution, which of the provisions 
of this title the institution violated; and 
‘‘(C) maintain such posting until the date 
the institution of higher education rectifies the 
violation or the date that is 1 year after the 
date the Secretary issues the final program re-
view report under subsection (c)(6)(C) with re-
spect to such institution, whichever date is 
later. 
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‘‘(5) INSTITUTIONAL
DISCLOSURE
OF
VIOLA-
TIONS.—Each institution of higher education that is 
found to have violated a provision of this title know-
ingly and willfully or with gross negligence shall— 
‘‘(A) not later than 15 days after the date 
of issuance of the final program review report 
containing the finding, post on the home page 
of the institution’s website that the institution 
has been found to have violated a provision of 
this title knowingly and willfully or with gross 
negligence, including the provision the institu-
tion was found to have violated; 
‘‘(B) maintain such posting until the date 
the institution rectifies the violation or the date 
that is 1 year after the date the Secretary 
issues the final program review report under 
subsection (c)(6)(C) with respect to such insti-
tution, whichever date is later; and 
‘‘(C) include the information described in 
subparagraph (A) on materials of acceptance or 
admission submitted to each student before the 
student enrolls in the institution until the date 
the institution rectifies the violation or the date 
that is 1 year after the date the Secretary 
issues the final program review report under 
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subsection (c)(6)(C) with respect to such insti-
tution, whichever date is later. 
‘‘(b) CHARACTERISTICS OF PROGRAM REVIEWS.— 
‘‘(1) NOTICE.—The Secretary may give not 
more than 72 hours notice to an institution of high-
er education that will undergo a program review 
pursuant to subsection (b) of such review. 
‘‘(2) SHARING
OF
INFORMATION.—The Sec-
retary shall share all final program review deter-
minations conducted under this section with relevant 
Federal agencies and relevant State entities or agen-
cies, and appropriate accrediting agencies and asso-
ciations, to enable such agencies, entities, and asso-
ciations to determine the eligibility of institutions for 
funds or accreditation. 
‘‘(3) INTERACTION
WITH
OTHER
FEDERAL 
AGENCIES AND LAWS.—To the extent practicable, 
the Secretary shall coordinate program reviews con-
ducted under this section with other reviews and au-
dits conducted by the Department, and with relevant 
Federal agencies and relevant State entities or agen-
cies. 
‘‘(4) VIOLATIONS DISCOVERED THROUGH PRO-
GRAM REVIEW.— 
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‘‘(A) VIOLATIONS OF THIS TITLE.—If, in 
the course of conducting a program review, the 
Secretary obtains evidence that any institution 
of higher education or person has engaged in 
conduct that may constitute a violation of this 
title, including a failure to fully comply with the 
program review process and reporting require-
ments under this section, the Secretary may 
sanction such institution or person, pursuant to 
section 489A. 
‘‘(B) VIOLATIONS
OF
OTHER
FEDERAL 
LAWS.—If, in the course of conducting a pro-
gram review, the Secretary obtains evidence 
that any institution of higher education or per-
son has engaged in conduct that may constitute 
a violation of Federal law, the Secretary shall 
transmit such evidence to the Attorney General 
of the United States, the Director of the Bu-
reau of Consumer Financial Protection, the 
Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commis-
sion, or the head of any other appropriate Fed-
eral agency who may institute proceedings 
under appropriate law. 
‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 
in this paragraph shall be constructed to affect 
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any other authority of the Secretary to disclose 
information. 
‘‘(5) CONDUCT OF REVIEWS.—When conducting 
program reviews under this section, the Secretary 
shall assess the institution of higher education’s 
compliance with the provisions of this title. Each 
program review shall include, at a minimum, the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) With regard to the institutional infor-
mation, the Secretary shall assess financial ca-
pability, administrative capability, and program 
integrity, including whether the institution— 
‘‘(i) knowingly and willfully misused 
Federal student aid from any source; 
‘‘(ii) violated section 487(a)(20); 
‘‘(iii) engaged in any substantial mis-
representation or other serious violation, as 
defined in section 489A; or 
‘‘(iv) violated the program integrity 
regulations promulgated by the Secretary 
under this Act. 
‘‘(B) With regard to student information, 
the Secretary shall examine— 
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‘‘(i) graduation rates compared with 
all other institutions participating in a pro-
gram authorized under this title; 
‘‘(ii) student complaints, including 
interviews with current and former stu-
dents, faculty and staff, and accrediting 
agencies; and 
‘‘(iii) information from the complaint 
data system established under section 161. 
‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS.— 
‘‘(A) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall pro-
vide training, including investigative training, to 
personnel of the Department designed to im-
prove the quality of financial and compliance 
audits and program reviews conducted under 
this section, including instruction about appro-
priately and effectively conducting such audits 
and reviews for institutions of higher education 
from different sectors of higher education. 
‘‘(B) 
CARRYING
OUT
PROGRAM
RE-
VIEWS.—In carrying out program reviews under 
this section, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) establish guidelines designed to 
ensure uniformity of practice in the con-
duct of such reviews; 
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‘‘(ii) make available to each institu-
tion of higher education participating in a 
program authorized under this title com-
plete copies of all review guidelines and 
procedures used in program reviews, except 
that internal training materials for Depart-
ment staff related to identifying instances 
of fraud, misrepresentation, or intentional 
noncompliance shall not be disclosed; 
‘‘(iii) permit an institution of higher 
education to correct or cure an administra-
tive, accounting, or recordkeeping error 
within 90 days of the issuance of the final 
program review report, if the error is not 
part of a pattern of error and there is no 
evidence of fraud or misconduct related to 
the error; 
‘‘(iv) without sharing personally iden-
tifiable information and in accordance with 
section 444 of the General Education Pro-
visions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g, commonly 
known as the ‘Family Educational Rights 
and Privacy Act of 1974’), inform the rel-
evant Federal agencies and relevant State 
entities or agencies, and accrediting agency 
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or association, whenever the Secretary 
finds a violation of this title or sanctions 
an institution of higher education under 
section 432, 489A, or 498; and 
‘‘(v) provide to an institution of high-
er education 90 calendar days to review 
and respond to any program review report 
and relevant materials related to the report 
before any final program review report is 
issued. 
‘‘(C) FINAL
PROGRAM
REVIEW
DETER-
MINATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 
180 calendar days after issuing a program 
review report under this section, the Sec-
retary shall review and consider an institu-
tion of higher education’s response, and 
issue a final program review determination 
or audit determination. The final deter-
mination shall include— 
‘‘(I) a written statement address-
ing the institution of higher edu-
cation’s response; 
‘‘(II) a written statement of the 
basis for such determination; and 
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‘‘(III) a copy of the institution’s 
response. 
‘‘(ii) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Sec-
retary shall maintain and preserve at all 
times the confidentiality of any program 
review report until a final program review 
determination is issued, other than to in-
form the relevant Federal agencies and rel-
evant State entities or agencies, and ac-
crediting agency or association, as required 
under this section. 
‘‘(D) REPORTS DISCLOSED TO THE INSTI-
TUTION.—The Secretary shall promptly disclose 
each program review report and each final pro-
gram review determination to the institution of 
higher education under review. 
‘‘(E) REMOVAL OF PERSONALLY IDENTIFI-
ABLE INFORMATION.—Any personally identifi-
able information from the education records of 
students shall be removed from any program re-
view report or final program review determina-
tion before the report is shared with any rel-
evant Federal agency, State entity or agency, or 
accrediting agency or association. 
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‘‘(7) FOLLOW-UP
REVIEWS
AFTER
VIOLA-
TIONS.—The Secretary shall conduct follow-up re-
views of each institution of higher education that 
has been found in violation of a provision of this 
title not later than 1 year after the date of such 
finding. Such follow-up reviews may only assess 
whether the institution of higher education has cor-
rected violations found in a previous program review 
or final program review determination. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION.—The term 
‘executive compensation’, when used with respect to 
an institution of higher education, means the wages, 
salary, fees, commissions, fringe benefits, deferred 
compensation, retirement contributions, options, bo-
nuses, property, and any other form of remuneration 
that the Secretary determines is appropriate, given 
to the 5 percent of employees at the institution who 
are the highest compensated. 
‘‘(2) RELEVANT FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term 
‘relevant Federal agency’ means— 
‘‘(A) the Department of Education; 
‘‘(B) the Department of Veterans Affairs; 
‘‘(C) the Department of Defense; 
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‘‘(D) the Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection; 
‘‘(E) the Federal Trade Commission; or 
‘‘(F) any other Federal agency that pro-
vides Federal student assistance or that the 
Secretary determines appropriate. 
‘‘(3) RELEVANT STATE ENTITY OR AGENCY.— 
The term ‘relevant State entity or agency’ means— 
‘‘(A) an appropriate State licensing or au-
thorizing agency; 
‘‘(B) the attorney general (or the equiva-
lent thereof) of the State; or 
‘‘(C) any other State entity or agency that 
the Secretary determines appropriate.’’. 
SEC. 16. 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 that provides Federal edu-
cation assistance funds, as described in section 103 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1003), to any postsecondary educational institution. 
(2) POSTSECONDARY
EDUCATIONAL
INSTITU-
TION.—The term ‘‘postsecondary educational institu-
tion’’ means an educational institution that awards 
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a degree or certificate and is located in any State 
and includes— 
(A) an institution of higher education, as 
defined in section 102 of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002); 
(B) a postsecondary educational institu-
tion, as defined in section 203 of the Adult 
Education and Family Literacy Act (29 U.S.C. 
3272); and 
(C) an educational institution, as defined 
under section 3452 of title 38, United States 
Code. 
(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. 
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(b) 
CONSUMER
PROTECTIONS.—Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, a postsecondary educational 
institution is not eligible to participate in a Federal finan-
cial assistance program with respect to any program of 
postsecondary education or training, including a degree or 
certificate program, 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— 
(1) the successful completion of the program 
fully qualifies a student, in the Metropolitan Statis-
tical Area in which the student resides, to— 
(A) take any examination required for 
entry into the recognized occupation or profes-
sion in the Metropolitan Statistical Area in 
which the student resides, including satisfying 
all State or professionally mandated pro-
grammatic and specialized accreditation re-
quirements, 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 the Metropolitan Statis-
tical Area in which the student resides; and 
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(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 in the Metropoli-
tan Statistical Area in which the student resides, 
such as clinical placements, internships, or appren-
ticeships. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 
on the date that is 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
Æ 
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