I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4206 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include requirements for 
programs of training to prepare students for gainful employment in 
a recognized occupation. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 23, 2019 
Mr. TAKANO (for himself and Ms. SHALALA) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include 
requirements for programs of training to prepare stu-
dents for gainful employment in a recognized occupation. 
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 ‘‘Student and Taxpayer 
Protection Act’’. 
SEC. 2. GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS. 
Part A of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 104. PROGRAM OF TRAINING TO PREPARE STUDENTS 
FOR GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT IN A RECOG-
NIZED OCCUPATION. 
‘‘(a) GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM DEFINED.— 
In this Act (including for purposes of sections 101 and 
102), the term ‘program of training to prepare students 
for gainful employment in a recognized occupation’ (in 
this section referred to as ‘training program’) means a 
training program that— 
‘‘(1) is in compliance with the performance 
metrics (including the eligibility thresholds for each 
such metric) established under subsection (b)(1); 
‘‘(2) is in compliance with the notice require-
ments under subsection (b)(1)(C)(i)(II); 
‘‘(3) is otherwise eligible to receive funds under 
title IV; and 
‘‘(4) is not a training program that is substan-
tially similar to a training program which, during a 
period determined by the Secretary, did not meet 
one or more of the performance metrics (such as an 
eligibility threshold) described in paragraph (1). 
‘‘(b) SECRETARIAL REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 18 
months after the date of enactment of the Stu-
dent and Taxpayer Protection Act, the Sec-
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retary shall establish requirements for training 
programs to be eligible training programs for 
purposes of receiving funds under title IV, 
which shall include— 
‘‘(i) establishing performance metrics 
(including eligibility thresholds for each 
such metric) described in subparagraph 
(B); and 
‘‘(ii) developing a disclosure template 
and a verification process for disclosures 
described in subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(B) PERFORMANCE METRICS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In establishing the 
performance metrics under subparagraph 
(A)(i), the Secretary shall, at a minimum, 
establish the requirements for a debt-to- 
earnings rate that serves the best interests 
of students and taxpayers, which shall in-
clude— 
‘‘(I) a methodology for calcu-
lating such debt-to-earnings rate for a 
training program, including— 
‘‘(aa) a definition of the co-
hort of individuals on whom such 
rate shall be based, who shall be 
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selected from the individuals who 
were enrolled in such training 
program 
(without 
regard 
to 
whether the individuals received 
a loan for such enrollment); 
‘‘(bb) a determination of the 
debt amount for such rate based 
on the median annual loan pay-
ment for the loans made under 
title IV and the private education 
loans received for such enroll-
ment by such cohort; and 
‘‘(cc) a determination of the 
earnings amount for such rate 
based on the mean or median of 
the actual, student-level annual 
earnings for such cohort; 
‘‘(II) establishing a process (such 
as an appeals process) to authorize 
training programs to use alternate 
earnings in lieu of the mean or me-
dian of the actual, student-level an-
nual earnings of a cohort; and 
‘‘(III) establishing a threshold 
rate that each training program shall 
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meet to be eligible to receive funds 
under title IV. 
‘‘(ii) 
EARNINGS
DATA.—In 
deter-
mining the mean or median of the actual, 
student-level annual earnings for purposes 
of this subparagraph, the Secretary shall 
obtain and use the most currently available 
Federal data on such earnings. 
‘‘(C) DISCLOSURE TEMPLATE.—The Sec-
retary shall develop— 
‘‘(i) a disclosure template that— 
‘‘(I) is consumer tested; and 
‘‘(II) is used by each training 
program to provide enrolled and pro-
spective students (including through 
publication on the website of the pro-
gram)— 
‘‘(aa) on an annual basis, 
student outcome information for 
such 
program 
(including 
the 
debt-to-earnings rate and wheth-
er the eligibility threshold for any 
other performance metric estab-
lished under subparagraph (A)(i) 
has been met); and 
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‘‘(bb) in a case in which the 
training program receives a no-
tice of determination under para-
graph (2)(B) that the program 
may be ineligible for funds under 
title IV, or may receive other 
sanctions, not later than 30 days 
after receipt of such notice, an 
explanation of such notice of de-
termination; and 
‘‘(ii) a process to annually verify that 
each training program is providing the dis-
closures required under clause (i)(II). 
‘‘(2) ENFORCEMENT OF REQUIREMENTS.—Not 
later than 2 years after the Secretary establishes re-
quirements under paragraph (1), and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary shall, with respect to each 
training program— 
‘‘(A) calculate the debt-to-earnings rate 
and assess performance with respect to any 
other metric established under paragraph 
(1)(A)(i) for the preceding award year, and 
make such information publicly available on the 
website of the Department of Education; 
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‘‘(B) issue a notice of determination on 
whether the program is meeting the require-
ments established by the Secretary, including 
whether the program shall be subject to sanc-
tions (such as loss of eligibility under title IV); 
and 
‘‘(C) enforce the applicable sanctions.’’. 
Æ 
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