I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4615 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require an institution of 
higher education to submit a teach-out plan under certain circumstances, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 4, 2019 
Ms. SHALALA (for herself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, 
Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MOULTON, and Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ) 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 require 
an institution of higher education to submit a teach- 
out plan under certain circumstances, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Stop College Closures 
Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCREDITING AGENCY REC-
OGNITION. 
Section 496 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1099b) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (2), by inserting before 
the semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘or de-
cline’’; 
(B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(3) requires an institution to submit for ap-
proval to the accrediting agency or association a 
teach-out plan upon the occurrence of any of the fol-
lowing events— 
‘‘(A) the Secretary notifies the agency or 
association that the Secretary has determined 
under section 498(c) that the institution does 
not have the financial responsibility required by 
this title; 
‘‘(B) the Secretary notifies the agency of a 
determination by the institution’s independent 
auditor expressing doubt with the institution’s 
ability to operate as a going concern or indi-
cating an adverse opinion or finding of material 
weakness related to financial stability, except 
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that this subparagraph shall not apply with re-
spect to a public institution; 
‘‘(C) the agency or association acts to 
place an institution on probation, show cause, 
or equivalent status; or 
‘‘(D) the Secretary notifies the agency that 
the institution is participating in title IV under 
a provisional program participation agree-
ment;’’; 
(C) by amending paragraph (6) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(6) requires that teach-out agreements among 
institutions are subject to approval by the accred-
iting agency or association consistent with standards 
promulgated by such agency or association, and that 
such an agreement shall be required and subject to 
such approval upon the occurrence of any of the fol-
lowing events: 
‘‘(A) the Secretary notifies the agency or 
association that— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary has placed the in-
stitution on the reimbursement payment 
method pursuant to section 487(c)(1)(B); 
and 
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