Title: Stop College Closures Act of 2019
Policy area: Education

Summary:
Stop College Closures Act of 2019
This bill revises provisions related to the recognition of an accrediting agency or association as a reliable authority on the quality of education or training offered by an institution of higher education (IHE).
Specifically, an accreditor must (1) monitor the growth of programs at IHEs that are experiencing significant enrollment decline; (2) require, review, and approve the mandatory teach-out plan submitted by an IHE upon the occurrence of certain events indicating a potential school closure; and (3) respond to student complaints and monitor, assess, and submit such complaints to the Department of Education and the relevant state agencies.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4615 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR ACCREDITING AGENCY RECOGNITION.

    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 decline'';
                    (B) by amending paragraph (3) to read as follows:
            ``(3) requires an institution to submit for approval to the 
        accrediting agency or association a teach-out plan upon the 
        occurrence of any of the following 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 indicating an adverse 
                opinion or finding of material weakness related to 
                financial stability, except that this subparagraph 
                shall not apply with respect 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 agreement;'';
                    (C) by amending paragraph (6) to read as follows:
            ``(6) requires that teach-out agreements among institutions 
        are subject to approval by the accrediting 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 following events:
                    ``(A) the Secretary notifies the agency or 
                association that--
                            ``(i) the Secretary has placed the 
                        institution on the reimbursement payment method 
                        pursuant to section 487(c)(1)(B); and
                            ``(ii) the institution fails to meet 
                        criteria prescribed by the Secretary regarding 
                        ratios that demonstrate financial 
                        responsibility as described in section 
                        498(c)(2);
                    ``(B) the Secretary notifies the accrediting agency 
                or association that the Secretary has initiated--
                            ``(i) an emergency action against the 
                        institution pursuant to section 487(c)(1)(G); 
                        or
                            ``(ii) an action under section 487(c)(1)(F) 
                        to limit, suspend, or terminate the 
                        participation of the institution in any program 
                        under this title;
                    ``(C) the accrediting agency or association acts to 
                withdraw, terminate, or suspend the accreditation of 
                the institution;
                    ``(D) the institution notifies the accrediting 
                agency or association that the institution intends to 
                cease operations;
                    ``(E) the institution notifies the accrediting 
                agency or association that the institution intends to 
                close a location that provides one hundred percent of 
                at least one program; or
                    ``(F) pursuant to section 495, the State notifies 
                the accrediting agency or association that an 
                institution's license or legal authorization to operate 
                within the State has been or will be revoked;'';
                    (D) in paragraph (8), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (E) in paragraph (9)(B), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                    (F) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(10) responds to complaints received with respect to an 
        institution during the period during which the accrediting 
        agency or association accredits such institution not later than 
        30 days after receiving the complaint (including complaints 
        shared with the agency or association by the Secretary or a 
        State agency under section 495), monitors and assesses an 
        institution's record of student complaints during such period, 
        and submits such complaints to the Secretary and to the State 
        agency involved.''.
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