Court Legal Access and Student Support (CLASS) Act of 2017

Bill: 115-s-553
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL]
Introduced: 2017-03-07
Policy area: Education
Subjects: Alternative dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration

Civil actions and liability

Higher education

Student aid and college costs
Latest action: action_date: 2017-03-07
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Summaries:
action_date: 2017-03-07
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><b>Court Legal Access and Student Support (CLASS) Act of 2017</b></p> <p>This bill makes procedures for the enforcement of arbitration agreements inapplicable to an enrollment agreement between a student and an institution of higher education (IHE). <p>The bill also amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to forbid an IHE that participates in federal student aid programs, including work-study programs, from requiring a student to agree to any restriction on the student's ability to pursue a claim, individually or with others, against it in court.

tv_txt: II 115th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 553 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 7, 2017 Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Franken , Mr. Whitehouse , Ms. Warren , Mr. Reed , Mr. Brown , Mr. Blumenthal , and Ms. Hirono ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide that chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code, relating to the enforcement of arbitration agreements, shall not apply to enrollment agreements made between students and certain institutions of higher education, and to prohibit limitations on the ability of students to pursue claims against certain institutions of higher education.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Court Legal Access and Student Support (CLASS) Act of 2017 . 2. Inapplicability of chapter 1 of title 9, United States Code, to enrollment agreements made between students and certain institutions of higher education (a) In General Chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code (relating to the enforcement of arbitration agreements) shall not apply to an enrollment agreement made between a student and an institution of higher education. (b) Definition In this section, the term institution of higher education has the meaning given such term in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1002 ). 3. Prohibition on limitations on ability of students to pursue claims against certain institutions of higher education Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1094(a) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (30) The institution will not require any student to agree to, and will not enforce, any limitation or restriction (including a limitation or restriction on any available choice of applicable law, a jury trial, or venue) on the ability of a student to pursue a claim, individually or with others, against an institution in court. . 4. Effective date This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.