An Act To Ensure the Integrity of For-profit Colleges
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0103
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: VITELLI, HEPLER, GRATWICK, LIBBY, MOORE, EVANGELOS, PLUECKER
Amends: 20-A MRSA §10706-A, 20-A MRSA §10712

Legislative Document
No. 103
S.P. 30
In Senate, January 15, 2019
An Act To Ensure the Integrity of For-profit Colleges
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator VITELLI of Sagadahoc.
Cosponsored by Representative HEPLER of Woolwich and
Senators: GRATWICK of Penobscot, LIBBY of Androscoggin, MOORE of Washington, 
Representatives: EVANGELOS of Friendship, PLUECKER of Warren.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §10706-A is enacted to read:
§10706-A.  For-profit college review
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A.  "Adequate educational standards" means educational offerings and spending 
priorities that the state board finds meet the metrics established under subsection 3.
B.  "Employed" means a person has obtained permanent employment and:
(1)  The position is paid.  If the position is an entry-level position, the salary must 
be at least 80% of the entry-level salary for the position;
(2)  The position requires at least 32 hours of work per week;
(3)  The person has worked in the position for at least 30 days; and
(4)  The position is not affiliated with a for-profit college from which the person 
graduated, its parent company or a subsidiary or affiliate of its parent company.
C.  "Employment in the field of study" means employment in a job:
(1) That is included on a list of job titles for which a graduate of a program of 
study is qualified, as published by the for-profit college, and in the most recent 
national relational database as a job related to that program of study.  If the job 
title is not in the national relational database, the job may be considered as 
employment in the field of study if the employer's description of the job matches 
the job description, tasks and work activities for a job that is included in the most 
recent national relational database as related to the program of study; or
(2)  That requires the graduate to use the core skills listed in the school's 
published program of study taken by the graduate and the employer's written job 
description provides that the job requires education beyond a high school 
diploma, that applicants with a postsecondary credential are preferred or that the 
position is a supervisory or managerial position.
D.  "For-profit college" means a postsecondary institution that has degree-granting 
authority and that is operated by a private, for-profit business.
E.  "National relational database" means the relational database developed by the 
United States Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National 
Center for Education Statistics and the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of 
Labor Statistics relating the United States Department of Education classification of 
instructional program code identified for a particular program of study to a standard 
occupational classification.
2.  Reporting.  A for-profit college shall report annually by July 1st to the state board 
the following information in accordance with rules established by the state board that 
ensure the information is provided in a manner that allows evaluation in accordance with 
the metrics established under subsection 3:
A.  The amount of funds, disaggregated by campus, spent on each of the following as 
compared with total spending by the for-profit college:
(1)  Educational instruction;
(2)  Advertising; and
(3)  Executive salaries;
B.  The percentage of those who graduated in the previous calendar year, 
disaggregated by campus and program, who have employment in the field of study;
C.  The percentage of those who graduated in the previous calendar year, 
disaggregated by campus and program, who are employed; and
D.  As reported to the United States Department of Education, the percentage of 
graduates who graduated in the previous 3 calendar years who received federal 
student loans and:
(1)  The percentage of those who received such loans who have defaulted; and
(2)  The percentage of those who received such loans whose loan balances 
declined in the 3 years after repayment first became due, excluding those 
graduates for whom repayment was deferred as a result of military service.
3.  Evaluation.  The state board shall by rule establish metrics to determine adequate 
educational standards that must be met by for-profit colleges.  The metrics must include 
at least the following annual evaluation criteria.
A.  The state board shall evaluate spending priorities by using information supplied 
pursuant to subsection 2, paragraph A.  If the state board finds a for-profit college 
annually spends less than 50% of its total spending on instruction or more than 15% 
of its total spending on advertising, the state board must find that the for-profit 
college fails to meet adequate educational standards.
B.  The state board shall determine whether a for-profit college has received 
necessary accreditations to allow graduates to meet professional licensing or other 
career standards related to the educational programs for which degrees or certificates 
are granted by the for-profit college.  If the state board finds a for-profit college has 
not received these necessary accreditations, the state board must find that the 
for-profit college fails to meet adequate educational standards.
4.  Rules.  The state board shall adopt rules necessary to implement this section.  
Rules adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
5.  Termination of degree-granting authority.  Pursuant to section 10712, the state 
board, after completing the evaluation under subsection 3, shall terminate the 
degree-granting authority of a for-profit college that the board finds does not meet 
adequate educational standards.
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §10712, as amended by PL 2009, c. 274, §13, is further 
amended to read:
§10712.  Termination of degree-granting authority
The authority of an educational institution to confer degrees terminates upon 
determination by the state board that any of the following has occurred:
1.  Discontinuance of instruction.  The substantial discontinuance of instruction by 
the educational institution;
2.  Sale of stock.  The sale, exchange or other transfer of all or a substantial part of 
the voting stock of an educational institution;
3.  Sale or lease of assets.  The sale, exchange, lease or other transfer of all or a 
substantial part of the assets of an educational institution; or
4.  Merger; consolidation; reorganization.  The merger or consolidation of the 
educational institution with an external entity, or the reorganization of the educational 
institution, including, but not limited to, reorganization in bankruptcy.  This subsection 
does not apply and authority to confer degrees is not terminated if degree programs are 
consolidated  or reorganized within an educational institution and are at the same level as 
those authorized by the Legislature or the state board prior to the consolidation or 
reorganization.; or
5.  Failure of certain institutions to meet adequate educational standards.  If the 
educational institution is a for-profit college as defined in section 10706-A, the failure of 
the institution to meet adequate educational standards under section 10706-A.
Upon termination of its degree-granting authority pursuant to this section upon a 
determination pursuant to subsection 1, 2, 3 or 4, an educational institution may apply to 
the state board pursuant to section 10703 for a certificate of temporary approval to use the 
term "community college," "college" or "university" in its name.
SUMMARY
This bill requires annual review of for-profit colleges by the State Board of Education 
to ensure that they are meeting adequate educational standards.  If the board finds that a 
for-profit college is not meeting the standards, the board may terminate the 
degree-granting authority of the for-profit college.