Highlights
- Legislation establishes a federal oversight committee to monitor for-profit institutions;
- It is unlikely that the legislation will garner enough support to pass the House and become law; and
- AACS will monitor this legislation and work to ensure that our friends and allies in Congress understand the valuable role that our institutions serve.
Last week, Senate Democrats reintroduced legislation targeting for-profit institutions and seeking to impose increased oversight and additional regulatory burdens on the entire sector. At the outset, it should be noted that this partisan legislation will not likely pass the House of Representatives. Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tina Smith (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced “the Proprietary Education Oversight Task Force Act,” which would establish a federal oversight committee to monitor for-profit institutions. The Committee would consist of officials from the Department of Education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Labor, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Among other provisions, the legislation would:
- Task the committee with improving enforcement of federal laws and regulations and increasing accountability of for-profit colleges to students and taxpayers. The committee would be required to hold regular meetings as a group and with State Attorneys General and other stakeholders to coordinate federal and state activities related to for-profit school oversight;
- Create an easily accessible complaint collection and tracking system for students, parents, and stakeholders to report misconduct in the for-profit college industry;
- Require the committee to publish a report on the for-profit college industry, including information on federal oversight actions, student complaints, data on student outcomes, and financial information related to executive compensation, marketing, and other metrics; and
- Require the committee to publish a For-Profit College Warning List for Parents and Students made up of schools that have engaged in illegal activities or for which there is sufficient evidence of widespread or systemic fraudulent or predatory practices.
While it has little chance of becoming law, AACS will monitor this legislation and work to ensure that our friends and allies in Congress understand the valuable role that our institutions serve. Please email info@beautyschools.org with any questions or comments. |