3.0.0 3380 2023-01-11T13:33:32Z 2023-01-11T13:33:32Z Senate S 2016-09-22 114 sshr00 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2016-09-22T14:37:35Z 2016-09-22 sshr00 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. IntroReferral 2016-09-22 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress W000817 Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] Elizabeth Warren D MA A. N D000563 Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] Richard Durbin D IL J. 2016-09-22 True S001194 Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] Brian Schatz D HI 2016-09-22 True Education Academic performance and assessments Education programs funding Higher education Licensing and registrations Student aid and college costs Vocational and technical education Wages and earnings Education 00 2016-09-22 Introduced in Senate 2017-06-07T18:27:54Z Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act of 2016

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Department of Education (ED) to revise standards governing accreditors of institutions of higher education.

ED must establish student achievement criteria that accreditors must use when evaluating an institute of higher education, including retention rate, graduation and course completion rates, cohort default rate, repayment rate, transfer rate, student earnings after graduation, and job placement rates, professional and vocational certification and licensing examination pass rates, as applicable. Further, ED must establish criteria for evaluating: (1) the affordability of the institution, (2) actions taken against the institution by any state or the federal government, and (3) enrollment levels of students receiving Pell Grants.

ED must establish baseline thresholds for student achievement measures. Accreditors must require institutions to meet or exceed those thresholds.

Accreditors must: (1) carry out enhanced accreditation review immediately after learning of investigations or lawsuits by federal or state governments about the institution's fraud or abuse, deceptive practices, or material harm to students; and (2) take action when there are signs of institutional instability.

The bill addresses conflicts of interest between accreditors and the institutions.

The bill gives ED additional authority with respect to fining or terminating accreditors.

ED must establish standards for online accreditation disclosures by institutions of higher education.

Accreditors may designate an institution as accredited with distinction or accredited with risk.

]]> Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act of 2016 Display Title Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act of 2016 Official Title as Introduced A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for accreditation reform, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Accreditation Reform and Enhanced Accountability Act of 2016 Introduced in Senate 2016-09-22T04:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114s3380is/xml/BILLS-114s3380is.xml 2016-09-22 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.