[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1992 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1992

 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand the opportunities 
              for higher education via telecommunications.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 24, 2001

Mr. Isakson (for himself, Mr. Boehner, Mr. McKeon, Mr. Castle, and Mr. 
  Goodlatte) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand the opportunities 
              for higher education via telecommunications.

    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 `` Internet Equity and Education Act 
of 2001''.

SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO 50 PERCENT CORRESPONDENCE COURSE LIMITATIONS.

    (a) Definition of Institution of Higher Education for Title IV 
Purposes.--Section 102(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1002(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(7) Exception to limitation based on course of study.--
        Courses offered via telecommunications (as defined in section 
        484(l)(4)) shall not be considered to be correspondence courses 
        for purposes of paragraph (3)(A) for any institution that--
                    ``(A) is participating in either or both of the 
                loan programs under part B or D of title IV on the date 
                of enactment of the Internet Equity and Education Act 
                of 2001; and
                    ``(B) has a cohort default rate (as determined 
                under section 435(m)) for each of the 3 most recent 
                fiscal years for which data are available that is less 
                than 10 percent.''.
    (b) Definition of Eligible Student.--Section 484(l)(1) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(l)(1)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Exception to 50 percent limitation.--
                Notwithstanding the 50 percent limitation in 
                subparagraph (A), a student enrolled in a course of 
                instruction described in such subparagraph shall not be 
                considered to be enrolled in correspondence courses if 
                the student is enrolled in an institution that--
                            ``(i) is participating in either or both of 
                        the loan programs under part B or D of title IV 
                        on the date of enactment of the Internet Equity 
                        and Education Act of 2001; and
                            ``(ii) has a cohort default rate (as 
                        determined under section 435(m)) for each of 
                        the 3 most recent fiscal years for which data 
                        are available that is less than 10 percent.''.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF ACADEMIC YEAR.

    Section 481(a)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1088(a)(2)) is amended by inserting after the first sentence the 
following new sentence: ``For the purposes of any program under this 
title (whether a standard or nonstandard term program), a week of 
instruction is defined as a week in which at least one day of 
instruction, examination, or preparation for examination occurs.''.

SEC. 4. INCENTIVE COMPENSATION.

    (a) Amendment.--Part G of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 is amended by inserting after section 484B (20 U.S.C. 1091b) the 
following new section:

``SEC. 484C. INCENTIVE COMPENSATION PROHIBITED.

    ``No institution of higher education participating in a program 
under this title shall make any payment of a commission, bonus, or 
other incentive, non-salary payment, based directly on success in 
securing enrollments or financial aid, to any person or entity directly 
engaged in student recruiting or admission activities, or making 
decisions regarding the award of student financial assistance, except 
that this section shall not apply to the recruitment of foreign 
students residing in foreign countries who are not eligible to receive 
Federal student assistance.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Paragraph (20) of section 487(a) (20 
U.S.C. 1094(a)(20)) is repealed.
    (c) Technical Amendment.--Section 487(c)(1) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(c)(1)) is amended by striking ``paragraph 
(2)(B)'' each place it appears in subparagraphs (F) and (H) and 
inserting ``paragraph (3)(B)''.
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