1.This Act may be cited as the
College Cost Reduction Act of
2012
.
2.Higher Education
Regulatory Reform Task Force
(a)Not later than 6
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education
shall establish the Higher Education Regulatory Reform Task Force.
(b)The Higher Education Regulatory Reform Task
Force shall include—
(1)the Secretary of
Education or the Secretary’s designee;
(2)the head of each
other Federal agency (or such head’s designee) that the Secretary of Education
determines to be relevant to the activities of the Higher Education Regulatory
Reform Task Force;
(3)a representative of the Advisory Committee
on Student Financial Assistance established under section 491 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098);
(4)representatives
from the higher education community, including—
(A)institutions of
higher education, with equal representation of public and private nonprofit
institutions, and two-year and four-year institutions, and with not less than
25 percent of such representative institutions carrying out distance education
programs; and
(B)nonprofit
organizations representing institutions of higher education; and
(5)any other entity
or individual the Secretary of Education determines appropriate.
(c)
(1)Not later than one
year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall
submit to Congress and make available on a publicly available website a report
(in this Act referred to as the Higher Education Regulatory Reform
Report
) prepared by the Higher Education Regulatory Reform Task Force
on Federal regulatory requirements for institutions of higher education. In
prioritizing the review and consideration of such regulatory requirements for
the purposes of the Higher Education Regulatory Reform Report, the Higher
Education Regulatory Reform Task Force shall give highest priority to
regulations related to—
(A)State
authorization of distance education;
(B)the Integrated
Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS);
(C)the Office of
Management and Budget’s A–21 Circular;
(D)reporting under
the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime
Statistics Act;
(E)calculation of
default rates under section 435(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965;
(F)gainful
employment;
(G)revenue
requirements for institutions of higher education under section 487(a)(24) and
(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965; and
(H)the Single Audit
Act of 1984 and the Office of Management and Budget’s A–133 Circular.
(2)The Higher Education Regulatory Reform Report shall
contain the following with respect to regulatory requirements for institutions
of higher education:
(A)A list of rules
that are determined to be outmoded, duplicative, ineffective, or excessively
burdensome.
(B)For each rule
listed in accordance with
subparagraph (A), an analysis of how
the costs outweigh the benefits for such rule.
(C)Recommendations to
consolidate, modify, simplify, or repeal such rules to make such rules more
effective or less burdensome.
(D)A description of the justification for and
impact of the recommendations described in
subparagraph (C), as appropriate and
available, including supporting data for such justifications and the financial
impact of such recommendations on institutions of higher education of varying
sizes and types.
(E)Recommendations on the establishment of a
permanent entity to review new regulatory requirements affecting institutions
of higher education.
(3)At least 60 days
before submission of the Higher Education Regulatory Reform Report required
under
paragraph (1), the Secretary of Education
shall publish the report in the Federal Register for public notice and comment.
The Higher Education Regulatory Reform Task Force may modify the report in
response to any comments received before submission of the report to
Congress.
(d)Definition of
institution of higher educationFor the purposes of this section, the term
institution of higher education has the meaning given such term in
section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
3.Expedited
consideration by Congress
(a)Presentation of
Higher Education Regulatory Reform Report to Congress and expedited
consideration
(1)The President shall
propose, at the time and in the manner provided in
paragraph (2), the carrying out of all or
part of the recommendations contained in the Higher Education Regulatory Reform
Report prepared by the Higher Education Regulatory Reform Task Force in
accordance with
section 2.
(2)Transmittal of
special message
(A)Not later than 120 days after the submission of the
Higher Education Regulatory Reform Report to Congress under
section 2(c), the President shall transmit
to Congress a special message to carry out all or part of the recommendations
contained in such Report. The President shall include with that special message
a bill that would carry out the recommendations. The President may not transmit
more than one such special message each year.
(B)The President shall include in the bill required under
subparagraph (A), without amendment, the following text:
2.Controlling
rising college costs
(a)Controlling
rising college costsNot
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary
shall promulgate regulations that—
(1)require institutions of higher education to
control annual tuition increases; and
(2)establish
penalties for institutions of higher education that do not comply with the
regulations promulgated under
paragraph (1), taking into account the
affects of such penalties on various types of institutions and the specific
circumstances of institutions that may result in such noncompliance, including
failure of States to adhere to maintenance of effort requirements under section
137 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1015f).
(b)Inapplicability
of rulemaking requirementsSection 482(c) and section 492 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089(c); 1098a) shall not apply to the
regulations required by this section.
(c)For purposes of this section:
(1)Institution of
higher educationThe term institution of higher
education has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002).
(2)The term
tuition means the average annual cost of tuition and fees for an
institution of higher education for first-time, full-time undergraduate
students enrolled in the
institution.
.
(3)Expedited
consideration of President’s Higher Education Regulatory Reform bill
(A)Higher Education
Regulatory Reform billWithin
14 days after the President submits to Congress a bill under
paragraph (2), the majority leader of the
House of Representatives and the majority leader of the Senate shall each
introduce such bill, by request.
(B)Consideration in
the House of Representatives
(i)Any committee of the House of Representatives to which
such bill is referred shall report it to the House without amendment not later
than the 14th legislative day after the date of its introduction. If a
committee fails to report the bill within that period or the House has adopted
a concurrent resolution providing for adjournment sine die at the end of a
Congress, such committee shall be automatically discharged from further
consideration of the bill and it shall be placed on the appropriate
calendar.
(ii)Proceeding to
considerationNot later than 21 legislative days after such bill
is reported or a committee has been discharged from further consideration
thereof, it shall be in order to move to proceed to consider such bill in the
House. Such a motion shall be highly privileged and not debatable, and shall be
in order only at a time designated by the Speaker in the legislative schedule
within two legislative days after the day on which the proponent announces an
intention to the House to offer the motion provided that such notice may not be
given until such bill is reported or a committee has been discharged from
further consideration thereof. Such a motion shall not be in order after the
House has disposed of a motion to proceed with respect to that special message.
The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the motion to its
adoption without intervening motion. A motion to reconsider the vote by which
the motion is disposed of shall not be in order.
(iii)If
the motion to proceed is agreed to, the House shall immediately proceed to
consider such bill in the House without intervening motion. Such bill shall be
considered as read. All points of order against the bill and against its
consideration are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered
on the bill to its passage without intervening motion except 4 hours of debate
equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent and one motion
to limit debate on the bill. A motion to reconsider the vote on passage of the
bill shall not be in order.
(C)Consideration in
the Senate
(i)The appropriate committee of the Senate shall report
without amendment the bill referred to in
subparagraph (A) not later than the
seventh session day after introduction. If a committee fails to report the bill
within that period or the Senate has adopted a concurrent resolution providing
for adjournment sine die at the end of a Congress, the Committee shall be
automatically discharged from further consideration of the bill and it shall be
placed on the appropriate calendar.
(ii)Not later than 3 session days after the bill is reported
in the Senate or the committee has been discharged thereof, it shall be in
order for any Senator to move to proceed to consider the bill in the Senate.
The motion shall be decided without debate and the motion to reconsider shall
be deemed to have been laid on the table. Such a motion shall not be in order
after the Senate has disposed of a prior motion to proceed with respect to the
draft bill.
(iii)If
a motion to proceed to the consideration of the draft bill is agreed to, the
Senate shall immediately proceed to consideration of the draft bill without
intervening motion, order, or other business, and the draft bill shall remain
the unfinished business of the Senate until disposed of. Consideration on the
bill in the Senate under this subsection, and all debatable motions and appeals
in connection therewith, shall not exceed 10 hours equally divided in the usual
form. All points of order against the draft bill or its consideration are
waived. Consideration in the Senate on any debatable motion or appeal in
connection with the draft bill shall be limited to not more than 10 hours. A
motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to the consideration of other
business, or a motion to recommit the draft bill is not in order. A motion to
reconsider the vote by which the draft bill is agreed to or disagreed to is not
in order.
(D)No amendment to,
or motion to strike a provision from, the draft bill considered under this
section shall be in order in either the House of Representatives or the
Senate.
(E)Coordination
with action by other houseIf, before passing the bill, one House
receives from the other a bill—
(i)the
bill of the other House shall not be referred to a committee; and
(ii)the
procedure in the receiving House shall be the same as if no bill had been
received from the other House until the vote on passage, when the bill received
from the other House shall supplant the bill of the receiving House.
(F)This
paragraph shall apply only to the bill referred to in
subparagraph (A), introduced pursuant
to such subparagraph.
(b)For
purposes of this section, continuity of a session of either House of Congress
shall be considered as broken only by an adjournment of that House sine die,
and the days on which that House is not in session because of an adjournment of
more than 3 days to a date certain shall be excluded in the computation of any
period.