II 112th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2835 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 7, 2012 Mr. Brown of Massachusetts introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to post certain IRS returns on their websites.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Increased Transparency in Higher Education Act of 2012.

2.

Findings

Congress finds the following: (1)Internal Revenue Service Form 990— (A)provides the public with financial information about a given nonprofit organization, and is often the only source of this information; and (B)is based on 3 guiding principles: enhancing transparency, promoting tax compliance, and minimizing the burden on the filing organization. (2)Section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, requires Internal Revenue Service Form 990 to be available for public inspection; however, the public is generally not aware that nonprofit institutions of higher education are required to file such Form 990 and would not know to look for one. (3)Giving students and parents easy access to Internal Revenue Service Form 990s filed by nonprofit institutions of higher education will increase transparency and allow students and parents to make more informed decisions.

3.

Posting of IRS return

Part B of title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1011 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

124.

Posting of IRS return

Each institution of higher education that receives Federal financial assistance and is required to file a return under section 6033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, shall post such return on the website of the institution.

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