[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2079 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2079

    To provide that chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code, 
relating to the enforcement of arbitration agreements, shall not apply 
to enrollment agreements made between students and certain institutions 
  of higher education; and to prohibit limitations on the ability of 
   students to pursue claims against certain institutions of higher 
                               education.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 28, 2015

    Ms. Maxine Waters of California (for herself, Mr. Cummings, Mr. 
  Ellison, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Norton, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Judy Chu of 
California, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Lee, Mr. Cohen, and Mr. Takano) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
 and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 
                        the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide that chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code, 
relating to the enforcement of arbitration agreements, shall not apply 
to enrollment agreements made between students and certain institutions 
  of higher education; and to prohibit limitations on the ability of 
   students to pursue claims against certain institutions of higher 
                               education.

    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 ``Court Legal Access and Student 
Support (CLASS) Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. INAPPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE 9, UNITED STATES CODE, TO 
              ENROLLMENT AGREEMENTS MADE BETWEEN STUDENTS AND CERTAIN 
              INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code 
(relating to the enforcement of arbitration agreements) shall not apply 
to an enrollment agreement made between a student and an institution of 
higher education.
    (b) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such term in 
section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (0 U.S.C. 1002).

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON LIMITATIONS ON ABILITY OF STUDENTS TO PURSUE 
              CLAIMS AGAINST CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

    Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(30) The institution will not require any student to 
        agree to, and will not enforce, any limitation or restriction 
        (including a limitation or restriction on any available choice 
        of applicable law, a jury trial, or venue) on the ability of a 
        student to pursue a claim, individually or with others, against 
        an institution in court.''.

SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 1 
year after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>