[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 124 (Friday, September 21, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9624-S9625]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ENZI (for himself, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Frist, and Mr. 
        Hutchinson):
  S. 1445: A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand 
the opportunities of higher education via telecommunications; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I am pleased to have this opportunity to 
introduce the Internet Equity and Education Act of 2001 in the Senate. 
This important legislation, which is based on the findings of the 
bipartisan Web-Based Education Commission on which I served, will 
accomplish the critical goal of giving more students in both rural and 
urban areas access to distance education by expanding Internet-based 
educational opportunities at the post-secondary level.
  Specifically, this legislation, which is cosponsored by Senators 
Dorgan, Frist and Hutchinson, will remove three regulatory barriers 
that are slowing the growth of distance education in our nation. First, 
it will modify the Department of Education's ``50 percent rule'' that 
requires institutions that are eligible for Title IV student aid 
programs under the Higher Education Act to offer at least 50 percent of 
their instruction in a classroom-based environment. This legislation 
will instead allow institutions to offer more than 50 percent of their 
classes by telecommunications methods if the institution already 
participates in the student loan programs and their student loan 
default rate is less than 10 percent for the three preceding years. 
This ensures that distance education options are available to schools 
with a proven track record of successfully administering federal 
financial aid programs.
  Second, it will eliminate the ``12 hour rule.'' This rule defines a 
week of instructional time to mean 12 hours of ``regularly scheduled 
instruction, examinations, or preparation for examination'' for 
programs that are offered in non-standard terms. This legislation will 
instead require that programs offered on a non-standard term, such as 
those offered by the University of Wyoming and the Western Governors 
University, be held to the same accountability standards as those 
offered on a traditional semester or quarter basis.
  Third, this legislation will clarify the incentive compensation 
restrictions that were passed by Congress in 1992 with the intent of 
prohibiting colleges and universities that participate in federal 
student financial aid programs from paying any commission, bonus, or 
other incentive payments to third parties based on their success in 
enrolling new students. These restrictions, while well intentioned, 
have had the unintended consequence of preventing some

[[Page S9625]]

higher education institutions from using third-party Web portals. This 
practice, which is fairly common and often necessary for many distance 
education and Internet based education programs, provides prospective 
students with access to information about the programs they offer and 
admissions requirements. This legislation clarifies the incentive 
compensation prohibitions in the Higher Education Act by allowing the 
use of third-party Web portals and allowing schools to appropriately 
reward employees for their job performance. The bill preserves the 
intent of the 1992 law by stating that non-salary payments to those 
directly involved in recruiting students or awarding financial aid are 
not allowed. It will also allow the Secretary of Education to impose 
appropriate sanctions against an institution if a violation occurs. 
This change to the regulation will continue to ensure that Federal 
student aid programs are free from fraud and abuse, while allowing 
prospective students to gain information about all of the post-
secondary educational opportunities that are available.
  As some of you may know, I have a very personal interest in the issue 
of distance education. I saw how effective it can be because my wife, 
Diana, received her masters degree in adult education by taking classes 
through the University of Wyoming while living here in Washington. 
After witnessing the high quality of the course work, the 
responsiveness to students' needs, and the ``technology flexibility'' 
that enabled Diana's experience, I have become a strong advocate for 
distance learning.
  I am especially pleased to be able to sponsor this legislation at a 
time when the University of Wyoming is experiencing record breaking 
enrollment in Online UW, the web-based educational arm of the 
University of Wyoming Outreach School. I was impressed to learn that as 
of August 28, 2001 class enrollments totaled 1,164, which is a dramatic 
increase over the 140 students who enrolled in the spring of 1999 when 
the University launched this program. In addition to the enrollment 
growth, the number of courses that are being offered is also expanding. 
During the fall 2001 semester 43 online courses are available at the 
University of Wyoming, supporting seven degree programs or 
certificates. It is my hope that with the passage of this legislation, 
programs like those at the University of Wyoming will be able to expand 
even further to serve more interested students.
  In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my thanks 
to Congressman Johnny Isakson and his staff. As the Vice Chair of the 
Web-Based Education Commission, Congressman Isakson introduced this 
legislation in the House earlier this year and has successfully steered 
it through the House Education and the Workforce Committee, where it 
passed overwhelmingly on August 1, 2001. I look forward to the same 
success here in the Senate so that we might open up the possibilities 
of distance education to a new generation of students.
                                 ______