[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2681-S2682]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 552. Mr. CARPER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by

[[Page S2682]]

him to the bill S. 2226, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 
2024 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of subtitle G of title X, add the following:

     SEC. 1083. ADMINISTRATION OF RISK-BASED SURVEYS TO CERTAIN 
                   EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

       (a) Development Required.--The Secretary of Defense, acting 
     through the Voluntary Education Institutional Compliance 
     Program of the Department of Defense, shall develop a risk-
     based survey for oversight of covered educational 
     institutions.
       (b) Scope.--
       (1) In general.--The scope of the risk-based survey 
     developed under subsection (a) shall be determined by the 
     Secretary.
       (2) Specific elements.--At a minimum, the scope determined 
     under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
       (A) Rapid increase or decrease in enrollment.
       (B) Rapid increase in tuition and fees.
       (C) Complaints tracked and published from students pursuing 
     programs of education, based on severity or volume of the 
     complaints.
       (D) Student completion rates.
       (E) Indicators of financial stability.
       (F) Review of the advertising and recruiting practices of 
     the educational institution, including those by third-party 
     contractors of the educational institution.
       (G) Matters for which the Federal Government or a State 
     government brings an action in a court of competent 
     jurisdiction against an educational institution, including 
     matters in cases in which the Federal Government or the State 
     comes to a settled agreement on such matters outside of the 
     court.
       (c) Action or Event.--
       (1) Suspension.--If, pursuant to a risk-based survey under 
     this section, the Secretary determines that an educational 
     institution has experienced an action or event described in 
     paragraph (2), the Secretary may suspend the participation of 
     the institution in Department of Defense programs for a 
     period of two years, or such other period as the Secretary 
     determines appropriate.
       (2) Action or event described.--An action or event 
     described in this paragraph is any of the following:
       (A) The receipt by an educational institution of payments 
     under the heightened cash monitoring level 2 payment method 
     pursuant to section 487(c)(1)(B) of the Higher Education Act 
     of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094).
       (B) Punitive action taken by the Attorney General, the 
     Federal Trade Commission, or any other Federal department or 
     agency for misconduct or misleading marketing practices that 
     would violate the standards defined by the Secretary of 
     Veterans Affairs.
       (C) Punitive action taken by a State against an educational 
     institution.
       (D) The loss, or risk of loss, by an educational 
     institution of an accreditation from an accrediting agency or 
     association, including notice of probation, suspension, an 
     order to show cause relating to the educational institution's 
     academic policies and practices or to its financial 
     stability, or revocation of accreditation.
       (E) The placement of an educational institution on 
     provisional certification status by the Secretary of 
     Education.
       (d) Database.--The Secretary shall establish a searchable 
     database or use an existing system, as the Secretary 
     considers appropriate, to serve as a central repository for 
     information required for or collected during site visits for 
     the risk-based survey developed under subsection (a), so as 
     to improve future oversight of educational institutions.
       (e) Covered Educational Institution.--In this section, the 
     term ``covered educational institution'' means an educational 
     institution selected by the Secretary based on quantitative, 
     publicly available metrics indicating risk designed to 
     separate low-risk and high-risk institutions, to focus on 
     high-risk institutions.
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