[House Report 107-232]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    107-232

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PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 1992, INTERNET EQUITY AND EDUCATION 
                              ACT OF 2001

                                _______
                                

  October 9, 2001.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Linder, from the Committee on Rules, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 256]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 256, by a nonrecord vote, report the same to 
the House with the recommendation that the resolution be 
adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 1992, the 
Internet Equity and Education Act of 2001, under a modified 
closed rule. The rule provides one hour of general debate 
equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce. The rule provides that the amendment recommended by 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce now printed in the 
bill shall be considered as adopted. The rule waives all points 
of order against consideration of the bill.
    The rule provides for consideration of an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute printed in this report, if offered by 
Representative Mink or a designee, which shall be considered as 
read and shall be separately debatable for one hour equally 
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent. The 
rule waives all points of order against the amendment in the 
nature of a substitute.
    Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions.

           SUMMARY OF AMENDMENT MADE IN ORDER UNDER THE RULE

    (Summary derived from information provided by sponsor.)
    Mink--Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute. Allows 
institutions of higher education that meet a high standard of 
financial responsibility by having default rates lower than 10% 
to be exempt from the 50% provisions which restrict the number 
of courses offered through distance education and the number of 
students who may enroll in distance education courses.

             TEXT OF AMENDMENT MADE IN ORDER UNDER THE RULE

   An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Mink of Hawaii, or a 
                   Designee, Debatable for 60 Minutes

  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Internet Equity and Education 
Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. EXCEPTION TO 50 PERCENT CORRESPONDENCE COURSE LIMITATIONS.

  (a) Definition of Institution of Higher Education for Title 
IV Purposes.--Section 102(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
          ``(7) Exception to limitation based on course of 
        study.--Courses offered via telecommunications (as 
        defined in section 484(l)(4)) shall not be considered 
        to be correspondence courses for purposes of 
        subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (3) for any 
        institution that--
                  ``(A) is participating in either or both of 
                the loan programs under part B or D of title IV 
                on the date of enactment of the Internet Equity 
                and Education Act of 2001;
                  ``(B) has a cohort default rate (as 
                determined under section 435(m)) for each of 
                the 3 most recent fiscal years for which data 
                are available that is less than 10 percent; and
                  ``(C)(i) has notified the Secretary, in a 
                form and manner prescribed by the Secretary 
                (including such information as the Secretary 
                may require to meet the requirements of clause 
                (ii)), of the election by such institution to 
                qualify as an institution of higher education 
                by means of the provisions of this paragraph; 
                and
                  ``(ii) the Secretary has not, within 90 days 
                after such notice, and the receipt of any 
                information required under clause (i), notified 
                the institution that the election by such 
                institution would pose a significant risk to 
                Federal funds and the integrity of programs 
                under title IV.''.
  (b) Definition of Eligible Student.--Section 484(l)(1) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(l)(1)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                  ``(C) Exception to 50 percent limitation.--
                Notwithstanding the 50 percent limitation in 
                subparagraph (A), a student enrolled in a 
                course of instruction described in such 
                subparagraph shall not be considered to be 
                enrolled in correspondence courses if the 
                student is enrolled in an institution that--
                          ``(i) is participating in either or 
                        both of the loan programs under part B 
                        or D of title IV on the date of 
                        enactment of the Internet Equity and 
                        Education Act of 2001;
                          ``(ii) has a cohort default rate (as 
                        determined under section 435(m)) for 
                        each of the 3 most recent fiscal years 
                        for which data are available that is 
                        less than 10 percent; and
                          ``(iii)(I) has notified the 
                        Secretary, in form and manner 
                        prescribed by the Secretary (including 
                        such information as the Secretary may 
                        require to meet the requirements of 
                        subclause (II)), of the election by 
                        such institution to qualify its 
                        students as eligible students by means 
                        of the provisions of this subparagraph; 
                        and
                          ``(II) the Secretary has not, within 
                        90 days after such notice, and the 
                        receipt of any information required 
                        under subclause (I), notified the 
                        institution that the election by such 
                        institution would pose a significant 
                        risk to Federal funds and the integrity 
                        of programs under title IV.''.

SEC. 3. EVALUATION AND REPORT.

  (a) Information from Institutions.--
          (1) Institutions covered by requirement.--The 
        requirements of paragraph (2) apply to any institution 
        of higher education that--
                  (A) has notified the Secretary of Education 
                of an election to qualify for the exception to 
                limitation based on course of study in section 
                102(a)(7) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
                (20 U.S.C. 1002(a)(7)) or the exception to the 
                50 percent limitation in section 484(l)(1)(C) 
                of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1091(l)(1)(C));
                  (B) has notified the Secretary under section 
                481(a)(3) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1088(a)(3)); 
                or
                  (C) contracts with outside parties for--
                          (i) the delivery of distance 
                        education programs;
                          (ii) the delivery of programs offered 
                        in nontraditional formats; or
                          (iii) the purpose of securing the 
                        enrollment of students.
          (2) Requirements.--Any institution of higher 
        education to which this paragraph applies shall comply, 
        on a timely basis, with the Secretary of Education's 
        reasonable requests for information on changes in--
                  (A) the amount or method of instruction 
                offered;
                  (B) the types of programs or courses offered;
                  (C) enrollment by type of program or course;
                  (D) the amount and types of grant, loan, or 
                work assistance provided under title IV of the 
                Higher Education Act of 1965 that is received 
                by students enrolled in programs conducted in 
                nontraditional formats; and
                  (E) outcomes for students enrolled in such 
                courses or programs.
  (b) Report by Secretary Required.--The Secretary of Education 
shall conduct by grant or contract a study of, and by March 31, 
2003, submit to the Congress, a report on--
          (1) the effect that the amendments made by this Act 
        have had on--
                  (A) the ability of institutions of higher 
                education to provide distance learning 
                opportunities to students; and
                  (B) program integrity;
          (2) with respect to distance education or 
        correspondence education courses at institutions of 
        higher education to which the information requirements 
        of subsection (a)(2) apply, changes from year-to-year 
        in--
                  (A) the amount or method of instruction 
                offered and the types of programs or courses 
                offered;
                  (B) the number and type of students enrolled 
                in distance education or correspondence 
                education courses;
                  (C) the amount of student aid provided to 
                such students, in total and as a percentage of 
                the institution's revenue; and
                  (D) outcomes for students enrolled in 
                distance education or correspondence education 
                courses, including graduation rates, job 
                placement rates, and loan delinquencies and 
                defaults;
          (3) any reported and verified claim of inducement to 
        participate in the student financial aid programs and 
        any violation of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 
        including any actions taken by the Department of 
        Education against the violator; and
          (4) any further improvements that should be made to 
        the provisions amended by this Act (and related 
        provisions), in order to accommodate nontraditional 
        educational opportunities in the Federal student 
        assistance programs while ensuring the integrity of 
        those programs.

SEC. 4. LEARNING ANYTIME ANYWHERE PARTNERSHIPS.

  Section 420J of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1070f-6) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
sentence: ``If for any fiscal year funds are not appropriated 
pursuant to this section, funds available under part B of title 
VII, relating to the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary 
Education, may be made available for continuation grants for 
any grant recipient under this subpart.''.

SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION.

  (a) No Delay in Effective Date.--Section 482(c) of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089(c)) shall not apply to 
the amendments made by this Act.
  (b) Implementing Regulations.--Section 492 of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098a) shall not apply to the 
amendments made by section 2 of this Act.

                                  
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