Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act

This bill would bar colleges from receiving federal student aid for programs that train students for licensed jobs unless the programs fully qualify graduates to take licensing exams and become licensed in the states where students live or are recruited, and unless the school provides required placements such as clinical training or internships. It would add a debt-to-earnings test for career training programs, comparing graduates' typical loan payments to their earnings, and would cut off federal aid to programs that fail the test in 2 of any 3 years. Programs that lose eligibility could not regain it, or be replaced by a similar program, for 3 years. The bill would also apply earnings rules to undergraduate certificate programs, require these rules to apply equally to tipped professions, and require online schools to be authorized in each state where their students live, with conditions for interstate agreements.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Jeff Merkley Democrat sponsor
• 3 cosponsors