[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4384 Introduced in House (IH)]
103d CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 4384
To substitute evaluations of educational quality for cohort default
rates in eligibility determinations for proprietary institutions of
higher education under the Federal student assistance programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 11, 1994
Mr. Andrews of New Jersey introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To substitute evaluations of educational quality for cohort default
rates in eligibility determinations for proprietary institutions of
higher education under the Federal student assistance programs.
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 ``Educational Quality Index Act of
1994''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that--
(1) cohort default rates alone do not indicate the quality
of an educational institution;
(2) for the purpose of evaluating performance of an
institution of higher education, the population which that
institution serves should be taken into account;
(3) schools whose students are from less affluent
backgrounds have more difficulty with cohort default rate
standards;
(4) use of the cohort default rates as a determinant for
participation in Federal student loan programs has kept
technical and vocational school operators from opening schools
in impoverished areas;
(5) many individuals living in impoverished areas have been
effectively denied an opportunity to access technical and
vocational higher education; and
(6) the performance of a technical or vocational
institution of higher education can be measured by objective
data concerning the outcome from the perspective of the
student.
SEC. 3. USE OF EDUCATIONAL QUALITY IN INSTITUTIONAL ELIGIBILITY FOR
GUARANTEED STUDENT LOAN PROGRAM.
Section 435(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1085(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and
inserting ``paragraphs (2) and (4)'';
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``An institution'' and
inserting ``Except as provided in paragraph (4), an
institution'';
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(4) Ineligibility based on educational quality index.--
``(A) Use of index in place of cohort default
rate.--A proprietary institution of higher education
(as such term is defined in section 481(b)) shall not
be subject to ineligibility determinations under
paragraph (2), but shall be subject to such
determinations on the basis of the educational quality
index prescribed under this paragraph.
``(B) Prescription of index.--The Secretary of
Education shall by regulation prescribe an educational
quality index for the purpose of evaluating the
programs of proprietary institutions of higher
education. Such index shall be equal to the sum of the
following component indexes:
``(i) A placement rate index which shall be
based on the percentage of students who are
employed in the field for which the institution
has trained them.
``(ii) A Pell grant eligibility index equal
to (I) the percentage of enrolled students who
are eligible for Pell grants, minus (II) the
national average percentage of students who are
so eligible at all institutions of higher
education, divided by (III) four.
``(iii) An index based on the institution's
cohort default rate (as determined under
subsection (m)).
``(iv) A successful completion index which
shall be based on graduation rates (as
determined for purposes of section
484(a)(1)(C)), or on certification or licensure
rates (if available).
``(C) Contents of regulations.--The regulations
prescribed by the Secretary under subparagraph (B)
shall--
``(i) define the minimum aggregate score
that an proprietary institution of higher
education must achieve, as a sum of the 4
indexes established under clauses (i), (ii),
and (iii) of such subparagraph, in order for
the institution to remain eligible to
participate in the programs under this part;
``(ii) provide that the weights to be
attributed to such 4 indexes for purposes of
aggregating such score shall require that, of
the maximum possible aggregate score--
``(I) 37.5 percent shall be
attributed to the index described in
subparagraph (B)(i);
``(II) 25 percent shall be
attributed to subparagraph (B)(ii);
``(III) 25 percent shall be
attributed to subparagraph (B)(iii);
and
``(IV) 12.5 percent shall be
attributed to subparagraph (B)(iv); and
``(iii) establish the procedures for the
determination of scores for individual
institutions, and for the resolution of
disputes concerning such scores.''.
SEC. 4. USE OF EDUCATIONAL QUALITY INDEX IN PROGRAM INTEGRITY REVIEWS.
(a) State Review Entity Criteria.--Section 494C(a)(1) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099a-3(a)(1)) is amended by inserting
before the period the following: ``or, in the case of a proprietary
institution of higher education, an educational quality index score
that does not equal or exceed the minimum established by the Secretary
under section 435(a)(4)(B)(i)''.
(b) Program Review.--Section 498A(a)(2)(A) of such Act (20 U.S.C.
1099c-1(a)(2)(A)) is amended by inserting before the semicolon the
following: ``or, in the case of a proprietary institution of higher
education, an educational quality index score that does not equal or
exceed the minimum established by the Secretary under section
435(a)(4)(B)(i)''.
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