As ordered reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on July 24, 2013
H.R. 2637 would repeal three regulations previously published by the Department of Education and prohibit future rulemaking in those areas. It also would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to permit institutions of higher education to make certain payments to third parties for student recruiting services. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 2637 would not have any significant impact on the federal budget.
The bill would repeal regulations that require institutions of higher education to be authorized by the state or states in which they offer a curriculum. It also would repeal regulations that require certain institutions of higher education to meet benchmarks related to the repayment of student loans and debt-to-income ratios of former students in order to be eligible to participate in the federal student aid programs (this rule is commonly referred to as “gainful employment”). The bill would prohibit the department from defining or enforcing rulemaking related to these terms until the Congress extends the authorizations in the HEA for at least two years.
