This bill establishes the Proprietary Education Interagency Oversight Committee , comprising representatives from nine federal agencies including the Departments of Education, Justice, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission. The Committee's primary purposes are to improve enforcement of federal laws, increase accountability of proprietary institutions to students and taxpayers, promote high-quality education, and reduce fraud and abuse within the sector. It aims to achieve these goals through enhanced coordination and information sharing among federal and state agencies. The Committee is tasked with coordinating administrative oversight, encouraging information sharing related to investigations and audits, and increasing cooperation between federal and state entities, including State Attorneys General. It will also synthesize cross-agency data to develop an annual report, publish a "For-Profit College Warning List for Parents and Students," and ensure consistent dissemination of consumer information to stakeholders. The Secretary of Education or their designee will serve as the Chairperson, ensuring regular quarterly meetings and adequate staff support. An independent Proprietary Education Oversight Advisory Committee will be established by the Department of Education to provide advice and recommendations to the main Committee. This 13-member advisory body will include representatives from State Attorneys General, veterans service organizations, accrediting agencies, civil rights groups, proprietary institutions, current students, consumer advocates, and legal assistance organizations. Its duties include advising on complaints, state enforcement actions, enrollment trends, outcome measures like graduation rates and employment, student loan burden, and marketing practices. The bill mandates the creation of a centralized system, including a toll-free number, website, and database, for collecting and monitoring student complaints against proprietary institutions receiving federal education assistance. This system will facilitate routing complaints to appropriate federal and state agencies, while protecting personally identifiable information. The collected complaint data will be crucial for coordinating investigations, enforcement actions, and preparing the annual report and warning list. An annual report, publicly accessible and devoid of personally identifiable information, must be submitted to Congress by the Committee. This report will detail the role of each member agency, account for negative actions taken against institutions, and summarize complaints received and resolved. It will also include extensive industry-wide data on federal education assistance received, retention and graduation rates, cohort default rates, debt-to-earnings rates, expenditures on recruiting and instruction, licensure pass rates, and private education loan usage. For publicly traded proprietary institutions, the report will include additional data such as pre-tax profit, revenue allocation for marketing versus instruction, executive officer compensation packages, and institutional loan program details. It will also provide disaggregated data on total cost of attendance compared to public institutions, enrollment types, completion rates, median federal educational debt for completers and non-completers, and job placement rates. Where practicable, the report will compare data for publicly traded proprietary institutions with public institutions, disaggregated by state. Finally, the Secretary, on behalf of the Committee, will annually publish a "For-Profit College Warning List for Parents and Students." This list will name institutions that have been sued for financial relief, are liable for debts from settlements or judgments related to misrepresentation or fraud, have pending borrower defense claims, or have had their eligibility for federal education assistance withdrawn or suspended. The list will include a plain language summary of the basis for each institution's inclusion and will be subject to review procedures allowing institutions to respond to identified deficiencies before final publication.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S1011-1015)
Education
Proprietary Education Oversight Task Force Act
USA119th CongressS-4056| Senate
| Updated: 3/11/2026
This bill establishes the Proprietary Education Interagency Oversight Committee , comprising representatives from nine federal agencies including the Departments of Education, Justice, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Federal Trade Commission. The Committee's primary purposes are to improve enforcement of federal laws, increase accountability of proprietary institutions to students and taxpayers, promote high-quality education, and reduce fraud and abuse within the sector. It aims to achieve these goals through enhanced coordination and information sharing among federal and state agencies. The Committee is tasked with coordinating administrative oversight, encouraging information sharing related to investigations and audits, and increasing cooperation between federal and state entities, including State Attorneys General. It will also synthesize cross-agency data to develop an annual report, publish a "For-Profit College Warning List for Parents and Students," and ensure consistent dissemination of consumer information to stakeholders. The Secretary of Education or their designee will serve as the Chairperson, ensuring regular quarterly meetings and adequate staff support. An independent Proprietary Education Oversight Advisory Committee will be established by the Department of Education to provide advice and recommendations to the main Committee. This 13-member advisory body will include representatives from State Attorneys General, veterans service organizations, accrediting agencies, civil rights groups, proprietary institutions, current students, consumer advocates, and legal assistance organizations. Its duties include advising on complaints, state enforcement actions, enrollment trends, outcome measures like graduation rates and employment, student loan burden, and marketing practices. The bill mandates the creation of a centralized system, including a toll-free number, website, and database, for collecting and monitoring student complaints against proprietary institutions receiving federal education assistance. This system will facilitate routing complaints to appropriate federal and state agencies, while protecting personally identifiable information. The collected complaint data will be crucial for coordinating investigations, enforcement actions, and preparing the annual report and warning list. An annual report, publicly accessible and devoid of personally identifiable information, must be submitted to Congress by the Committee. This report will detail the role of each member agency, account for negative actions taken against institutions, and summarize complaints received and resolved. It will also include extensive industry-wide data on federal education assistance received, retention and graduation rates, cohort default rates, debt-to-earnings rates, expenditures on recruiting and instruction, licensure pass rates, and private education loan usage. For publicly traded proprietary institutions, the report will include additional data such as pre-tax profit, revenue allocation for marketing versus instruction, executive officer compensation packages, and institutional loan program details. It will also provide disaggregated data on total cost of attendance compared to public institutions, enrollment types, completion rates, median federal educational debt for completers and non-completers, and job placement rates. Where practicable, the report will compare data for publicly traded proprietary institutions with public institutions, disaggregated by state. Finally, the Secretary, on behalf of the Committee, will annually publish a "For-Profit College Warning List for Parents and Students." This list will name institutions that have been sued for financial relief, are liable for debts from settlements or judgments related to misrepresentation or fraud, have pending borrower defense claims, or have had their eligibility for federal education assistance withdrawn or suspended. The list will include a plain language summary of the basis for each institution's inclusion and will be subject to review procedures allowing institutions to respond to identified deficiencies before final publication.