PROTECT Students Act of 2025
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Takano (for himself, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, …
Primary Purpose
To increase accountability and oversight of higher education institutions, particularly for-profit colleges, by establishing new financial transparency standards, expanding student loan discharge protections, enhancing enforcement capabilities, and improving consumer protections for students.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Comprehensive reform of higher education accountability by establishing quantitative financial outcome standards (gainful employment), expanding borrower protections, creating new enforcement infrastructure, and increasing transparency requirements primarily targeting for-profit institutions."
Likely Beneficiaries
- Students and borrowers (particularly those at for-profit institutions)
- Federal taxpayers (through reduced student loan defaults and institutional fraud)
- State attorneys general and regulators (through enhanced enforcement authority)
- Public/non-profit colleges and universities (through competitive advantage from stricter standards on for-profit rivals)
Likely Burden Bearers
- For-profit colleges and universities (most stringent new requirements)
- Third-party servicers (Online Program Managers, recruiters)
- All higher education institutions receiving Title IV funds (new reporting and spending requirements)
- Private equity firms and investors with ownership stakes in for-profit education
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Education
- "the_commissioner_irs"
- → Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service
- "the_commissioner_ssa"
- → Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Education
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Education
- "the_chief_operating_officer"
- → Chief Operating Officer of Federal Student Aid (FSA)
- "the_chief_enforcement_officer"
- → Chief Enforcement Officer (new position)
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Education
Note: 'The Secretary' consistently refers to Secretary of Education throughout all titles of this bill.
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
An individual making a complaint, or report of suspicious activity, through the complaint tracking system.
An entity that contracts with institutions for delivery of funds, recruitment, retention, compliance with cohort default rate requirements, development and delivery of instructional content, and other applicable activities.
The rate calculated by taking the annual loan payment for a cohort divided by the median annual earnings for such cohort.
The rate calculated by taking the annual loan payment divided by discretionary earnings (median earnings minus 150% of poverty level).
The amount by which median annual earnings of program completers exceed median earnings for working adults with only a high school diploma.
A defense established when the Secretary concludes by preponderance of evidence that a qualifying act, omission, or event occurred that caused student detriment warranting discharge.
A misrepresentation made directly or indirectly to the borrower in connection with the borrower's decision to attend or continue attending the institution.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology