WASHINGTON – As college students begin returning to class, Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced Thursday the Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act of 2018. They said it would close a loophole that allows for-profit colleges to take federal financial aid dollars for students to attend unaccredited degree programs that often leave students deep in debt and unable to work in their chosen field.
Here’s the news release announcing the bill:
The legislation also reinstates the certification requirements from the Gainful Employment rule, which were recently proposed for elimination by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. These requirements prevented career education programs from receiving Title IV federal student aid dollars if they fail to keep their promise that students who enter a program will graduate with the necessary skills to find employment—a crucial consumer protection for students facing predatory for-profit college schemes.
