College Employment Accountability Act

Key Points

• This bill would ban colleges from receiving federal student aid or institutional funding if they are found to have hired workers who are not legally authorized to work in the U.S. This puts billions of dollars in Pell Grants and student loans at risk if a school violates federal immigration hiring laws.
• Every college that accepts federal student aid would be required to use E-Verify, a government system that checks whether new hires are legally allowed to work in the United States. This would become a condition of participating in Title IV federal aid programs.
• The Department of Homeland Security would check every six months whether each college is using E-Verify and following immigration hiring rules. If a violation is found, DHS must notify the Department of Education within 10 days, which could trigger the loss of federal funding.
• If a college lost its federal funding eligibility because of a violation, the students enrolled there could lose access to Pell Grants, federal student loans, and work-study programs. Those students would need to find alternative ways to pay for school or transfer elsewhere.