Congress·In Committee·S. 994

Congress Proposes Strict New Rules to Protect Students from Predatory Colleges and High Debt

PROTECT Students Act of 2025

Part of: Congress Proposes Stricter Debt Standards and Transcript Protections

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Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

↔Companion bill: House Committee Reviews PROTECT Students Act to Tie Federal Aid to Graduate Earnings, Ban Transcript Holds

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Key Points

This bill creates strict rules for career training programs to ensure students aren't left with more debt than they can afford. If a program's graduates don't earn enough money to pay back their loans or don't earn more than a typical high school graduate, the school could lose its access to federal funding.
It makes it easier for students to have their federal loans canceled if their school lied to them, used high-pressure sales tactics, or closed down suddenly. It also stops schools from forcing students to sign away their right to sue in court, allowing students to take legal action if they are cheated.
Colleges would be required to spend at least 30 percent of the money they get from tuition on actual teaching and student services. This is meant to stop schools from spending most of their money on expensive TV ads and recruiters instead of helping students learn.
Schools would no longer be allowed to hold a student's official transcripts hostage because of unpaid bills. Additionally, the Department of Education would create a new system to track student complaints and publicly report which schools have the most problems.
A new enforcement team would be created to investigate schools that use deceptive practices. This team would even use "secret shoppers" to see if recruiters are lying to potential students about things like job placement rates or how much a degree is actually worth.

EducationEconomy FinanceLabor Employment

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Who is affectedScoreImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Mar 12, 2025Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S1706-1715)

Mar 12, 2025

Introduced in Senate

Related News

5 articles

The Hill·about 1 year ago

Durbin, Takano push for new college accountability rules

The PROTECT Students Act of 2025 would require colleges to spend at least 30 percent of tuition revenue on instruction and student services, while making it easier for defrauded borrowers to secure loan discharges through simplified borrower defense applications.

Chronicle of Higher Education·12 months ago

Bill Would Mandate Instructional Spending Minimums for Colleges

A new proposal in Congress would force institutions to allocate at least 30% of tuition revenue to instruction, a move aimed at curbing the amount schools spend on marketing and recruitment versus actual teaching.

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City Journal·2 months ago

Can a Staff Exodus Save Higher Ed?

As administrative costs outpace instructional expenses, new legislative proposals like the PROTECT Students Act seek to mandate minimum spending on teaching, though critics argue such top-down rules may not address the root causes of campus bloat.

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Related Bills

1 bill

H.R. 2899Identical bill

PROTECT Students Act of 2025

Apr 10 — Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

PROTECT Students Act of 2025

Bill NumberS 994

Congress119th Congress

ChamberSenate

Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S1706-1715)

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(2)

D: 2

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.