Bill Summary
The Student Records Protection Act is a proposed bill that would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965. It requires all institutions of higher education to create and follow a record-management plan in order to become or stay accredited. This plan must include details on how student records, such as transcripts and financial aid information, will be stored, accessed, and disposed of. It also requires institutions to provide a list of enrolled students to the Department of Education, state authorization agency, and accrediting agency. The bill also requires institutions to release any financial holds on student records and not charge students for their records for one year after the institution closes, and after that, only charge a nominal fee. This bill would also amend the Program Participation Agreement to include a requirement for institutions to submit their record-management plan to the Department of Education.
Possible Impacts
1. Students who attend institutions of higher education may experience changes in how their records are managed and accessed, as the new legislation requires institutions to submit a record-management plan and provide a list of enrolled students to the government and accrediting agencies. This could potentially affect students' ability to access their own records or have them transferred to other institutions.
2. Institutions of higher education may face financial burdens in implementing the new record-management plan and providing funding for its costs. This could lead to increases in tuition or other fees for students.
3. Students who attend institutions that are at risk of closing may have more protections in place regarding their records, as the legislation requires institutions to release financial holds on records and not charge students for their records for a period of time after closure. This could help prevent students from losing important academic and financial records.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6259 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6259
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of
higher education to establish record-management plans in order to be
accredited or continue to be accredited, and for other purposes.
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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 7, 2023
Mr. Cartwright (for himself, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania,
Mr. Carson, and Mr. Trone) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of
higher education to establish record-management plans in order to be
accredited or continue to be accredited, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Student Records Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. RECORD-MANAGEMENT PLANS REQUIRED.
(a) Accrediting Requirements.--Section 496(c) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1099b(c)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (8), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(10) beginning on the date that is 5 years after the date
of the enactment of this paragraph, requires an institution to
submit for approval to the accrediting agency a records
management plan upon the institution's notifying the
accrediting agency that the institution intends to cease
operations. Such plan shall include--
``(A) a plan for the custody, continued access, and
disposition of student records, including student
transcripts, billing, and financial aid records;
``(B) a plan to provide to the Secretary, State
authorizing agency, and such accrediting agency or
association a list that includes the name and contact
information of each student enrolled in such
institution--
``(i) on the date such institution closed;
``(ii) on the date that is 120 days before
the date described in clause (i); and
``(iii) on the date that is 180 days before
the date described in clause (i);
``(C) an assurance from the institution that such
institution--
``(i) will release all financial holds
placed on student records;
``(ii) for the 1-year period beginning on
the date of the closure of such institution,
will not require any student or former student
who requests the student records of such
student to purchase such records or otherwise
charge such student a fee with respect to such
records; and
``(iii) after the 1-year period described
in clause (ii), will either continue to not
require the purchase of the records described
in such subclause or charge a nominal fee with
respect to such records, as determined by the
Secretary; and
``(D) an estimate of the costs necessary to carry
out the record-management plan and a plan for how such
institution will provide funding for such costs.''.
(b) Program Participation Agreement.--
(1) Amendment.--Section 487(f)(1) of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(f)(1)) is amended by striking the
period at the end and inserting ``and to prepare and submit to
the Secretary a record-management plan that includes the
information required under subparagraphs (A) through (D) of
section 496(c)(10).''.
(2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
shall take effect on the date that is 6 months after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
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