PROTECT Students Act of 2025
Latest action · Mar 12, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S1706-1715)
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 12, 2025
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Preventing Risky Operations from Threatening the Education and Career Trajectories of Students Act of 2025 or the PROTECT Students Act of 2025
This bill sets forth provisions to address financial predatory practices in higher education, including by establishing additional protections for students and student loan borrowers.
Specifically, the bill provides statutory authority for Department of Education (ED) regulations related to gainful employment, borrower defense to repayment, and closed school discharges. For example, ED's 2023 gainful employment regulations specify that ED considers a career education program to be preparing students for gainful employment if it meets specified debt-to-earnings or earnings premium measures.
Additionally, the bill prohibits institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in federal student aid programs from taking specified actions, such as (1) restricting students' ability to pursue claims against IHEs in court, and (2) withholding official transcripts because of a balance owed by the student.
The bill requires IHEs to spend at least 30% of their tuition and fee revenue on instruction.
The bill also includes additional oversight measures, such as
- providing statutory authority for an enforcement unit within ED's Office of Federal Student Aid to assess complaints against IHEs, third-party servicers, and student loan servicers;
- establishing the For-Profit Education Oversight Coordination Committee within the executive branch; and
- requiring ED to establish and operate a system that tracks complaints or reports of suspicious activity by IHEs, third-party servicers, and student loan servicers.
The bill makes funding available to ED for the administrative costs of operating student aid programs.
Cosponsors 2
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Mar 12, 2025.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MA | Elizabeth Warren | Original | Mar 12, 2025 |
| D-OR | Jeff Merkley | Original | Mar 12, 2025 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 12, 2025Introduced in Senate
- Mar 12, 2025Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S1706-1715)
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 2899 | PROTECT Students Act of 2025 | Identical bill | Apr 10, 2025 |
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 12, 2025Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.