Bill Text: NY A07769 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires certain for-profit institutions to make annual reports to the commissioner of education and requires the commissioner to make such reports publicly available.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to higher education [A07769 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A07769-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7769--A 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 20, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN, GOTTFRIED, REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to reporting and publish- ing of certain financial statements and statistical reports received by the commissioner of education The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 239-c 2 to read as follows: 3 § 239-c. For-profit higher education institutions; enhanced reporting. 4 1. Definitions. As used in this section the term "for-profit institu- 5 tion of higher education" means any licensed private career school, 6 certified English as a second language school, or online education 7 marketplace as defined in article one hundred one of this chapter, or 8 college that: 9 (a) provides a program leading to an associates or baccalaureate 10 degree; 11 (b) is legally authorized in New York state to provide a program of 12 education beyond secondary education; and 13 (c) is neither a public or nonprofit institution. 14 2. The NYS proprietary institution disclosure website. (a) The commis- 15 sioner shall establish a publicly accessible website for the dissem- 16 ination of data and disclosures related to for-profit institutions of 17 higher education. The website at a minimum shall publish: 18 (i) A listing of each for-profit institution of higher education in 19 the state. Such listing of each for-profit institution of higher educa- 20 tion shall display information including, but not limited to, the 21 following: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11661-07-9A. 7769--A 2 1 (1) All approved locations of the for-profit institution of higher 2 education; 3 (2) Listing of all degree and certificate programs of the for-profit 4 institution of higher education that have been approved by the depart- 5 ment; 6 (3) Basic information of the for-profit institution of higher educa- 7 tion such as the year founded and any accreditations held; 8 (4) Whether the for-profit institution of higher education is an 9 approved state authorization reciprocity agreement institution and, if 10 so, the institution's membership status; 11 (5) Whether the for-profit institution of higher education is eligible 12 to participate in federal title IV programs; 13 (6) Whether the for-profit institution of higher education partic- 14 ipates in any state specific programs including, but not limited to, the 15 tuition assistance program, enhanced tuition awards program, or a 16 program pursuant to section sixty-four hundred fifty-one of this chap- 17 ter. 18 (ii) Forms and/or links to the for-profit institution of higher 19 education's complaint process and instructions or links to instructions 20 detailing how students can formally make a complaint against their 21 program to both their school and later, if necessary, to the department; 22 (iii) Any reports produced regarding complaints that have been inves- 23 tigated by the department and notice of any adverse actions that have 24 been taken by the department against a for-profit institution of higher 25 education program due to a finding of a violation; 26 (iv) An electronic means for former students of closed for-profit 27 institutions of higher education to formally request from the department 28 their student transcripts or other records that may have been collected 29 and digitally stored by the department; 30 (v) Data tracking the annual enrollment at for-profit institutions of 31 higher education; and 32 (vi) Other information related to for-profit institutions of higher 33 education that the commissioner has been required by another provision 34 of law to post on a publicly accessible website. 35 (b) The department shall also include as a part of each for-profit 36 institution of higher education listing information taken from the annu- 37 al audited financial statements of each institution. The department 38 shall display in a way easy to understand by the public a visual repre- 39 sentation portraying the financial viability of the for-profit institu- 40 tion. The department in constructing this financial representation shall 41 consult with members of the for-profit sector to develop a clear way to 42 accurately display relevant information that is part of the for-profit 43 institution's annual audited financial statements. At minimum, the visu- 44 al representation should consider finances spent on student services, 45 rent and upkeep, payment of professors and staff, and the amount spent 46 on advertising, and the federal financial responsibility composite score 47 of the institution. 48 (c) All actions by the federal government, an accreditor, another 49 state, or country taken against a for-profit institution of higher 50 education must be listed in a clear and conspicuous way on each for-pro- 51 fit institution's listing. 52 (d) The department should update the website listing for each proprie- 53 tary institution with any changes as such information is received and at 54 a minimum shall update annually each proprietary institution's listing 55 for accuracy.A. 7769--A 3 1 (e) The commissioner shall promulgate any necessary regulations for 2 the provisions relating to the website, including a full account of all 3 the metrics that the commissioner shall utilize for the visual represen- 4 tation portraying a for-profit institution's financial viability. The 5 commissioner shall also provide a process so that for-profit insti- 6 tutions may, if needed, challenge what is listed for their institution. 7 At no time during a challenge should a for-profit institution's listing 8 on the publicly accessible website be completely removed. 9 3. Rapid enrollment increases or decreases at for-profit institutions 10 of higher education. (a) If a program at a for-profit institution of 11 higher education that has been approved by the department has an 12 increase in enrollment equal to or more than fifteen percent on a year- 13 to-year basis such enrollment increase shall cause the department to 14 review the program within thirty business days. The review of the 15 program conducted by the department shall ensure that an institution is 16 still providing a quality education and is in full compliance with state 17 law and departmental regulations. If an institution is not in compliance 18 then the commissioner is empowered to take steps to remediate the issues 19 and shall flag any issues discovered on the publicly accessible website 20 pursuant to subdivision two of this section. 21 (b) If a program at for-profit institution of higher education that 22 has been approved by the department has a decrease in enrollment equal 23 to or more than fifteen percent on a year-to-year basis such enrollment 24 decrease shall cause the department to review the program within thirty 25 business days. The review of the program conducted by the department 26 shall ensure that an institution is still providing a quality education 27 and is in full compliance with state law and departmental regulations. 28 If an institution is not in compliance then the department is empowered 29 to take steps to remediate the issues and shall flag any issues discov- 30 ered on the publicly accessible website pursuant to subdivision two of 31 this section. 32 (c) For violations discovered because of reviews taken by the depart- 33 ment pursuant to paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subdivision, the 34 commissioner depending on the severity of the infraction shall have the 35 authority to require a for-profit institution of higher education to 36 operate under additional restrictions, including, but not limited to, 37 the following: 38 (i) Requiring the for-profit institution of higher education to enact 39 a remediation plan with periodic reporting; 40 (ii) Limiting new student enrollment into impacted programs at the 41 for-profit institution of higher education in question; or 42 (iii) Instituting a moratorium on any new programs or degrees or 43 certificates that can be issued by a for-profit institution of higher 44 education. 45 (d) The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations governing 46 the manner in which enrollment shall be tracked by the department using 47 existing incoming data. 48 (e) Nothing in this subdivision shall limit any options for such addi- 49 tional enforcement measures that the commissioner may have by any other 50 law, rule, or regulation in place at the time of the effective date of 51 this section. 52 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a 53 law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any 54 rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its 55 effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such 56 effective date.
