PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 10, 2025
Ensuring Distance Education Act
This bill treats revenue from distance education programs as nonfederal revenue for purposes of the 90/10 rule.
Generally, the 90/10 rule requires a for-profit institution of higher education (IHE) to derive at least 10% of its revenue from sources other than federal financial aid. Under current Department of Education regulations, for-profit IHEs are prohibited from including revenue from distance education programs (including hybrid distance education programs) as nonfederal revenue that meets this 10% requirement. The bill removes the prohibition and allows for distance education programs to be counted as nonfederal revenue for purposes of the rule.
People & committees
Rep. Owens, Burgess [R-UT-4] · R–UT
Legislative record
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Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Jan 23, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-10 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
H.R. 1174, the proposed Ensuring Distance Education Act, would change how revenue from programs taught wholly or partly remotely is treated under a higher-education revenue rule called the “90/10 rule.” It would specify that funds covered by the amended clause may include payments for those programs, regardless of where the programs operate.
This Act may be cited as the Ensuring Distance Education Act.
Treatment of revenue from certain distance education programs for purposes of the 90/10 rule
(which may include funds paid for a program offered in whole or in part through distance education regardless of the location from which such program is carried out)
Section 2 would insert the remote-program language after “under this title” in section 487(d)(1)(B)(iii) of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The insertion says the funds “may include” these payments; it does not require their inclusion. The existing clause is not reproduced, so the supplied text does not fully explain which funds or institutions it covers.
Section 487(d)(1)(B)(iii) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(d)(1)(B)(iii)) is amended by inserting (which may include funds paid for a program offered in whole or in part through distance education regardless of the location from which such program is carried out) after under this title.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated January 23, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Education and Workforce on February 10, 2025. It does not establish any later legislative outcome.
Source snapshot updated 2026-01-23T18:38:18Z. 2025-02-10: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. 2025-02-10: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-10. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version, not other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version, not other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out or preferential exception warranting a separate finding was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; missing statutory context limits assessment of its full scope.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Jan 23, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI