Foreign Medical School Accountability Fairness Act of 2017
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text as introduced in Senate: CR S2367-2368)
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Apr 5, 2017
Foreign Medical School Accountability Fairness Act of 2017 This bill amends title I (General Provisions) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise institutional eligibility criteria for a foreign graduate medical school to participate in federal student aid programs.
Current law requires a foreign graduate medical school to meet certain requirements—a minimum pass rate threshold on the medical licensing exam and a minimum percentage of foreign students—to participate in the Federal Direct Loan (DL) program, unless the Department of Education (ED) establishes alternative standards or the school has a grandfathered clinical training program. This bill terminates ED's authority to establish alternative standards and eliminates the exemption for a school with a grandfathered clinical training program (i.e., it requires all foreign graduate medical schools to meet minimum requirements to participate in the DL program).
Source last updated: Aug 11, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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