PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S1706-1715)
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Mar 12, 2025
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.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
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.
People & committees
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] · D–IL
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text: CR S1706-1715)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Feb 12, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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