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S 3550 112th Congress Senate

Advancing College Choice and Ethics to Protect Taxpayers Act of 2012

Official title: A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to protect students from deceptive practices and high-pressure sales by institutions of higher education, to p… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to protect students from deceptive practices and high-pressure sales by institutions of higher education, to provide a waiting period for students to make enrollment decisions, to guard against misrepresentation, to standardize and elevate institutional disclosures, and for other purposes.

Introduced: November 13, 2012 Introduced by: Blumenthal, Richard Democratic · Connecticut See on congress.gov
Education Administrative law and regulatory proceduresBusiness ethicsConsumer affairsDepartment of Education
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Fraud offenses and financial crimesGovernment information and archivesHigher educationLicensing and registrationsMarketing and advertisingSchool administrationStudent aid and college costsWages and earnings
This bill died when the 112th Congress ended
It never became law before the 112th Congress (2011–2012) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Sep 13, 2012
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sep 13, 2012
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action September 13, 2012

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Advancing College Choice and Ethics to Protect Taxpayers Act of 2012 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to bar the Secretary of Education from issuing new regulations related to the prohibition against provision of incentive compensation by institutions of higher education (IHEs) to certain school employees based on their success in securing student enrollments or financial aid.

Prohibits IHEs from engaging in deceptive practices likely to mislead consumers or affect their decisions.

Requires IHEs with a Student Default Risk Index for a year of 0.1 or greater to: (1) give individuals whose enrollment has been accepted at least two weeks to confirm their enrollment decision without the school's making benefit decisions contingent on an earlier decision; and (2) notify those individuals of financial aid determinations at least one week before the enrollment confirmation deadline, if they have submitted the requested application forms.

Penalizes IHEs that substantially misrepresent: (1) the space available in a program for which an individual is considering enrollment, (2) admission requirements, (3) the transferability of credits, (4) whether a program qualifies students to sit for licensing examinations or obtain employment certifications, and (5) the success of their students in obtaining those licenses or certifications. (This is in addition to prohibiting a school from misrepresenting its educational program, financial charges, or graduates' employability.)

Increases, and alters the formula for determining, the penalties imposed on IHEs that violate title IV provisions.

Directs the Secretary annually to produce and make available to IHEs and the public standardized disclosure sheets with IHE data, and state, IHE category, and national averages.

Requires IHEs to provide their students and individuals accepted for enrollment with that disclosure sheet which includes specified information regarding student costs, financial aid, debt and default rates, transfer and dropout rates, and the school's obligations under title IV.

Requires IHEs to provide students and prospective students with the process for registering a complaint with the school's accreditor.

Requires IHEs to provide individuals that have been accepted for enrollment with certain information about financial aid, the school, its procedures, and its graduates in a manner that allows them to take that information into account before making a final enrollment decision.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 3550: Advancing College Choice and Ethics to Protect Taxpayers Act of 2012. 112th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-3550/
MLA
"S. 3550: Advancing College Choice and Ethics to Protect Taxpayers Act of 2012." 112th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-3550/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 3550, 112th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-3550/.
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[S. 3550: Advancing College Choice and Ethics to Protect Taxpayers Act of 2012](https://openamerica.io/bill/112-S-3550/)
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