Puerto Rico Higher Education Disaster Relief Act

Puerto Rico Higher Education Disaster Relief Act

This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to waive the 90-10 rule through FY2020 for proprietary (i.e., for-profit) institutions of higher education impacted by Hurricane Irma or Maria. Under the 90-10 rule, such institutions must derive at least 10% of their revenue from nonfederal sources or risk becoming ineligible for federal financial aid.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5850 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5850

 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to waive the 90-10 rule for 
     proprietary institutions impacted by Hurricanes Irma or Maria.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 16, 2018

Miss Gonzalez-Colon of Puerto Rico introduced the following bill; which 
      was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to waive the 90-10 rule for 
     proprietary institutions impacted by Hurricanes Irma or Maria.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Puerto Rico Higher Education 
Disaster Relief Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On September 6, 2017, Hurricane Irma made landfall in 
        Puerto Rico, particularly affecting its east coast and the 
        islands of Vieques and Culebra.
            (2) While Puerto Rico was recovering from Hurricane Irma, 
        on September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto 
        Rico as a category 4 hurricane, being the worst storm to strike 
        the Island in over 80 years.
            (3) Consequently, Puerto Rican institutions of higher 
        education have faced extraordinary expenses to continue their 
        operations, such as power generators, fuel, additional security 
        guards, transportation, cleaning, reconstruction, food, potable 
        water, among others. In most cases, the insurance companies are 
        not covering the damages or losses or have delayed payments.
            (4) Students in Puerto Rico lack the funds to cover their 
        tuition payment plans because they have been using such funds 
        to deal with their own extraordinary expenses in the aftermath 
        of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. While other students are leaving 
        the Island and continuing their studies in the contiguous 
        United States.
            (5) As a result of Hurrianes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rican 
        for-profit higher education institutions are unable to comply 
        with the 90-10 Rule under section 487(a)(24) of the Higher 
        Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1084(a)(24)) because they are 
        unable to meet the requirement that not less than ten percent 
        of such institution's revenues be derived from sources other 
        than funds provided under title IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1070 
        et seq.).

SEC. 3. WAIVER OF 90-10 RULE.

    Section 487(a)(24) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1084(a)(24)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(24) In the case of'' and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(24)(A) In the case of''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect 
                to fiscal years 2018 through 2020 to an institution 
                described in such subparagraph (A) that is located in 
                an area declared as a major disaster under the Robert 
                T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
                Act resulting from Hurricane Irma or Maria.''.
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