No official summary available for this bill.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5812 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5812
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to cap certain
intercollegiate athletics compensation and buyouts as a condition of
institutional participation in Federal student aid programs, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 24, 2025
Mr. Baumgartner introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Education and Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to cap certain
intercollegiate athletics compensation and buyouts as a condition of
institutional participation in Federal student aid programs, and for
other purposes.
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 ``Correcting Opportunity and
Accountability in Collegiate Hiring Act (COACH Act)''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(a) Intercollegiate athletics, when properly governed, promote
student development and broad-based participation aligned with
educational missions.
(b) Institutions participating in programs under title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) receive
substantial Federal support and tax advantages, creating a heightened
obligation to manage athletics in service of educational priorities and
equal opportunity.
(c) Escalating compensation and buyouts for athletics personnel can
divert resources from academic priorities and broad-based
opportunities, including women's and Olympic sports, and warrant
reasonable, uniform guardrails as a condition of title IV
participation.
(d) Federal courts have held that the National Collegiate Athletic
Association's caps on coaches' pay violate antitrust laws--e.g., Law v.
NCAA (10th Cir. 1998) permanently enjoining the NCAA's ``restricted-
earnings coach'' salary cap rule--and have continued to scrutinize
coach-compensation restraints (including rules setting compensation to
zero); therefore, any statutory cap must be accompanied by a targeted
antitrust safe harbor to permit collective implementation and
enforcement.
SEC. 3. PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.
Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(30) Limitations on intercollegiate athletics
compensation and buyouts.--
``(A) Compensation cap.--As a condition of
eligibility under this title, the institution shall
ensure that the total annual compensation paid,
promised, or provided to any athletics department
employee does not exceed 10 times the institution's
tuition and required fees for a first-time, full-time
undergraduate for the most recent academic year.
``(B) Buyouts and separation payments.--Any payment
to terminate, buy out, or settle an employment
agreement with an athletics department employee shall
be treated as compensation for purposes of subparagraph
(A) in the year paid, and may not cause the cap in
subparagraph (A) to be exceeded.
``(C) Conference and affiliate coverage.--The
institution shall ensure compliance with this paragraph
for any agreement entered by an athletics conference,
media-rights consortium, collective, foundation, or
other affiliate that allocates, assigns, or provides
compensation or buyouts to the institution's athletics
department employees.
``(D) Certification and disclosure.--The Secretary
shall require annual program participation agreement
certification that the institution and its affiliates
are in compliance with this paragraph and shall require
public disclosure of the cap amount for the year and
the tuition and required fees figure used to calculate
it and the number of covered employees whose total
annual compensation is within 10 percent of the cap.
``(E) Transition.--
``(i) Written employment agreements
executed before the date of this Act may
continue for their remaining original term
(excluding extensions or renewals), provided
that the agreement and scheduled payments are
disclosed under subparagraph (D); and no
amendment increases compensation above amounts
stated in the agreement as of the date of this
Act.
``(ii) Prospective compliance.--Agreements
executed on or after the date of this Act shall
comply with this paragraph.
``(F) Definitions.--In this paragraph, the term:
``(i) Athletics department employee--means
any employee of the institution (or of a
related organization acting for the
institution) whose primary duties relate to
intercollegiate athletics, including head and
assistant coaches, the director of athletics,
associate or assistant athletic directors, and
senior athletics administrators.
``(ii) Tuition and required fees--means the
published undergraduate tuition and required
fees for a first-time, full-time undergraduate
student at the institution, as reported to the
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
pursuant to section 487(a)(17) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(17)).
For public institutions with differential
resident and nonresident rates, the in-state
figure applies.
``(iii) Athletics conference--means a
voluntary association of institutions of higher
education formed to organize, regulate, or
commercialize intercollegiate varsity athletics
competition, including any media-rights or
data-rights affiliate.
``(iv) `Total annual compensation'--means
wages, salaries, stipends, allowances,
incentive or performance bonuses, signing or
retention bonuses, deferred compensation,
employer retirement contributions above
standard plan matches, severance, buyouts,
cancellation or mitigation payments, in-kind
compensation, appearance fees, debt servicing,
debt relief, and any other compensation paid by
or through a related organization (including a
foundation, booster organization, media arm, or
affiliate) or a third party under an
arrangement to perform services for the
institution.''.
SEC. 4. LIABILITY LIMITATION.
(a) In General.--Adoption of, agreement to, compliance with, or
enforcement of any rule, regulation, requirement, standard, or other
provision established pursuant to, or in compliance with, section 3 of
this Act shall be treated as lawful under the antitrust laws and any
similar State provision having the force and effect of law.
(b) Antitrust Laws.--The term ``antitrust laws'' in sub-paragraph
(a) has the meaning given such term in the 1st section of the Clayton
Act (15 U.S.C. 12) and includes section 5 of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent that such section 5 applies
to unfair methods of competition.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line