Bill Text: NY S05581 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Establishes the Non-Degree Proprietary School Supervision and Student Protection Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S05581 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S05581-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Establishes the Non-Degree Proprietary School Supervision and Student Protection Act.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO HIGHER EDUCATION [S05581 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S05581-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5581 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 7, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the "Non-De- gree Proprietary School Supervision and Student Protection Act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "Non-Degree Proprietary School Supervision and Student Protection 3 Act". 4 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 239-c to 5 read as follows: 6 § 239-c. Arbitration clauses in proprietary institution enrollment 7 contracts. No proprietary institution of higher education shall include 8 any provision requiring arbitration of disputes regarding any student 9 enrollment contract or agreement. 10 § 3. Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph c of subdivision 1 of section 11 5003 of the education law, as amended by chapter 381 of the laws of 12 2012, are amended to read as follows: 13 (1) Any person who believes he or she has been aggrieved by a 14 violation of this section, except a person aggrieved by the actions or 15 omissions of a candidate school, shall have the right to file a written 16 complaint within: (A) [two] six years of the alleged violation; or (B) 17 one year of receiving notification from the higher education services 18 corporation or any other guarantee agency that the student has defaulted 19 on a student loan payment[; provided, however, that no complaint may be20filed after three years from the date of the alleged violation]. The 21 commissioner shall maintain a written record of each complaint that is 22 made. The commissioner shall also send to the complainant a form 23 acknowledging the complaint and requesting further information if neces- 24 sary and shall advise the director of the school that a complaint has 25 been made and, where appropriate the nature of the complaint. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11533-02-9S. 5581 2 1 (2) The commissioner shall within twenty days of receipt of such writ- 2 ten complaint commence an investigation of the alleged violation and 3 shall within ninety days of the receipt of such written complaint, issue 4 a written finding. The commissioner shall furnish such findings to the 5 person who filed the complaint and to the chief operating officer of the 6 school cited in the complaint. If the commissioner finds that there has 7 been a violation of this section, the commissioner shall take appropri- 8 ate action. If the commissioner shall find that there has been a 9 violation of this section, the commissioner shall also place such a 10 finding on a publicly accessible website disclosing the institution that 11 was in violation and the substance of the complaint within thirty days 12 of the commissioner's finding. 13 § 4. Paragraphs a and b of subdivision 6 of section 5003 of the educa- 14 tion law, as amended by chapter 381 of the laws of 2012, are amended to 15 read as follows: 16 a. A hearing officer may recommend, and the commissioner may impose, a 17 civil penalty not to exceed [three] five thousand [five hundred] dollars 18 for any violation of this article, including a school's failure to offer 19 a course or program as approved by the commissioner. In the case of a 20 second or further violation committed within five years of the previous 21 violation, the liability shall be a civil penalty not to exceed [seven] 22 ten thousand [five hundred] dollars for each such violation. 23 b. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph a of this subdivision, 24 a hearing officer may recommend, and the commissioner may impose a civil 25 penalty not to exceed [seventy-five] one hundred thousand dollars or 26 double the documented amount from which the school benefited, whichever 27 is greater, for any of the following violations: (1) operation of a 28 school without a license in violation of section five thousand one of 29 this article; (2) operation of a school knowing that the school's 30 license has been suspended or revoked; (3) use of false, misleading, 31 deceptive or fraudulent advertising; (4) employment of recruiters on the 32 basis of a commission, bonus or quota, except as authorized by the 33 commissioner; (5) directing or authorizing recruiters to offer guaran- 34 tees of jobs upon completion of a course; (6) failure to make a tuition 35 refund when such failure is part of a pattern of misconduct; (7) the 36 offering of a course or program that has not been approved by the 37 commissioner; (8) admitting students, who subsequently drop out, who 38 were admitted in violation of the admission standards established by the 39 commissioner, where such admissions constitute a pattern of misconduct 40 and where the drop out resulted at least in part from such violation; 41 (9) failure to provide the notice of discontinuance and the plan 42 required by subdivision seven of section five thousand one of this arti- 43 cle; or (10) violation of any other provision of this article, or any 44 rule or regulation promulgated pursuant thereto, when such violation 45 constitutes part of a pattern of misconduct which significantly impairs 46 the educational quality of the program or programs being offered by the 47 school. For each enumerated offense, a second or further violation 48 committed within five years, shall be subject to a civil penalty not to 49 exceed one and one-half times the amount of the previous violation for 50 each such violation. 51 § 5. Subdivision 10 of section 5007 of the education law, as amended 52 by chapter 381 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows: 53 10. Management of the tuition reimbursement account. a. As used in 54 this subdivision, net balance is defined as the actual cash balance of 55 the account as determined by the commissioner on June thirtieth, nine- 56 teen hundred ninety-three and every three months thereafter. For theS. 5581 3 1 purpose of calculating the net balance, the commissioner shall not take 2 into consideration any refunds made from the account pursuant to para- 3 graphs d and f of subdivision four of this section for the year imme- 4 diately preceding the date on which the calculation is made. 5 b. In the event that the account has accumulated a net balance in 6 excess of [one] two million eight hundred thousand dollars, the commis- 7 sioner shall, with the approval of the director of the budget, waive an 8 amount not to exceed the amount due for the next quarterly assessment 9 pursuant to this section and subdivision nine of section five thousand 10 one of this article for schools which have paid sixteen quarters or more 11 of assessments only. In such event, payment of future quarterly assess- 12 ments shall be suspended for schools which have paid sixteen quarters or 13 more of assessments until the net balance of the account falls below 14 [one] two million three hundred thousand dollars. 15 c. In the event the net balance of the account falls below [one] two 16 million three hundred thousand dollars, if the quarterly assessment has 17 been suspended for schools which have paid sixteen quarters or more of 18 assessments pursuant to paragraph b of this subdivision, it shall be 19 reinstated for the next quarterly assessment and all subsequent quarter- 20 ly assessments until the account has accumulated a net balance in excess 21 of [one] two million eight hundred thousand dollars. 22 d. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph b of this subdivision, 23 in the event that the balance of the account is in excess of [one] two 24 million three hundred thousand dollars, all schools licensed after June 25 thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-nine shall be required to pay into 26 the account the equivalence of three years of annual assessments over a 27 five year period. 28 e. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph b of this subdivision 29 all schools licensed after June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-three 30 and before July first, nineteen hundred ninety-nine will be required to 31 pay into the account the equivalence of three years of annual assess- 32 ments within four years of the effective date of this paragraph. This 33 amount to be assessed shall be determined based upon the school's gross 34 tuition in its first three years of licensure. 35 f. In the event that the balance of the tuition reimbursement account 36 is equal to or in excess of three million dollars, up to five hundred 37 thousand dollars of the amounts assessed to schools in accordance with 38 the provisions of paragraphs d and e of this subdivision shall be appro- 39 priated to the department for the hiring of additional staff to perform 40 regulatory oversight of the schools covered under this article. 41 g. In the event that the balance of the tuition reimbursement account 42 is equal to or in excess of [two] three million five hundred one 43 dollars, the amounts assessed the schools in accordance with the 44 provisions of paragraphs d and e of this subdivision shall be deposited 45 directly to the proprietary vocational school supervision account. 46 h. The commissioner may annually apportion from the account an amount 47 up to two hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of securing, scanning 48 and otherwise making student records from closed schools available to 49 students who attended such schools. Provided, however, that in no case 50 shall such apportionment cause the account to fall below the balance set 51 forth in paragraph c of this subdivision, nor shall such apportionment 52 cause schools whose quarterly assessments have been suspended to pay 53 additional quarterly assessments. 54 § 6. Subdivision 5 of section 5002 of the education law is amended by 55 adding a new paragraph g to read as follows:S. 5581 4 1 g. (1) The commissioner shall require, as part of all reapproval 2 applications, that available data be submitted on the gainful employment 3 outcomes of students for each curriculum or course up for reapproval. 4 The commissioner shall be authorized to promulgate rules and regulations 5 that define and detail what shall be required as part of such 6 submission. The submission must, at a minimum include the average amount 7 of student debt a student leaves the curriculum or course carrying and 8 the average adjusted gross income that students attain three years after 9 the students have completed the curriculum or course that is up for 10 reapproval. 11 (2) Institutions submitting student data pertaining to gainful employ- 12 ment outcome shall attest to the completeness and accuracy of the infor- 13 mation submitted to the commissioner under penalty for violation of 14 fraudulent statements or representations to the department as outlined 15 under section five thousand three of this article. 16 § 7. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this act or the 17 application thereof to any person or circumstances, shall, for any 18 reason, be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, 19 such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of 20 this act, and the application thereof to other person or circumstances, 21 but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, para- 22 graph, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which 23 such judgment shall have been rendered and to the person or circum- 24 stances involved. It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent 25 that this act would have been adopted had such invalid provisions not 26 been included. 27 § 8. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 28 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 29 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 30 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 31 completed on or before such effective date.
