H.R. 9748, Student Protection & Program Accountability. Quorum's AI analysis reads it as a net benefit — and names who gains.
H.R. 9748 · Net good
What it does
This bill creates federal standards for college and vocational programs that receive federal student aid. It requires programs preparing students for licensed occupations to ensure graduates can actually get licensed in the states where they're marketed, and it establishes a 'debt-to-earnings' test: programs fail if graduates' annual loan payments exceed 20% of discretionary income or 8% of total earnings for 2 of any 3 years. Failed programs lose federal funding and cannot restart for 3 years. The bill also requires distance-education programs to comply with each state's authorization rules.
The analysis did not isolate a single beneficiary class.
The trade-off
Programs serving low-income fields (social work, counseling, public service) may face disproportionate failure risk if earnings thresholds do not account for mission-driven, lower-paying careers, potentially reducing access to training in underserved sectors.
The analysis put a high warning level on this bill. Transparency scores 65%, and the analysis found no provisions unrelated to the bill's subject.
Who is behind it
Filed by Raja Krishnamoorthi. Cosponsored by Adelita Grijalva and Danny Davis.