# 119-s-5021: Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act

119-s-5021, Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-31).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5021
- As of: 2026-07-31
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5021
- Congress: 119
- Title: Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-16
- Sponsor: Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-31

## Summary

**Require programs to meet strict debt-to-earnings and licensure-access rules** to stop institutions from enrolling students into programs that leave graduates unable to get licensed or to repay loans. - Students and families: Students in programs that fail the new debt-to-earnings tests or cannot show licensure access could lose federal aid for that program. The Secretary must match earnings data and warn students when risks appear. - Institutions: Colleges must demonstrate within 1 year that graduates can take required State licensure exams where the institution advertises and must provide timely clinical placements or internships. A program that fails the debt-to-earnings standard in 2 of any 3 years can be cut off from federal education assistance and must wait 3 years to regain eligibility. - Programs and States: The bill extends earnings-outcomes rules to undergraduate certificates and tipped professions and requires institutions to be legally authorized in each State where enrolled students live. State reciprocity counts only if the State documents complaint handling and enforcement, and the STATS rule will have no force for tipped professions as of July 1, 2027.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL), 2026-07-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2026-07-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2026-07-29T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Stricter debt-to-earnings rules: cost, high. This bill would create strict debt-to-earnings tests for career programs. A cohort would fail if discretionary DTE is 20% or higher and annual DTE is 8% or higher for the same cohort period. A program would fail if two of any three consecutive award years have failing cohorts. Programs that fail wo…
- Schools must prove licensure access: mixed, medium. This bill would require institutions to certify by the first December 31 after enactment that their eligible programs meet the new rules. The certification must be signed by the institution's top executive and updated within 10 days of changes. For programs that lead to licensure, schools would hav…
- State authorization for online schools: mixed, medium. This bill would require institutions offering distance education to be legally authorized in every State where their enrolled students live. If a school is in a State authorization reciprocity agreement, it could rely on that agreement only if it documents that each State where its students live ha…
- Who the bill covers: mixed, low. This bill would define key terms used throughout the Act. It would say which places count as States, which freely associated States are included, what 'Federal education assistance funds' means, and which institutions count as institutions of higher education. These definitions would decide who the…

## Related bills

- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026
- 119-s-1503: Equality Act
- 119-s-1232: Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act

## Sources
- [119-s-5021 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5021)

## Related
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503)
- [119-s-1232: Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1232)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5021 (as of 2026-07-31).