# 119-s-994: PROTECT Students Act of 2025

119-s-994, PROTECT Students Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-994
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-994
- Congress: 119
- Title: PROTECT Students Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-03-12
- Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Cosponsors: 2
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**This bill tightens accountability for colleges and strengthens borrower protections.** It sets new gainful-employment tests, expands borrower-defense and closed-school discharges, and creates stronger oversight and transparency for institutions and third-party servicers. - Students and families: Programs must meet new debt-to-earnings tests to keep Title IV aid, failing if discretionary debt-to-earnings is at least 20% or annual debt-to-earnings is at least 8%. Closed-school rules also create an entitlement to discharge for students who cannot finish because a school closed. - Institutions and servicers: Colleges must report detailed spending and by 2026–2027 begin meeting a minimum that effectively targets at least 30% of tuition and fees to instruction through 2031–2032. The bill expands oversight of third-party servicers, bans enforcement of arbitration clauses in enrollment contracts, and bars withholding official transcripts for unpaid balances. - Borrowers and enforcement: The Department can discharge loans for substantial misrepresentation and must reimburse payments, clear adverse credit entries, and remove discharged loans from Title IV histories. The bill creates a new Enforcement Unit, an interagency oversight committee, a centralized Complaint Tracking System, and raises civil penalties up to $100,000 per violation or an alternative equal to 1.0% of an institution's Title IV funds per violation.

## Cosponsors (2)

- Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-03-12T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More loan relief for student borrowers: benefit, high. If enacted, the Department would expand borrower-defense and closed-school discharges. You could get a covered Title IV loan discharged if the Department finds by a preponderance of the evidence that your school substantially misled you, breached its contract, engaged in deceptive recruitment, or f…
- Stronger enforcement and consumer rights: benefit, medium. If enacted, the Department would build a new Enforcement Unit and a central complaint system with one toll-free line and website. The Department must answer complainants in writing within 90 days, and schools and servicers must respond to the Department within 60 days. Penalties and recoupment powe…
- New college quality and spending rules: mixed, high. If enacted, the bill would set numeric gainful-employment tests and a 30% instruction spending floor for Title IV schools. A program could fail if discretionary debt-to-earnings is at least 20% and annual debt-to-earnings is at least 8%, or if earnings premium is zero or negative, and failing 2 of…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act
- 119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act

## Sources
- [119-s-994 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/994)

## Related
- [119-s-5071: Children's Safe Welcome Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5071)
- [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-2763: Keep Billionaires Out of Social Security Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2763)
- [119-s-3869: Healthy Families Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3869)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-994 (as of 2026-04-21).