Section 454 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087d) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (5), by striking “and” after the semicolon;
(B) by redesignating paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); and
(C) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:
“(6) provide assurances that, beginning July 1, 2026, the institution will comply with all requirements of subsection (c); and”;
(2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking “and (6)” and inserting “(6), and (7)”;
(3) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
(4) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
“(c) Ineligibility for certain programs based on low earning outcomes.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 481(b), an institution of higher education subject to this subsection shall not use funds under this part for student enrollment in an educational program offered by the institution that is described in paragraph (2).
“(2) LOW-EARNING OUTCOME PROGRAMS DESCRIBED.—An educational program at an institution is described in this paragraph if the program awards an undergraduate degree, graduate or professional degree, or graduate certificate, for which the median earnings (as determined by the Secretary) of the programmatic cohort of students who received funds under this title for enrollment in such program, who completed such program during the academic year that is 4 years before the year of the determination, who are not enrolled in any institution of higher education, and who are working, are, for not less than 2 of the 3 years immediately preceding the date of the determination, less than the median earnings of a working adult described in paragraph (3) for the corresponding year.
“(3) CALCULATION OF MEDIAN EARNINGS.—
“(A) WORKING ADULT.—For purposes of applying paragraph (2) to an educational program at an institution, a working adult described in this paragraph is a working adult who, for the corresponding year—
“(i) is aged 25 to 34;
“(ii) is not enrolled in an institution of higher education; and
“(iii) (I) in the case of a determination made for an educational program that awards a baccalaureate or lesser degree, has only a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent; or
“(II) in the case of a determination made for a graduate or professional program, has only a baccalaureate degree.
“(B) SOURCE OF DATA.—For purposes of applying paragraph (2) to an educational program at an institution, the median earnings of a working adult, as described in subparagraph (A), shall be based on data from the Bureau of the Census—
“(i) with respect to an educational program that awards a baccalaureate or lesser degree—
“(I) for the State in which the institution is located; or
“(II) if fewer than 50 percent of the students enrolled in the institution reside in the State where the institution is located, for the entire United States; and
“(ii) with respect to an educational program that is a graduate or professional program—
“(I) for the lowest median earnings of—
“(aa) a working adult in the State in which the institution is located;
“(bb) a working adult in the same field of study (as determined by the Secretary, such as by using the 2-digit CIP code) in the State in which the institution is located; and
“(cc) a working adult in the same field of study (as so determined) in the entire United States; or
“(II) if fewer than 50 percent of the students enrolled in the institution reside in the State where the institution is located, for the lower median earnings of—
“(aa) a working adult in the entire United States; or
“(bb) a working adult in the same field of study (as so determined) in the entire United States.
“(4) SMALL PROGRAMMATIC COHORTS.—For any year for which the programmatic cohort described in paragraph (2) for an educational program of an institution is fewer than 30 individuals, the Secretary shall—
“(A) first, aggregate additional years of programmatic data in order to achieve a cohort of at least 30 individuals; and
“(B) second, in cases in which the cohort (including the individuals added under subparagraph (A)) is still fewer than 30 individuals, aggregate additional cohort years of programmatic data for educational programs of equivalent length in order to achieve a cohort of at least 30 individuals.
“(5) APPEALS PROCESS.—An educational program shall not lose eligibility under this subsection unless the institution has had the opportunity to appeal the programmatic median earnings of students working and not enrolled determination under paragraph (2), through a process established by the Secretary. During such appeal, the Secretary may permit the educational program to continue to participate in the program under this part.
“(6) NOTICE TO STUDENTS.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—If an educational program of an institution of higher education subject to this subsection does not meet the cohort median earning requirements, as described in paragraph (2), for one year during the applicable covered period but has not yet failed to meet such requirements for 2 years during such covered period, the institution shall promptly inform each student enrolled in the educational program of the eligible program’s low cohort median earnings and that the educational program is at risk of losing its eligibility for funds under this part.
“(B) COVERED PERIOD.—In this paragraph, the term ‘covered period’ means the period of the 3 years immediately preceding the date of a determination made under paragraph (2).
“(7) REGAINING PROGRAMMATIC ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary shall establish a process by which an institution of higher education that has an educational program that has lost eligibility under this subsection may, after a period of not less than 2 years of such program’s ineligibility, apply to regain such eligibility, subject to the requirements established by the Secretary that further the purpose of this subsection.”.