HR 6282 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
Providing Distance Education for Foreign Institutions Act
To amend title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide program eligibility for distance education programs offered by foreign institutions of higher education.
Summary
This bill would make distance education programs offered by foreign universities eligible for federal student financial aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act. Foreign institutions would need to have at most 12.5 percent of the program delivered through distance education and must be evaluated by an accrediting agency or government entity as capable of effectively delivering distance education. Students using federal aid would be required to be physically present in the country where the foreign institution is located during distance education instruction. The eligibility would take effect three months after the bill's enactment.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
3 cosponsors
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Lloyd Smucker’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $44,770
- DIRECT WIRE AND CABLE $13,200
- SELECT MEDICAL $11,600
- LANCASTER SCHOOL OF COSMETOLOGY $11,100
- SCENIC RIDGE $8,425
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Lloyd Smucker → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Nov 21, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- Nov 21, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 21, 2025
Mr. Smucker (for himself and Mr. Schneider) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To amend title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide program eligibility for distance education programs offered by foreign institutions of higher education.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Providing Distance Education for Foreign Institutions Act”.
SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS OFFERED BY FOREIGN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
(a) In General.—Section 481(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088(b)) is amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (3), the following:
“(4)(A) An otherwise eligible program that is offered by a foreign institution and is offered in part through distance education is eligible for the purposes of this title if—
“(i) not more than 12.5 percent of such program consists of courses offered principally through distance education;
“(ii) the foreign institution has been evaluated and determined by an outside oversight entity, such as an accrediting agency or association or government entity, to have the capability to effectively deliver distance education programs; and
“(iii) the students receiving aid under this title are physically present in the country where the foreign institution is located during the distance education instruction.
“(B) In calculating the percentage of a program offered through distance education for purposes of clause (i) of subparagraph (A), any course that is part of such a program that requires a student’s regular in-person attendance for more than 50 percent of the instruction, but also includes one or more distance education components as part of the course, shall not be considered to be offered principally through distance education.”.
(b) Effective Date and Application.—The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act, and shall apply with respect to the first semester (or the equivalent) that begins after such date, but not earlier than 3 months after such date.
(c) Conforming Amendment.—Section 83002(b) of Public Law 119-21 is amended by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
“(1) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively; and”. <all>
Comments