Change of Ownership and Conversion Improvement Act
Term Dictionary
If you come across any unfamiliar words while reading, these resources can help make everything clearer. Pick whichever one works best for you!
- Congress.gov Legislative Glossary - Comprehensive congressional terms
- NVFC Congressional Terms Glossary - Concise, easy-to-understand definitions
The gist
Forces the Department of Education to approve or deny college ownership-change applications within 90 days. Schools pay fees to fund the faster reviews.
Who wins, who loses
- Wins: colleges merging or converting to nonprofit status, currently stuck waiting up to 5 years for approval.
- Loses: student-protection advocates worried auto-approval and fast-tracking enables sham nonprofit conversions by for-profit chains.
What it does
- Sets 90-day review deadline; missed deadlines mean automatic approval of the application.
- Charges schools 0.15% of federal aid revenue (0.30% for conversions), capped at $120,000 per application.
- Requires 5-year monitoring of converted schools with annual fees up to $60,000 to catch self-dealing.
- Blocks schools from marketing as nonprofit until Education Department, accreditor, state, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) all approve.
Why should I care?
Supporters say slow reviews block innovation and leave struggling colleges in limbo, hurting students. Critics argue auto-approval after 90 days is risky ā€” some for-profit chains have faked nonprofit conversions to dodge rules while funneling money to former owners. The monitoring fees try to catch that, but watchdogs want stricter review, not faster. Where do you land? Vote below and use "Tell Your Rep" to make sure your voice reaches Congress.