The U.S. House has passed legislation that, among other provisions, would make fixes to a veterans training bill that appeared to bar incentive-based compensation in international-student recruitment.
The veterans bill, known as the THRIVE Act, did not include an exemption for overseas recruitment from a broader ban on the payment of commissions in student recruitment. The lack of an exemption seems to have been an inadvertent oversight by lawmakers, but it thrust the use of agents, which has become more common in recent years, into an
unexpected gray area.
Under the THRIVE Act, which took effect over the summer, colleges that use agents run the risk of jeopardizing their GI Bill funds. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs issued
internal policy guidance that appeared to confirm it was interpreting the new law to mean that Congress intended to prohibit incentive compensation for international students.
Higher-education groups have pressed to amend the THRIVE Act, saying that action was needed to bring clarity to overseas recruitment.
Federal student-aid law bans the payment of commissions domestically but has long included a carve-out permitting the practice for the recruitment of “foreign students residing in foreign countries who are not eligible to receive federal assistance.” The legislative fix adds back in that language, bringing the THRIVE Act in line with the Higher Education Act.
The measure’s sponsor, Rep. David Trone, a Maryland Democrat, said it would “allow universities to continue recruiting foreign students so that student bodies can remain diverse.”
The technical-corrections bill easily passed the House and was sent to the Senate, where a
similar measure was introduced last month.
Higher-ed officials told me they were optimistic about swift approval by the Senate. “We are hopeful that the Senate will take up and pass the bill quickly, possibly as soon as next week.” said Rachel Banks, senior director for public policy and legislative strategy at NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
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