SB17-118 Summary

• Private occupational schools must provide prospective students with expanded disclosures including program completion rates, employment rates, median salary, student loan debt information, loan repayment rates, and legal barriers to entry into occupations before enrollment.

• The private occupational school board shall prescribe uniform policies and procedures for schools to collect and report required information, with authority to exempt schools from burdensome requirements or provide extended timelines for unavailable data.

• The Department of Higher Education shall use collected data to populate a free, public online comparative tool by July 1, 2018, allowing prospective students and the public to compare postsecondary education and training programs in Colorado.

• The comparative tool must include career selection information, job demand projections, program costs, completion rates, employment and earnings data from wage record matching, and aggregate student loan debt information.

• The department must report to the general assembly on comparative tool implementation during interim presentations before the 2018 and 2019 legislative sessions, and explain any failure to integrate the tool with state higher education and apprenticeship program information.