College Employment Accountability Act

This proposal would tie a college’s access to federal student aid and federal institutional aid to its hiring practices. If a college is found to employ people who are not authorized to work in the United States, it would lose eligibility for those federal funds under the Higher Education Act. To keep eligibility, colleges would be required to use the federal E‑Verify system when hiring.

The Department of Homeland Security would check every six months whether colleges are using E‑Verify and would alert the Department of Education within 10 days if a college is breaking hiring laws or not using E‑Verify. That notice could lead to the college losing access to federal student aid programs.

Key points:

• Who is affected: Colleges and universities, their employees, and students who rely on federal student aid at those schools.
• What changes: Colleges that hire workers not authorized to work would be ineligible for federal aid; all participating colleges must use E‑Verify for employment checks.
• Oversight: Homeland Security monitors every six months and must notify Education within 10 days of any violations or failure to use E‑Verify.