College Employment Accountability Act

Summary

Makes colleges and universities ineligible for federal student aid and other federal institutional aid if they unlawfully employ unauthorized workers or if they do not participate in the federal E-Verify employment‑eligibility system. Requires the Department of Homeland Security to check every six months which institutions participate in E‑Verify and to notify the Secretary of Education within 10 days if an institution is not enrolled or is found to be in violation of federal unlawful‑employment rules.

• Requires all institutions that participate in federal student aid programs to enroll in and maintain participation in the E‑Verify employment‑eligibility system.
• Makes an institution ineligible for federal student assistance and institutional aid if it unlawfully employs unauthorized workers under federal immigration employment statutes.
• Directs DHS to check every six months whether each institution participates in E‑Verify and to notify Education within 10 days of nonparticipation or a violation.
• Adds E‑Verify participation as an explicit continuing condition in institutions' program participation agreements under the Higher Education Act.
• Ineligibility for federal aid applies "notwithstanding any other provision of law," making it a primary statutory condition.
• Does not change underlying immigration criminal statutes but links findings under those statutes to higher education funding eligibility.
• No new appropriations are specified; compliance costs (E‑Verify enrollment, recordkeeping, potential legal defense) would largely fall on institutions.
• Students at affected institutions could lose access to federal loans and grants if their college becomes ineligible for federal aid.
• State and public universities may face tensions between state employment rules and the federal E‑Verify requirement.