ENGROSSED HOUSE BILL 1279
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Pollet, Leavitt, Doglio, Reed, and Simmons
Read first time 01/14/25. Referred to Committee on Postsecondary Education & Workforce.
AN ACT Relating to postsecondary education consumer protections; amending RCW 28B.85.020 , 28B.85.070 , 28B.85.090 , and 28B.85.095 ; adding a new section to chapter 28B.85 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the Washington state attorney general and the attorneys general of 24 other states and the District of Columbia have found that online or distance education entities pose unique risks to student consumers. These risks may harm both students and the taxpayers in students' home states. The Washington state attorney general, along with the attorneys general of 24 other states and the District of Columbia, have urged the national council for the state authorization reciprocity agreement to reform the standards of state authorization reciprocity agreements. The national council for state authorization reciprocity agreements is not directly accountable to participating states and has had significant potential for conflict of interest.
According to the joint letter from the offices of the attorneys general, the national council for state authorization reciprocity agreements' current policies "do not adequately guard against the unique risks that arise from distance learning. For instance, NC-SARA's policy prohibiting member states from enforcing education-specific consumer protection laws against out-of-state NC-SARA participating schools undermines our Offices' and other state agencies' ability to protect students in our states. It also creates a two-tiered system of protection, in which students attending NC-SARA-participating schools receive the benefit of fewer consumer protection laws than students attending schools based in our state or attending schools that do not participate in NC-SARA. This incentivizes NC-SARA participating schools to locate in states with weaker education-specific consumer protection laws, such as financial protections in the event of unanticipated closure, to avoid having to comply with more student-protective laws. Our conversations with some of the representatives of state entities that enforce NC-SARA rules showed that they share this concern."