The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid (the Department) announced that it extended the reporting deadline for the financial value transparency and gainful employment (FVT/GE) rule. Specifically, it extends the deadline for evaluation of Completers Lists and debt reporting for the 2024 cycle, as well as for submission of corrections to prior reporting. The “Department does not plan to produce any FVT/GE metrics prior to the new deadline and will take no enforcement or other punitive actions against institutions who have been unable to complete reporting to date.” The new deadline is September 30, 2025.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Program Integrity & Gainful Employment
Summary from the National Association of College and University Business Officers on legislative and regulatory actions that occurred from February 4-10, 2025. This summary highlights: (1) NACUBO joined the American Council on Education (ACE) in a letter sent to the U.S. Department of State highlighting higher education issues that the Department of State should prioritize; (2) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has ordered staff to halt most of their work, campus leaders are advised to still work with counsel to determine if they are subject to CFPB’s Nonbank Registry rule; (3) the U.S. Department of Education announced that it is accepting comments through April 7, 2025, on the Free Application of Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for award year 2026-27; (4) Supplemental Guidance from the National Institutes of Health on eliminating negotiated indirect cost rates and establishing a new standard indirect cost rate of 15% was issued February 7, 2025; and (5) nonprofits are preparing to defend their tax-exempt status in light of a list of revenue-raising options that was circulated by GOP lawmakers, which included proposals to eliminate hospitals’ nonprofit status, expand the endowment tax on private universities, and make scholarships and fellowship income taxable income.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act
Order granting Defendants’ Consent Motion to Stay Proceedings. Plaintiffs, the American Association of Cosmetology Schools and the Duvall’s School of Cosmetology L.L.C. filed a complaint in December of 2023 against the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) that alleged the proposed gainful-employment rule would jeopardize the “very existence” of cosmetology schools by way of its allegedly flawed measurements and encouraged the court to block the regulations from taking effect. Under the Rule, which took effect in July 2024, plaintiffs alleged that most cosmetology schools would fail, and that the Rule is arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, and unconstitutional. Pursuant to the challenged gainful employment regulations, the Department must complete two years’ worth of calculations under the regulations’ two performance metrics before any gainful employment program could lose Title IV eligibility. Due to the impending deadline, defendants sought a 90-day stay of proceedings to allow for incoming Department officials in the new Administration to become familiar with and evaluate their position regarding the issues in this case. The Court granted defendants’ Motion to Stay, and they have 90 days to file a response outlining their position on a set of regulations, with the new deadline of May 16, 2025.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Program Integrity & Gainful Employment
Summary from the National Association of College and University Business Officers on legislative and regulatory actions that occurred from January 7-27, 2025. This summary highlights: (1) NACUBO endorsed the Government Finance Officers Association’s (GFOA) data brief, “Built by Bonds” that highlights the importance of tax-exempt municipal bonds in financing infrastructure projects; (2) The U.S. Department of Education updated its FAQ on Financial Responsibility to add clarity around reporting year changes and possible impacts to compliance audit submissions; (3) President Donald Trump’s Executive Order aimed at terminating DEI and Affirmative Action Programs; (4) the IRS released guidance on the Clean Vehicle Credit; (5) the IRS announced tax relief for those impacted by the California Wildfires, including colleges and universities located in Los Angeles County; (6) the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published final regulations to scale back regulatory language on disclosures for fees; (7) the Department of Education reopened the reporting process for the Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) regulations until February 18, 2025; and (8) in its final days the Biden administration reminded institutions of misrepresentation rules and applicability to third-party services through a Dear Colleague Letter.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act
The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid (the Department) announced that it reopened the reporting process for debt and other information until February 18, 2025, while the completers list associated with Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) is being used to calculate median earnings information. The announcement also identifies common issues seen by the Department during the reporting process and provides information on how institutions can address those issues, as well as what steps an institution should take if it is unable to timely complete debt reporting.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Program Integrity & Gainful Employment
The U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released a record of OCR’s enforcement records during the Biden-Harris Administration titled “Protecting Civil Rights: Highlights of Activities, Office for Civil Rights 2021-25.” The record details OCR’s accomplishments in the past four years, specifying achievements in the highest number of resolutions in OCR’s history; 114 resolved complaints; publication of Civil Rights Data; and publication of 64 policy resources, comprising what OCR describes as the most productive four years in its history.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Constitutional Issues | Equal Protection | Higher Education Act (HEA)
Settlement Agreement between the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) and Baker College resolving alleged misrepresentations made to prospective students in violation of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The FSA investigated claims that the College made misrepresentations to prospective students regarding its graduates’ job placement rates and potential salaries through the College’s website and marking materials. Specifically, FSA considered whether over the course of nearly five years the College “misrepresent[ed]” its graduates had higher job placement rates and salaries than they actually did. The investigation found that the College did not accurately disclose how many students responded to the survey that was used in its Career Outcomes Rates or define what “career outcome” means. “Career Outcomes Rates” included unpaid options like continuing education, and the figures of over 90% “g[a]ve the impression to prospective students that nearly all of [the College’s] graduates earned employment in a paid position.” Further, FSA’s investigation reported that of the list of employers on the College’s website it claimed had hired the College’s graduates, fourteen of the 100+ listed employers had hired those individuals prior to their enrollment at the College, “creating the impression that [the College’s name] had an impact on the employer’s decision to hire the individuals when it actually did not.” Finally, the FSA charged that the College published data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics rather than from the College’s own graduate data. Under the Settlement, the College agreed to pay a fine of $2.5 million, committed to avoid misrepresentations and provide copies of all marketing materials to FSA for review for the next three years, and to remit communications to current students and employees informing them of how to submit complaints or provide information about any further misconduct to FSA.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Admissions | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced the annual earnings threshold used to calculate earnings premium (EP) measures as part of the Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) regulations. The Department notes that a program passes the EP measure by demonstrating that the median earnings for program graduates exceed the appropriate State or national earnings threshold.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Program Integrity & Gainful Employment
The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced the termination of the negotiated rulemaking process for three Program Integrity and Institutional Quality issues that were part of a rulemaking process for Federal programs. The Department has decided not to make any regulatory changes on the issues of accreditation, state authorization, and cash management at this time, to allow for additional evaluation of recent changes in other regulations and industry practices. After reviewing feedback received during the negotiated rulemaking process, the Department determined that it needed to gather additional data, assess evolving industry practices, and evaluate whether existing regulations remain necessary or require modification.
Topics:
Accreditation | Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Program Integrity & Gainful Employment
Summary from the National Association of College and University Business Officers on legislative and regulatory actions that occurred from December 10, 2024 – January 6, 2025. This summary highlights: (1) the averted government shutdown due to Congress approving the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through March 14, 2025, to ensure that federal agencies will continue operating at current funding levels; (2) the Department of Education (the Department) officially ended a portion of a rulemaking effort from early 2024 to address cash management, state authorization, and accreditation provisions; additionally, the Department published the final rules on Return to Title IV, distance education, and the Federal TRIO program, set to become effective July 1, 2026; (3) the Department clarified that its revised reporting deadline of January 15 for Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) regulations will not be extended; (4) the Department announced that it had compiled a set of training resources for the FVT/GE regulations; and, finally (5) on December 16th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a report on violations related to student loan refinancing, private lending and servicing, debt collection, and federal loan servicing.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act
