Cases & Developments

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Final Regulations on Financial Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, and Ability to Benefit (ATB). Among key provisions, the new regulations require that institutions provide adequate financial aid counseling and information, including cost of attendance information; new mandatory and discretionary triggers to give the Department with notice when an institution might not be able to be able to meet its financial responsibilities; a requirement that institutions certify that in each State where they enroll students, including through distance programs, that they meet applicable accreditation and licensure requirements and comply with State laws related to closures; a requirement that institutions provide, upon a student’s request, an official transcript reflecting all credit or clock hours for periods in which a student received Title IV funds; and a requirement that institutions provide adequate career services and clinical or externship opportunities. The Department also released a Fact Sheet on the new regulations, which become effective on July 1, 2024. Update: The Department of Education published the final regulations in the Federal Register on October 31, 2023.  

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Final Regulations on Financial Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, and Ability to Benefit (ATB). Among key provisions, the new regulations impose new mandatory and discretionary triggers to allow the Department notice when an institution might not be able to be able to meet its financial responsibilities, and also require that institutions (1) provide adequate financial aid counseling and information, including cost of attendance information; (2) certify that they meet applicable accreditation and licensure requirements and comply with State laws related to closures for each State where they enroll students, including through distance programs; (3) provide an official transcript reflecting all credit or clock hours for periods in which the student received Title IV funds, when requested by a student; and (4) provide adequate career services and clinical or externship opportunities. The Department also released a Fact Sheet on the new regulations. The new regulations become effective on July 1, 2024.   

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Final Rule on Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment. The new rule “amends regulations related to gainful employment (GE)” and “separately, seeks to enhance transparency by providing information about financial costs and benefits to students at nearly all academic programs at postsecondary institutions.” Under the new “financial value transparency framework,” institutions will be required to report information about their programs to the Department, and the Department will establish “a measure of the earning premium that typical program graduates experience relative to the earnings of typical high school graduates” and “a mechanism for measuring the debt service burden for typical graduates.” Information regarding each program’s performance against the Department’s performance benchmarks will be available on a program information website to be established by the Department, and “for certificate programs and graduate degree programs with poor outcomes under the debt-burden measures, prospective students will be required to acknowledge viewing this information before entering into enrollment agreements with an institution.” The Department released a Fact Sheet on the new regulations. The new rule becomes effective on July 1, 2024. Update: The Department of Education published the final regulations in the Federal Register on October 10, 2023.  

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Final Rule on Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment. The new rule “amends regulations related to gainful employment (GE)” and “separately, seeks to enhance transparency by providing information about financial costs and benefits to students at nearly all academic programs at postsecondary institutions.” Under the new “financial value transparency framework,” institutions will be required to report information about their programs to the Department, and the Department will establish “a measure of the earning premium that typical program graduates experience relative to the earnings of typical high school graduates” and “a mechanism for measuring the debt service burden for typical graduates.” Information regarding each program’s performance against the Department’s performance benchmarks will be available on a program information website to be established by the Department, and “for certificate programs and graduate degree programs with poor outcomes under the debt-burden measures, prospective students will be required to acknowledge viewing this information before entering into enrollment agreements with an institution.” The Department also released a Fact Sheet on the new regulations. The new rule becomes effective on July 1, 2024.