U.S. Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on Regulatory Requirements for Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment. The DCL outlines the (1) information regarding programs and individual students that institutions will be required to report; (2) calculations the Department will make based on that data and earnings information it anticipates receiving from the IRS; and (3) range of consequences, by program type, for programs that do not achieve the minimum specified outcomes on the Department’s metrics. In both the DCL and a related Electronic Announcement (GE-20-01), the Department extended the deadline for FVT/GE reporting to October 1, 2024. The announcement also notes that ED plans to publish the first FVT/GE metrics and notify institutions of failing GE programs in early 2025.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
Letter from the American Council on Education (ACE) and five other higher education associations to Chairwoman Foxx and Ranking Member Scott of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce opposing H.R. 7683, the Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act. The letter notes multiple concerns with the proposed legislation, including the difficulty and cost associated with developing required standards for allocation of funds to student organizations; the harshness of the proposed sanction of automatic loss of Title IV funding for all students for one year in response to a single instance of noncompliance, as well as the dangerous precedent of government intrusion into matters of academic freedom and institutional autonomy; and that provisions mandating public forum status for all publicly accessible areas of campus would limit administrators’ ability to provide learning environments free from discrimination and potentially make campuses less safe.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Constitutional Issues | First Amendment & Free Speech | Higher Education Act (HEA)
Letter from the American Council on Education (ACE) and 21 other higher education associations to the U.S. Department of Education requesting a delay in all reporting requirements related to Financial Value Transparency (FVT) and Gainful Employment (GE). Citing the challenges institutions are currently facing related to implementation delays with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the letter urges that the Department delay all reporting requirements related to its new FVT and GE regulations beyond the current deadline of July 31, 2024. Drawing on a survey sent to member institutions conducted in collaboration with the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), the letter also lists a number of areas of institutional challenge for the Department to consider as it develops sub-regulatory guidance.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Program Integrity & Gainful Employment | Students
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on Use of Federal Work-Study (FWS) Funds for Voter Registration. In this DCL, the Department clarifies that FWS funds may be used to support “civic engagement work that is not associated with a particular interest or group.” It specifies that “[t]his work can include supporting broad-based get-out-the-vote activities, voter registration, providing voter assistance at a polling place or through a voter hotline, or serving as a poll worker,” explaining that this work is consistent with the meaning of 34 CFR §675.22(b)(5), to promote student employment “in the public interest while ensuring that such work is neither associated with any faction in election for public or party office, nor constitutes political activity.” The Department also released a related Toolkit for Promotion of Voter Participation for Students, which highlights multiple recommendations for institutions to meet their obligation under the Higher Education Act to make a good faith effort to distribute voter registration forms and otherwise make resources available to every eligible student.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
U.S. Department of Education Notice of New Information Collection on Foreign Institution Reporting Requirements Under the CARES Act. The CARES Act permitted foreign institutions to provide part of eligible programs via distance education and to enter into written agreements with institutions of higher education in the United States to take courses from that institution. It required participating foreign institutions to report to the Secretary their use of either activity no later than 30 days after the start of the courses. That information collection was discontinued at the end of the formal COVID-19 national emergency. “However, due to other global situations [ED is] now requesting a new information collection to allow for the on-going use of the CARES Act waiver.” Comments are due on or before March 21, 2024.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Higher Education Act (HEA)
U.S. Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on Applying for Title IV Eligibility for Direct Assessment (Competency-Based) Programs. The letter addresses the process by which an institution may apply to use Title IV funds for a competency-based program that relies on direct assessment of competencies rather than clock or credit hours. Of note, the institution must “establish a methodology to reasonably equate each module in the direct assessment program to either credit hours or clock hours” and this methodology must be approved by an accrediting or State approval agency with direct assessment in its scope of recognition. The application must also address how the institution will determine whether the student is making satisfactory progress or has withdrawn or changed enrollment status.
Topics:
Accreditation | Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Higher Education Act (HEA)
U.S. Department of Education Notice of New Information Collection on Foreign Institution Reporting Requirements Under the CARES Act. The CARES Act permitted foreign institutions to provide part of eligible programs via distance education and to enter into written agreements institutions of higher education in the United States to take courses from that institution. It required those foreign institutions to report to the Secretary the use of either activity no later than 30 days after the start of those courses. That information collection was discontinued at the end of the COVID-19 national emergency. “However, due to other global situations [ED is] no requesting a new information collection to allow for the on-going use of the CARES Act waiver.” Comments are due on or before February 12, 2024.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Higher Education Act (HEA)
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education Notice of Negotiated Rulemaking. The Department announced its intention to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee on Program Integrity and Institutional Quality. The committee will propose new regulations on recognition of accrediting agencies; institutional eligibility, including State authorization; requirements for distance education, including for clock hour programs; return of Title IV funds; cash management; and eligibility requirements for Federal TRIO program participants. Nominations for negotiators to serve on the committee are due on or before December 13, 2023. In a related Press Release, the Department noted that the committee’s topics do not include Third Party Services (TPS), but that the Department intends to issue updated guidance on TPS in early 2024.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Higher Education Act (HEA)
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid Guidance on Borrower Defense School Notification Process Under the 2016 Regulation. The electronic announcement concerns the notices of borrower defense applications from June 23, 2022, to November 15, 2022, ED is sending to schools under the settlement reached in the Sweet v. Cardona litigation, which required that the applications be processed under the 2016 Regulation. The guidance clarifies that under the 2016 Regulation, ED must notify schools of the applications prior to any substantive review. It also notes that if ED decides after its review to approve applications and if it decides to seek recoupment, schools will have the opportunity to contest any recoupment before a hearing officer. The guidance also notes that “ED is attempting to batch applications so schools receive all claims from the June 23 to Nov. 15 period in a single notification.”
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
