Large Disagreements Between Institutions and the Department as Negotiated Rulemaking Session Ends

​Arlington, VA – Today marks the end of the U.S. Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking committee on Institutional and Programmatic Eligibility. As part of this rulemaking, the Department proposed modifying regulations on the 90/10 rule, resurrecting the Gainful Employment regulations, and changes to various other regulations under Title IV of the Higher Education Act. Throughout this negotiated rulemaking process, many of the negotiators representing different types of higher education institutions expressed disappointment with the Department’s proposals and voted against them, including six negotiators (or 40 percent of the committee) voting against the Department’s Gainful Employment (GE) proposal and nine negotiators (or 60 percent of the committee) voting against the changes of ownership and change in control proposal.

​“The stark differences between higher education institutions and the Department of Education on several of the Department’s proposals show how problematic many of these proposed regulations are across all sectors of higher education, not just the for-profit sector,” said CECU’s President and CEO, Dr. Jason Altmire. “We are hopeful that the broad disapproval of many of the Department’s proposals pushes the Department to draft rules that better take into account the views of higher education institutions and the impact the rules would have on 26 million students. The Department still has a chance to write sensible regulations that protect all students and hold public, private nonprofit, and for-profit institutions accountable for their outcomes. We look forward to collaborating with the Department over the next several months as we move into the notice-and-comment phase of the rulemaking process.”
 
We were pleased that the Department incorporated into their GE proposal a suggestion from Brad Adams, the primary negotiator representing proprietary schools, that increased the lag time from when graduates complete their program to when their earnings are measured. We also commend the Department for working with the negotiators representing veterans and proprietary intuitions to reach agreeable language on the proposed 90/10 rule that lead to a consensus.

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About Career Education Colleges and Universities
Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) is the national association serving the proprietary higher education sector. 

Please direct media inquiries to Devin Miller, Director of Communications at Devin.Miller@career.org