Court Strikes Down Parts of Gainful Employment

Source:

Chronicle of Higher Education, 7/2/12

Summary:

On Saturday, Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a decision that vacacted several provisions of the Gainful Employment regulations released by the Department of Education last year. The decision in a suit brought by the Association of Private Sector Colleges & Universities found that the two debt repayment measures in the regulations were "arbitrary and capricious." In addition, the ruling vacated a requirement to submit data related to the debt calculation as well as a requirement to seek Department approval for all new programs.

Education Sector Report on Debt and Graduation

Document:

Education Sector, 8/3/11

Summary:

Kevin Carey, policy director at Education Sector, authored a new report that integrates analysis of debt and graduation rates. Education Sector's explanation indicates that the authors "created a new, comprehensive measure, the 'borrowing-to-credential ratio.' For each college, [the authors] have taken newly available U.S. Department of Education data showing the total amount of money borrowed by undergraduates and divided that sum by the total number of degrees awarded."

Coalition for Educational Success Opinion on Gainful Employment

Document:

Politico.com, 7/8/11

Summary:

Link to an opinion piece by two of the Coalition for Educational Success's board members, Thomas H. Kean and Edward G. Rendell. The article recounts participation on a panel of higher education leaders trying to understand the impact of the new Gainful Employment regulations for career colleges.

House Committees Publicize Opposition to Gainful Employment

Document:

Inside Higher Ed, 7/11/11

Summary:

Link to a news summary of a hearing conducted by the postsecondary education panel of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending. The Republican members of the committees called the hearing and used the forum to express opposition to the new regulations and promise to continue fighting them.

Kline's Subcommittee to Hold Hearing

Document:

US House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training, June 2011

Summary:

Link to the information page for a hearing titled "The Gainful Employment Regulation: Limiting Job Growth and Student Choice" to be held on July 8, 2011. This will be a joint hearing with The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs, Stimulus Oversight and Government Spending.

Department of Education FAQ on Gainful Employment

Document:

Information for Financial Aid Professionals, June 2011

Summary:

Link to a FAQ document maintained by the Department of Education covering issues related to the new gainful employment regulations.

Summary of Gainful Employment

Document:

Education Week, 6/10/11

Summary:

Link to an article providing a good overview and summary of the gainful employmet regulation saga.

True Significance of Gainful Employment

Document:

Inside Higher Ed, 6/13/11

Summary:

Analysis of the new gainful employment regulations that argues the rules represent a major shift in how the federal government evaluates higher education. The author argues "The agency has written into federal policy, for the first time, a direct (if crude) attempt to measure the value of an academic program, by linking a measure of student expenditure (student loan debt burden) with an outcome measure (graduates’ average income)." The author also warns other programs that the federal government will likely expand this approach beyond the current for-profit programs.

Media Reactions to the Gainful Employment Regulations

Documents:

National Journal Online, 6/6/11

Higher Ed Watch, 6/7/11

The Hill, 6/9/11

Summary:

Three perspectives on the final gainful employment regulations and how the Department actually formulated them in the current political environment.

ACE Summary of GE Regulations

Document:

American Council on Education, 6/7/11

Summary:

A short and clear presentation of the major provisions of the new regulations.

Responses to Gainful Employment

Document:

Higher Ed Watch, 6/2/11

Summary:

Link to a collection of responses from a variety of players in the regulatory debates. A good resource for finding opinion, analysis, and evidence on the internet.

How to Regulate For-Profit Colleges

Document:

New York Times, 6/5/11

Summary:

Link to a "Room for Debate" feature on the federal regulatory efforts focused on private sector colleges and universities.

Student Demographics Not Related to Default

Document:

California Watch, 6/6/11

Summary:

Link to a news article summarizing the release of the new Gainful Employment regulations and responses from supporters and opponents. The article also cites the regression analysis performed by the Department and released as part of the regulations.

Gainful Employment Analysis

Document:

Inside Higher Ed, 6/3/11

Summary:

Link to a good summary of the provisions by the staff at IHE.

Gainful Employment Regulations

Document:

Department of Education, 6/2/11

Summary:

Link to the final regulations released by the Department of Education. There is also some explanation of the regulations and the Department's reasoning. There is a significant amount of analysis of the regulations as well.

Mark Kantrowitz analysis

Coalition for Educational Success statement

Gainful Employment: Privacy Black Hole?

Document:

Inside Higher Ed, 5/26/11

Summary:

Commentary by Daniel J. Solove, professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, on the implications of the proposed gainful employment regulations on transparency. His argument starts from the provision of actual earnings data to ED by the Social Security Administration. This data will not be accessible by the public or the institutions.

Who Wins? Who Pays?

Document:

Nexus & American Institute for Research, May 2011

Summary:

This report attempts to calculate the net profit or loss to students and taxpayers for bachelor's degrees awarded by a variety of institutions. The report concludes that students benefit from getting their bachelor's degrees. The answer regarding benefits to taxpayers is more complicated but in general, taxpayers receive a greater net benefit from students educated at for-profit insitutions.

New Regulatory Developments

Document:

Inside Higher Ed, 5/4/11

Summary:

News coverage of two separate regulatory actions. First, the Department of Education forwarded a revised version of the controversial gainful employment rules to the White House. This is the first step in the final publication process.

At the same time, the Department announced that it would start rule-making focused "on teacher preparation and student loans."

Inspector General to Investigate Department Leaks

Document:

Bloomberg.com, 4/28/11

Summary:

News report concering a potential investigation by the Department of Education's Office of the Inspector General into "whether short-sellers, wholook to profit when stock prices fall, found out about the draft regulations before they were publicly announced." Since the OIG does not confirm or deny investigations, the article is based on an unnamed source.

Enzi Seeks Correspondence From Department

Document:

Senator Michael Enzi, 4/28/11

Summary:

Senator Enzi, the ranking Republican member of the HELP Committee wrote Duncan to request the release of "all Department of Education written correspondence, e-mail or otherwise regarding the development of the proposed gainful employment regulations." Enzi made this request in light of allegations and limited evidence of contact between investors and Department staff during the rulemaking process.