On January 2, 2024, the Department of Education (DOE) released six issue papers that contain a range of proposals to ensure institutions of higher education and federal student aid programs best serve students. The issue...more
In the last several days, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) finally published three important updates on ED expectations under its extensive October 2023 Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment regulations...more
U.S. Department of Education Takes Action Against Five Schools for Disbursing Federal Student Aid to Students Enrolled in Unaccredited Programs - “The settlement agreements include the payment of liabilities for all five...more
On March 2, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education announced it will hold individuals representing corporations or other legal entities, including a member of the board of directors or a chief executive officer, personally...more
The Department of Education announced two initiatives that expand oversight of third-party providers to institutions of higher education that participate in federal financial aid programs. On February 15, ED announced...more
Having stood up and promoted the whistleblower program at the CFPB, it appears that Richard Cordray may now be taking similar steps at Federal Student Aid (“FSA”). On November 10, the Department of Education (“ED”) and FSA...more
For proprietary institutions subject to the 90/10 rule, President Joe Biden’s signing of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 on March 11 reflects a major change in this revenue test that provides for-profit institutions and...more
The CDC, American College Health Association, and Department of Education have all issued recent guidance regarding the COVID-19 Coronavirus. Concurrently, colleges across the country have taken steps to move classes online...more
My colleagues and I have the privilege of advising numerous clients on income share agreements (ISAs), including universities, service providers, and institutional investors. So we were excited by reports that the U.S....more
The US Department of Education today issued the unofficial version of its final state authorization regulations that includes new rules governing accreditation and recognition of state authorizing agencies. The final rule...more
In the divorce business, there are few alleys as dark as of the college financial aid. We are commonly asked how separation and divorce may affect eligibility for student aid and loans. The October 21, 2019 Wall Street...more
Putting an end to a crisis that jeopardized access to Title IV to 80,000 California students, on Friday, Acting Under Secretary of Education Diane Auer-Jones wrote to the head of the California Department of Consumer Affairs...more
As widely reported in the news and as discussed in our recent webinar, on 22 July 2019 the U.S. Department of Education (ED) notified institutions that, as a result of the U.S. District Court ruling in NEA v. DeVos, ED's 2016...more
On Monday, July 22, 2019, the Federal Student Aid Office of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that the Distance Education Rules that were originally scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2018, and were then...more
The Department of Education issued guidance yesterday that ED’s regulations prohibit California residents enrolled in distance education programs at out-of-state public and nonprofit institutions from receiving federal...more
On October 31, 2016, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published final regulations regarding teacher preparation programs, implementing the accountability provisions of Title II of the Higher Education Act (HEA) and...more
This is the second installment in a series examining five bipartisan bills advanced by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on June 22, 2016. The original post summarizing all five bills was posted in Education...more
For-profit education company Education Affiliates (EA) paid $13 million to the federal government in June to settle multiple False Claims Act (FCA) suits involving alleged fake test scores, bogus diplomas, and falsified...more
The US Department of Education ("ED" or "the Department") has decided against an earlier plan to send letters to every institution believed to be out-of-compliance (or rather, located in a state that is considered...more
New federal education regulations take effect this summer that could substantially reduce federal aid to community colleges and for-profit colleges whose students fail to meet certain standards for finding “gainful...more
A Presidential Memorandum titled the "Student Aid Bill of Rights," issued last week by President Obama, calls for the creation of a new complaint system for federal student loans. This proposal is likely to result in...more
As we reported last month, the Department of Education (DOE), with active CFPB participation, is currently engaged in a negotiated rulemaking process that is considering, among other things, revisions to the DOE’s Title IV’s...more