On September 11, we published a detailed look at the portion of the Department of Education’s long-awaited revised Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule (BDTR) that focused on the elements directly impacting institutional...more
After announcing plans for a new rule last summer, only to miss the publication deadline, the Department of Education (ED) has – albeit still unofficially – issued its long awaited new update to the borrower defense to...more
Important note: These rules – except as described below – are applicable to All institutions participating in the Title IV programs.
The deadline for affected institutions to file reports with the Department of Education...more
The many-headed Obama-era Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule is back, thanks to a September 17 federal court order that overturned Secretary DeVos’ action suspending implementation of the existing rule, followed by the...more
Two years ago, we wrote about the Obama Administration’s proposed rules governing “Borrower Defense to Repayment,” based on one sentence in the Higher Education Act intended to protect federal student loan borrowers. Those...more
Events of the last week have reflected the Department of Education’s give-a-little, take-a-little approach to the Gainful Employment Rule. The department continues to take steps to implement certain aspects of the current GE...more
Keeping up with the Gainful Employment Rule has been a full time job in recent months. Between new Department of Education actions to prepare a second set of GE rates, negotiated rulemaking to write a new rule, a lawsuit...more
The debate over the current and future Gainful Employment Rule continues in all three branches of the federal government: the administration, Congress and the federal courts.
After the new administration took office in...more
The Department of Education announces changes to the Gainful Employment Disclosure Template.
Disclosure Template Deadline and Updates -
In its Electronic Announcement, ED set April 6, 2018 as the new deadline for...more
As with many other areas of financial aid management discussed in our prior posts, the audit requirements relating to compliance with the “90/10 Rule” have increased significantly in ED’s new Audit Guide. These new...more
The Department of Education issued a notice on August 18 that extends the deadline for all institutions to file alternate earnings appeals that challenge the debt-to-earnings rates issued for their GE programs in January...more
As noted in our previous blog post on ED’s new Audit Guide, for the first time ED is requiring that independent audit firms conduct extensive testing relating to Gainful Employment (GE) data reporting and mandated disclosures...more
With minutes to spare before the close of business today, the Department of Education (ED) issued a Notice in advance of official publication in the Federal Register, announcing a delay in a number of requirements relating to...more
The Department of Education’s (ED) announcement that it plans to engage in a new negotiated rulemaking to revise the Gainful Employment (GE) Rule leaves unanswered critical questions regarding the implementation of certain GE...more
With continued questions about the Trump Administration’s commitment to Obama-era regulations, including the Gainful Employment (GE) Rule, one state is ready to jump into the fray and offer its own state-based alternative to...more
In this, the first in a series of client alerts that will explain the workings of the new Borrower Defense to Repayment Rule (BDTR), we explore what promises to be a series of rules, procedures and interpretations to be...more
Almost four months after the marathon negotiated rulemaking ended in March without consensus, the US Department of Education (ED) has released a massive Notice of Proposed Rulemaking describing how it plans to refocus the...more
The US Department of Education has set the deadline for institutions to file corrections to their "student completer lists" as the next major step in ED's effort to publish the first set of rates under the Gainful Employment...more
This is the third in a series of Cooley client alerts that discuss issues raised during the Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDTR) Negotiated Rulemaking. Our first alert discussed the Negotiated Rulemaking itself, and the...more
While the Negotiated Rulemaking has concluded, the issues embedded in the Borrower Defense to Repayment regulation (BDTR Rule) remain under active discussion within the US Department of Education and promise to change the...more
The US Department of Education just announced its intent to issue the first set of official Debt to Earnings Rates ("D/E Rates") under the Gainful Employment Rule ("GE Rule") in January 2017. That timing would be consistent...more
Following a highly charged, often contentious three days of debate, the third session of the Negotiated Rulemaking on Borrower Defense to Repayment (DTR) ended as it started, without consensus. The Department of Education...more
Much has been written recently about the lifting of the US embargoes targeting Iran and Cuba. Despite recent liberalization in discrete areas (e.g., travel, family remittances, and internet based communications),...more
The US Department of Education and appointed negotiators representing higher education and legal groups are preparing for the second round of negotiations to expand the "Borrower Defense to Repayment" regulations, with the...more
In a recent trend, student debt relief scammers are engaging in aggressive marketing tactics by placing advertisements that target student loan borrowers from a specific institution of higher education. These advertisements...more