Since his inauguration in January, President Trump has signed multiple executive orders addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies across the country. These actions have significant implications, including for...more
On April 4, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ordered a federal district court to enter a nationwide preliminary injunction to enjoin the Department of Education (ED) from implementing the Biden...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed to substantially raise the pay thresholds that must be met for employees to be classified as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) “white-collar”...more
On March 8 and 9, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will host virtual listening sessions to receive public comment on the incentive compensation rule. ED will accept written comments through March 16, per the Federal...more
This advisory summarizes Section 117 requirements and enforcement, highlights key aspects of the updated guidance, and identifies considerations for higher education institutions given the U.S Department of Education’s...more
On June 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released its long-awaited proposal to amend ED's regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). ED’s proposed regulations include...more
On October 4, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) commenced the first of five negotiated rulemaking sessions. The five sessions are focused on the federal student financial aid programs authorized under Title IV of...more
As we’ve previously reported in detail, on November 1, 2019, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published final rules concerning state authorization of distance education programs and other topics. Notably, the new rules...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities have had to make difficult, but important, decisions to protect the health of their students, among others. By necessity, these decisions have affected the way students are...more
On April 9, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released information and guidance related to the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), the approximately US$14 billion fund created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked renewed interest in offering online programs, both in the United States and internationally, as a means for students to continue their studies on an uninterrupted basis. The U.S. Department...more
On 5 March 2020, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published an electronic announcement to provide guidance on compliance with federal student financial aid (Title IV) requirements in connection with students for whom...more
3/10/2020
/ Best Practices ,
China ,
Colleges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Guidance ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Students ,
Title IV ,
Universities
On 4 February 2020, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced that OMB and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) have decided to withdraw the emergency information collection request that ED had submitted to OCR on...more
2/12/2020
/ Department of Education ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gifts ,
Higher Education Act ,
Information Management ,
New Regulations ,
OMB ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
On 17 December 2019, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published in the Federal Register notice of a new information collection request (ICR) related to reporting requirements under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act...more
12/31/2019
/ Department of Education ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Education Reform ,
Educational Institutions ,
Gifts ,
Higher Education Act ,
Information Management ,
New Regulations ,
OMB ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements
Two recent antitrust investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) into student recruitment practices highlight the agency's increased interest in higher education. These investigations are the latest in a number of...more
Higher education institutions increasingly leverage P3s to deliver campus projects, including with respect to energy and utility assets, instead of traditional project structures that involve the institution owning and...more
10/18/2019
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Colleges ,
Construction Project ,
Educational Institutions ,
Electricity ,
Energy Efficiency ,
Infrastructure ,
Project Finance ,
Public Private Partnerships (P3s) ,
Public Projects ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
Universities ,
Urban Planning & Development
On 23 September 2019 the U.S. Department of Education (ED) published final regulations concerning, among other things, "borrower defense to repayment" claims for federal student loans first disbursed on or after 1 July 2020,...more
10/7/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Borrower Defense Rule ,
Department of Education ,
Educational Institutions ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Responsibility Standards ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Pre-Dispute Arbitration ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Student Loans ,
Triggering Event
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has issued additional guidance in the form of several supplemental "questions and answers" related to implementation of ED's 2016 "borrower defense to repayment" regulations (BDTR...more
Although in the past few weeks the U.S. Department of Education (ED) had encouraged institutions to prepare for additional compliance requirements related to gainful employment (GE) that were scheduled to take effect on...more
After granting institutions several extensions to comply with certain disclosure requirements of the U.S. Department of Education's (ED) "gainful employment" (GE) regulations, ED announced that beginning on 1 July 2019,...more
The U.S. Department of Education's (ED) 2019 negotiated rule-making process recently ended with the negotiators somewhat unexpectedly reaching consensus on proposed regulatory language on a variety of topics, including the...more
Under U.S. federal law, known as the Higher Education Act (HEA), eligible U.S. students may receive federal student aid to help pay for education expenses incurred to attend approved higher education institutions, including...more
2/18/2019
/ Department of Education ,
Direct Lending ,
Educational Institutions ,
Federal Student Aid ,
Federal Student Loans ,
FERPA ,
Foreign Entities ,
Higher Education Act ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Online Education ,
Student Privacy ,
Title IV
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) will convene a negotiated rulemaking committee in Washington, D.C. 14-16 January 2019 to begin discussions about proposals to revise the ED regulations related to the Title IV federal...more
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) now has published its proposed rule to delay by two years the state authorization final regulations that were set to become effective July 1, 2018.? In this alert, we summarize what this...more
In the waning days of the Obama Administration, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released final regulations regarding state authorization for distance education and foreign country authorization for certain locations...more