June 17, 2011

Department of Education Publishes Final Gainful Employment Regulations

The U.S. Department of Education recently released final regulations to require career colleges (which are generally for-profit institutions) to prepare their students for gainful employment. Students who attend such programs must meet certain debt-to-income or debt repayment rates or the program will risk losing eligibility for federal student aid.

The final regulations follow extensive negotiations between the department and interested parties. According to Inside Higher Ed, the final regulations have a number of differences from the proposed regulations published in July 2010; the final regulations are generally more flexible for the institutions.