U.S. Department of EducationSearch for:

Department of Education Releases Proposed Rules on Accountability for Certificate and For-Profit Programs and Transparency into Unaffordable Student Debt

MAY 17, 2023

Contact:   Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov

• Today, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) released proposed regulations to establish the strongest set of safeguards ever to protect students from unaffordable debt or insufficient earnings from career training programs, along with new measures to increase transparency across all postsecondary programs. The proposal would create the strongest-ever Gainful Employment (GE) rule, which would terminate access to Federal financial aid for career training programs that routinely leave graduates with unaffordable debt burdens or with earnings that are no higher than workers without any education beyond high school. The proposed GE rule is estimated to protect more than 700,000 students annually who would otherwise enroll in one of nearly 1,800 low-performing programs, because access to postsecondary programs that produce poor outcomes is not really access at all. These accountability measures will not only better protect students enrolled in low-financial-value programs, but will also encourage improvements across all of higher education.

The proposed regulations would also bring increased transparency to the true costs and financial outcomes of nearly all undergraduate and graduate degree programs.  This includes disclosures of what students and families are likely to pay out-of-pocket for a given program and a requirement that students acknowledge this information before receiving federal financial aid to attend programs that consistently leave participants with high debt burdens.

“President Biden has taken unprecedented steps to fix our broken student loan system and help millions of Americans struggling with student debt, creating new opportunities for borrowers, their families, and their communities. At the same time, we need to hold colleges accountable for unaffordable costs and better protect students from programs that fail to deliver real value and upward mobility,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “The rules proposed today are about helping ensure that when students invest in a postsecondary education, they get a solid return on investment and a greater shot at the American dream.”

Today’s announcement is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ambitious reimagining of college finance to ensure that all students can afford to get the education and skills they need after high school. President Biden has championed a $900 increase to the maximum Pell Grant and laid out a path to doubling the maximum award by 2029. He has also proposed tuition-free community college and tuition assistance at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority-Serving Institutions. The Department has fixed targeted debt relief programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness and relief for borrowers whose colleges took advantage of them, approving more than $66 billion in discharges for nearly 2.2 million borrowers so far. In the coming months we will finalize the most affordable repayment plan ever. Today’s proposed rules complement these efforts by ensuring that institutions of higher education (institutions) do their part to deliver real financial value to students and taxpayers.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the college programs that are leaving students with mountains of unaffordable debts,” said Under Secretary James Kvaal. “The data show that the problem is concentrated at for-profit and career colleges. This package of accountability proposals would create the strongest-ever protections for students and taxpayers against low-value, debt-fueled colleges.”