The Biden administration is developing regulations around gainful employment (GE) that would protect students from career-oriented college programs that don't adequately serve their students. A draft GE rule released earlier this year would require that graduates of certificate programs at public and nonprofit colleges and nearly all programs at…

For decades, the federal government has expected vocationally focused programs in higher education, especially among for-profit colleges, to lead to gainful employment in a profession. In the mid-2010s, the U.S. Department of Education developed gainful employment (GE) regulations that sought to tie a program's federal financial aid eligibility to…

States have always had the ability to regulate institutions conducting instruction or other postsecondary activities in their states. In Fall 2010, a Federal regulation was first released tying institutional and student eligibility for Title IV Federal Financial aid to an institution complying with State laws. Colleges and universities were to be…

Participating in higher-level study offers recognised benefits both for the student and the prison and has been proven to reduce reoffending. However, prisoners are restricted from applying for student loans until they are within six years of release. Allowing prisoners to commence their studies earlier in a long sentence could increase student…

The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program makes several types of federal student loans available to individuals to assist them with financing postsecondary education expenses. This report presents a comprehensive overview of the terms and conditions that apply to federal student loans made through the Direct Loan program. It…

Regular and substantive interaction (RSI) between instructors and students is a core component distinguishing distance education from correspondence education. In contrast to correspondence education where students are not in regular and substantive interaction with instructors, distance education is eligible for Title IV financial aid because of…

Competency-based education is increasingly popular because of the flexibility it provides for students seeking a postsecondary credential. Current federal student aid, however, is geared toward supporting students in traditional, time-based degree programs. This paper discusses why current approaches to federal student aid are not supportive of…

This update of the legislation/regulations and case law specific to pre-K-12 gifted students since a cluster of publications in 2004-2005 primarily focuses on the "gifted alone" category, with only secondary attention to twice-exceptional and other students in the "gifted plus" category. For the gifted-alone category, the…

The purpose of this regulatory action is to amend the regulations governing the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program (§ 685.200 of title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)). These regulations strengthen and improve administration of the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Program authorized under title IV of the Higher Education…

For nearly half a century, the federal government has largely outsourced the determination of which colleges and universities are eligible to receive federal taxpayer money--in the form of student grants and loans--to member-based, geographically oriented accrediting agencies. This outsourcing of responsibility, however, has failed to protect…

Whether a taxpayer's work-related higher education costs are deductible under IRC (Internal Revenue Code) Section 162 is an issue highly dependent upon facts and circumstances. The regulations pursuant to IRC Section 162 and the emergence of case law on this topic constitute important elements to consider in making this determination.

The "Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006" ("Perkins IV") sets a minimum allocation requirement that secondary and postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) subgrantees must achieve to receive federal financing. An eligible recipient with an allocation below the funding threshold may obtain a…

The transition out of high school to postsecondary education or the workforce can be a challenging time, especially for students with disabilities. Multiple federal agencies fund programs to support these students during their transition. In 2003, GAO reported that limited coordination among these programs can hinder a successful transition. GAO…