ERIC Number: ED625735
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Nov
Pages: 11
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Tuition-to-Earnings Limits: An Alternative to the Gainful Employment Rule for Higher Education Accountability. An Essay for the Learning Curve
Delisle, Jason; Cohn, Jason
Urban Institute
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-profit colleges meet a debt-to-earnings test to be eligible for federal aid. Using debt to measure value involves major limitations, however, and programs with poor outcomes can pass a debt-to-earnings test if students finance their tuition with federal grant aid or out-of-pocket funds instead of loans. Using data to examine the effects of several thresholds, the authors analyze a tuition-to-earnings test for the GE rule and compare it with the effects of the Biden administration's proposed debt-to-earnings test. This test more directly measures what a program costs, is not affected by the share of students borrowing, and measures prices charged to all students regardless of the type or amount of federal aid they received. [Additional funding for this essay was provided by the Stand Together Trust.]
Descriptors: Employment Level, Salaries, College Graduates, Education Work Relationship, Federal Regulation, College Programs, Accountability, Debt (Financial), Student Financial Aid, Eligibility, Tuition, Program Costs, Higher Education, Educational Legislation, Federal Legislation
Urban Institute. 2100 M Street NW, Washington, DC 20037. Tel: 202-261-5687; Fax: 202-467-5775; Web site: http://www.urban.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Walton Family Foundation; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Authoring Institution: Urban Institute
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Higher Education Act 1965
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A