The U.S. Department of Education has proposed new rules for federal student financial aid programs, including a proposed rule called “gainful employment.” This proposed change will affect the eligibility of certain colleges, universities and vocational schools to participate in federal student financial aid programs and could affect how you fund your education.
In addition, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions is holding a series of hearings to review federal spending on grants and loans for students at private-sector colleges and universities.
Carrington College, Carrington College California, Chamberlain College of Nursing and DeVry University’s collective purpose is to empower our students to achieve their education and career goals. We know that many of our students rely on federal student financial aid programs to fund their education. We are working closely with officials in Washington to ensure our students’ needs and concerns are represented before new policies are enacted. Recently, a senior official from DeVry Inc. testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions to give voice to your needs.
The federal government has proposed a new rule that will impact student access to some educational programs. Known as “gainful employment,” this rule could limit your access to programs that are critical to your educational and career goals.
Narrowly focused to apply only to career-oriented educational programs, the rule would affect students who have typically been underserved by higher education including students who are the first in their family to go to college, career changers, working moms and dads and other students underrepresented in traditional higher education.
The “gainful employment” rule seeks to measure career success by measuring a graduate’s presumed ability to repay federal students loans according to very specific government-developed repayment measures. If the graduates of a program do not cumulatively meet a certain level of student loan repayments or rely too heavily on student loans, future students who need federal student aid to finance their education may no longer have access to that program. The proposed rule does not apply to the vast majority of students attending “traditional” colleges, even though the graduates of those schools have the same reliance on student loans and repayment performance.
Your college leaders are striving to work with the U. S. Department of Education and the Congress to maintain your access to high-quality, career-focused educational opportunities. We support having strong rules in place that enable accountable institutions to continue to offer a wide spectrum of disciplines including business, allied health, electrical engineering, computer information systems, network systems design, health information technology, nursing and many others.
Thank you to the more than 6,200 participants who submitted letters to the U.S. Department of Education.
On May 11, 2011 The Pell Institute and DeVry Inc. hosted an education policy forum in Washington, D.C. to explore Pell’s most recent report, Promising Practices Supporting Low-Income, First-Generation Students at DeVry University. The study highlights the broad range of DeVry University services for underrepresented students and recommendations for continued improvement. To view the report, please visit this page.
Because of you the letter writing campaign was a huge success. Participants submitted over 6,200 letters to the U.S. Department of Education!
This is no small accomplishment. We greatly appreciate your partnership and will keep you posted on new developments. The official public comment period is now closed.
The Department of Education is in the process of reviewing thousands of public comments and to date intends to issue final rules in November.