Dear Colleagues,

It’s been another busy week in Washington. The national headlines are, rightfully, focused on the September 30 deadline for the FY 2024 spending bills and the potential government shutdown (see our story below for the current status of negotiations and the potential impact a shutdown could have on higher education). 

However, of potentially greater importance to higher education, this week was punctuated by the pre-publication of yet another massive regulatory package on Wednesday evening. The final rules on financial value transparency and gainful employment, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024, are the Biden Administration’s effort to hold institutions of higher education accountable for providing financial value to students.

Like the proposed rules, the final regulations create a new measure of financial value for each higher education program in the nation by measuring both graduates’ earnings and the relationship between earnings and debt burden. The rules also require institutions to provide a warning to students about programs that fail these metrics. In a victory for our sector, however, the final rules exempt undergraduate degree programs at public and private, nonprofits from providing such warnings.

Gainful Employment programs, which apply to credential programs in our sector and to all programs at for-profit institutions will follow different rules. Their failing scores on the debt to earnings test or an additional test only on earnings could lead to the termination of Title IV aid for those programs. This is in line with what was in the proposed rules last spring.

The NAICU team is currently conducting an in-depth review of the new regulations and, in the coming weeks, will provide additional analysis about the impact of the regulations on your campus.

In other news, the Department of Education held a virtual event yesterday afternoon highlighting its report on strategies and methods for increasing diversity and opportunity in higher education. The event included college and university leaders who have implemented successful strategies in these areas on their campuses. I was delighted that NAICU member presidents Pat McGuire of Trinity Washington University and Chris Eisgruber of Princeton University were spotlighted and included in the event, which was hosted by Secretary Cardona and Neera Tanden, the White House Domestic Policy Council Director.

Soundbites

• While the Department released it final rule on Gainful Employment (GE) and Financial Value Transparency (FVT) this week, the remaining components of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking from May 19, which included Ability to Benefit, Financial Responsibility Standards, and more, is heading to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review. Previously, GE and FVT had been split from the rest of the proposed rules and sent ahead to OMB for review, leaving it unclear whether the remainder of the package would be reviewed this year. With OMB’s review now confirmed, there is a chance the remaining final rules could be published before the November 1 deadline for implementation during the upcoming academic year, barring a prolonged shutdown.

• NAICU joined the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity and 105 other employer groups in sending a letter to the Department of Labor requesting an additional 60-days to comment on the agency’s proposed rule on overtime pay. The proposal, which was published on September 8, has a comment period that expires on November 7. The letter asks the Department to consider extending the comment period to January 2024. Such an extension would allow employers more time to assess the impact of the proposed rule on their organizations. It is unclear if the Biden Administration will consider the request.

• The House Committee on Education and the Workforce released a highly critical report about the state of free speech on college campuses. The report condemns various practices at institutions of higher education, including free speech zones, security fees, and overly broad harassment policies. The committee is recommending federal legislation to address these concerns, such as laws mandating free speech policies, disclosure requirements, oversight by the Department of Education, and provisions allowing individuals to sue institutions of higher education that fail to protect free speech rights.

• The College Cost Transparency Initiative (CCT) was launched this week. As of Tuesday, there were more than 350 colleges and universities – representing over 3 million students – that signaled a commitment to following the CCT principles and standards to improve the clarity, accuracy, and consistency of student financial aid offers. The independent sector is well represented among the partner institutions. You can still add your institution to the initiative and show your commitment to cost transparency. You can read more about the initiative in the coverage of the launch here and here.

Finally, with nearly 200 completed responses, the feedback on our overtime survey has been terrific but we need more input. The deadline to complete the survey is October 4, so if you haven’t already completed it there is still time to send us your thoughts on how the rule might impact your campus. 

As you can see, and as you’ve heard from me in recent weeks, we are responding to and engaged with Congress and the Administration on multiple issues that could have a profound impact on your institution and the students you serve. I deeply appreciate your commitment to private, nonprofit higher education and to working with us on these issues.

Barbara

Barbara K. Mistick
President, NAICU