Gainful Employment Proposed Rule Fails to Protect Majority of Higher Education Students
Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU)
Gainful Employment Proposed Rule Fails to Protect Majority of Higher Education Students
5/17/2023
Arlington, VA – Today, the U.S. Department of Education released its long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on gainful employment.
“CECU is disappointed that the Department did not take into account stakeholder feedback and failed to implement substantive changes to its gainful employment proposal, which continues to exempt the majority of postsecondary education programs and fails to protect millions of students,” said CECU’s President and CEO Jason Altmire. “The rule unfairly targets programs at proprietary institutions and fails to account for the unique challenges facing students and communities that career-oriented programs serve. During the public comment phase, we urge the Department to consider sensible changes that improve the rule to protect all students and hold public, private nonprofit, and for-profit institutions equally accountable for their outcomes.”
Background: It would be incorrect to report that the Department lacks the authority to apply meaningful accountability measures to schools beyond programs that lead to gainful employment in a recognized occupation. As consumer advocates have pointed out, Section 454(a)(4) of the Higher Education Act allows the Department to propose and adopt outcomes-based accountability measures across all schools and all sectors to ensure a system of quality assurance.
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About Career Education Colleges and Universities
Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU) is the national association serving the proprietary higher education sector.
Please direct media inquiries to Jenny Faubert, Vice President of Communications, at Jenny.Faubert@career.org.
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