New Year, New Neg Reg: Institutional and Programmatic Eligibility Committee Dives into Ability to Benefit and Administrative Capability

NASFAA

January 19, 2022

By Owen Daugherty and Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Staff Reporters

The Department of Education’s (ED) Institutional and Programmatic Eligibility Committee convened Tuesday for the first of four days, as the negotiated rulemaking group aims to reach consensus on regulatory language for seven different topics, with gainful employment, the 90/10 rule, and administrative capability headlining the slate.

Following a welcome from ED Under Secretary James Kvaal, the committee went through introductions for each committee member and agreed on the protocols that will be in place for the session.

Facilitators reiterated that the intent of the committee was to engage in good faith and strive for collective problem-solving on the host of issues. As was the case in the last session held in December, negotiators were told the committee would take an issue-by-issue approach to reaching consensus and that this session’s consensus checks would only be met if no thumbs were recorded as down, which would indicate that a negotiator had serious reservations.

Before diving into the first issue paper, there were requests for two additional members to be added to the committee. First, Johnson Tyler, a negotiator on behalf of the legal assistance organizations that represent students or borrowers, asked that a civil rights seat be added to the table, arguing that it should be its own entity and is separate from legal aid.

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