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July 19, 2018 at 03:34 PM
Sixteen states plus the District of Columbia are opposing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ third delay of disclosure requirements in a DOE rule designed to prepare for-profit college students for jobs after graduation.
The requirements are part of the Gainful Employment Rule, which was created by the Obama White House and took effect in July 2015. Compliance with its disclosure requirements aimed at informing students about the costs, average debt load and default rate of graduates, however, was initially delayed until April 2017.
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Then, a month before that deadline, the DOE, under the Trump administration, delayed the compliance deadline until July 1, 2017, and issued another delay on June 30 for a full year. On July 1, 2018, the department issued yet another one-year delay, until July 1, 2019.
The latest delay “will unnecessarily harm student borrowers, constitutes an abrogation of the department’s responsibility to protect students and taxpayers, is not adequately justified, and violates the rulemaking requirements of the Higher Education Act,” according to a letter the attorneys general sent to DeVos on Wednesday.
“Delaying disclosures to students about the high debt load and poor outcomes for graduates of certain programs harms prospective students who are considering whether to enroll in those programs,” the letter says. It goes on to note that the department failed to provide the required notice and comment rulemaking as well as the opportunity for public comments before issuing the latest delay.
