Program Integrity and Institutional Quality: State Authorization, Cash Management, Accreditation and Related Issues, 104937-104939 [2024-30919]
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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 247 / Thursday, December 26, 2024 / Proposed Rules
The notice of proposed
rulemaking published in the Federal
Register on April 13, 2023, 88 FR 22860,
is withdrawn as of December 20, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bianca Costello, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW,
Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202) 219–2126. Email:
bianca.costello@ed.gov.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or
have a speech disability and wish to
access telecommunications relay
services, please dial 7–1–1.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Background
On April 13, 2023, the Department
published a notice of proposed
rulemaking titled ‘‘Nondiscrimination
on the Basis of Sex in Education
Programs or Activities Receiving
Federal Financial Assistance: SexRelated Eligibility Criteria for Male and
Female Athletic Teams’’ (Athletics
NPRM) in the Federal Register that
proposed amending 34 CFR 106.41 of
the Department’s regulations
implementing Title IX. 88 FR 22860.
The intent of the Athletics NPRM was
to ‘‘propose a regulatory standard under
Title IX that would govern a recipient’s
adoption or application of sex-related
criteria that would limit or deny a
student’s eligibility to participate on a
male or female athletic team consistent
with their gender identity.’’ Id. The
Department’s proposed rule provided
that, if a recipient adopts or applies sexrelated criteria that would limit or deny
a student’s eligibility to participate on a
male or female team consistent with
their gender identity, such criteria must,
for each sport, level of competition, and
grade or educational level: (i) be
substantially related to the achievement
of an important educational objective,
and (ii) minimize harms to students
whose opportunity to participate on a
male or female team consistent with
their gender identity would be limited
or denied. 88 FR 22891.
The Department invited the public to
comment on all aspects of the Athletics
NPRM, as well as the Regulatory Impact
Analysis. In response, the Department
received more than 150,000 public
comments on the Athletics NPRM
during the 30-day comment period.
Withdrawal of the Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking and Termination of the
Rulemaking Proceeding
The Department reviewed and
considered all comments submitted
during the comment period and
appreciates the time and effort spent by
commenters in sharing their views with
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:56 Dec 23, 2024
Jkt 265001
the Department. Commenters offered a
broad spectrum of opinions on the
Athletics NPRM. Some commenters
expressed general support for the
proposed regulation, and some asked
the Department to modify the proposed
regulation to provide for more students
to participate on a sex-separate athletic
team consistent with their gender
identity, particularly at the elementary
and secondary school levels. Other
commenters opposed the proposed
regulation in its entirety and asked the
Department to withdraw the Athletics
NPRM. Numerous commenters
expressed concerns about the
application of the proposed regulation
in practice, arguing that the proposed
regulation was unclear or too complex
for recipients to implement, and many
commenters offered alternative
regulatory text for the Department’s
consideration to clarify, simplify,
elaborate on, or substantively change
the focus and impact of the proposed
rule. Additionally, a significant number
of commenters included discussions of
case law, scientific studies and research
papers, and existing athletic association
policies and practices regarding athletic
eligibility criteria that, according to the
commenters, supported the adoption,
modification, or withdrawal of the
proposed regulation.
The Department recognizes that there
are multiple pending lawsuits related to
the application of Title IX in the context
of gender identity, including lawsuits
related to Title IX’s application to
athletic eligibility criteria in a variety of
factual contexts. In light of the
comments received and those various
pending court cases, the Department has
determined not to regulate on this issue
at this time. Therefore, the Department
hereby withdraws the Athletics NPRM
and terminates this rulemaking
proceeding. We do not intend for a final
rule to be issued on this NPRM. If, in
the future, we decide it is appropriate to
issue regulations on this topic, we will
do so via a new notice of proposed
rulemaking, subject to the requirements
of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5
U.S.C. 551, et seq.
To the extent the Department receives
complaints of discrimination about a
recipient’s obligation to provide equal
opportunity to participate in athletics
regardless of sex, it will continue to
apply the longstanding legal standards
reflected in the athletics regulations at
34 CFR 106.41 and in U.S. Dep’t of
Health, Educ., and Welfare, Office for
Civil Rights, A Policy Interpretation:
Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics, 44
FR 71413 (Dec. 11, 1979), https://
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-197912-11/pdf/FR-1979-12-11.pdf.
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104937
The Athletics NPRM issued on April
13, 2023, is hereby withdrawn, and the
rulemaking proceeding for that NPRM is
terminated as of the date of publication
of this notice in the Federal Register.
Accessible Format: On request to the
program contact person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT,
individuals with disabilities can obtain
this document in an accessible format.
The Department will provide the
requestor with an accessible format that
may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or
text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3,
braille, large print, audiotape, compact
disc, or other accessible format.
Electronic Access to This Document:
The official version of this document is
the document published in the Federal
Register. You may access the official
edition of the Federal Register and the
Code of Federal Regulations at
www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can
view this document, as well as all other
Department documents published in the
Federal Register, in text or Portable
Document Format (PDF). To use PDF,
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader,
which is available free at the site.
You may also access Department
documents published in the Federal
Register by using the article search
feature at www.federalregister.gov.
Specifically, through the advanced
search feature at this site, you can limit
your search to documents published by
the Department.
Miguel Cardona,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2024–30921 Filed 12–20–24; 2:00 pm]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Parts 600, 602, and 668
[Docket ID ED–2022–OPE–0050]
RIN 1840–AD82, 1840–AD83, 1840–AD86
Program Integrity and Institutional
Quality: State Authorization, Cash
Management, Accreditation and
Related Issues
Office of Postsecondary
Education, Department of Education.
ACTION: Termination of negotiated
rulemaking process for State
Authorization, Cash Management,
Accreditation and Related Issues.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Department of
Education (Department) announces the
termination of the negotiated
rulemaking process for three Program
Integrity and Institutional Quality issues
that were undertaken as part of a larger
negotiated rulemaking process for
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\26DEP1.SGM
26DEP1
104938
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 247 / Thursday, December 26, 2024 / Proposed Rules
Federal programs authorized under title
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965,
as amended (HEA): State Authorization,
Cash Management, Accreditation and
Related Issues (Accreditation).
DATES: The negotiated rulemaking
process for State Authorization, Cash
Management, and Accreditation and
Related Issues is terminated as of
December 20, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Scott Prince, U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Postsecondary
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW,
5th Floor, Washington, DC 20202.
Telephone: (202)453–5568. Email:
NegRegNPRMHelp@ed.gov.
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or
have a speech disability and wish to
access telecommunications relay
services, please dial 7–1–1.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Background
On March 24, 2023, the Department
published a notification in the Federal
Register announcing our intent to
establish a negotiated rulemaking
committee to prepare proposed
regulations for the Federal Student Aid
programs authorized under title IV of
the HEA. See 88 FR 17777.
On April 11–13, 2023, the Department
held a virtual public hearing at which
individuals and representatives of
interested organizations provided
advice and recommendations relating to
the issues identified in the March 24
notification. We also took written public
comments from March 24, 2023,
through April 24, 2023.
On November 29, 2023, the
Department published a negotiated
rulemaking in the Federal Register
announcing its intent to establish a
negotiated rulemaking committee and
soliciting nominations for individual
negotiators to represent key stakeholder
constituencies for the issues to be
negotiated to serve on the rulemaking
committee. See 88 FR 83365. The
document covered six issues:
(1) The Federal TRIO programs,
including improvements to
programmatic eligibility and operations
under 34 CFR parts 642 through 647;
(2) The Secretary’s recognition of
accrediting agencies in 34 CFR part 602
and related parts;
(3) Institutional eligibility under 34
CFR 600.2, including State
authorization as a component of such
eligibility under 34 CFR 600.9;
(4) Return of title IV funds, to address
requirements for participating
institutions to return unearned title IV
funds in a manner that protects students
and taxpayers while easing
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:56 Dec 23, 2024
Jkt 265001
administrative burden for institutions of
higher education under 34 CFR 668.22;
(5) Cash management, to address
timely student access to disbursements
of title IV, HEA Federal student
financial assistance and provisions
related to credit balances, escheatment,
or loss of such funds under 34 CFR part
668, subpart K; and
(6) The definition of ‘‘distance
education’’ under 34 CFR 600.2 as it
pertains to clock hour programs and
reporting for students who enroll
primarily online.
The Department held three negotiated
rulemaking sessions of four days each.
During each daily negotiated
rulemaking session, we provided an
opportunity for public comment and
expanded that time to one hour for the
second and third sessions. Additionally,
non-Federal negotiators shared feedback
from their stakeholders with the
negotiating committee.
On July 24, 2024, the Department
published in the Federal Register a
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
proposing to amend the Student
Assistance General Provisions
regulations to promote program integrity
and institutional quality in three of the
six negotiated rulemaking issues: (1)
distance education; (2) the return of title
IV, HEA funds; and (3) the Federal TRIO
programs. See 89 FR 60256. This
document does not apply to the issues
covered in the July 24, 2024, NPRM,
which will be addressed through that
separate rulemaking.
This document pertains to the three
remaining issues included in the
November 29, 2023, notification
establishing the negotiated rulemaking
committee: accreditation, state
authorization, and cash management.
For the reasons discussed below, the
Department is terminating the
negotiated rulemaking process for these
issues.
Termination of the Negotiated
Rulemaking Process for State
Authorization, Cash Management,
Accreditation and Related Issues
The Department began the rulemaking
efforts described above to amend 34
CFR parts 600, 602, and 668 to create
more student-friendly policies relating
to the use and receipt of Federal student
financial aid and to hold institutions
accountable for providing high-quality
educational opportunities. However, the
Department has decided not to make
any regulatory changes on the issues of
accreditation, state authorization, and
cash management at this time, to allow
for additional evaluation of recent
changes in other regulations and
industry practices. This decision reflects
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the Department’s commitment to
deliberative policymaking and
consideration of feedback received
during the negotiated rulemaking
process, which highlighted the need for
additional time and further study.
Terminating the negotiated rulemaking
process at this time will allow the
agency to gather additional data, assess
evolving industry practices, and
evaluate whether existing regulations
remain necessary or require
modification.
The Department considered several
factors in reaching the decision to
terminate the negotiated rulemaking
process on these remaining three
identified issues. We considered that
two of the areas—state authorization
and accreditation—have recently
undergone significant changes, as
explained below, that continue to affect
the field even after the conclusion of
negotiated rulemaking, and we decided
it is preferable to wait and see the
effectiveness of those changes before
issuing further regulations. Waiting to
assess the effects of these changes will
allow the Department to better identify
any needed future alterations and
improve the evidentiary base for future
rulemaking.
Regarding state authorization, the
Department decided to terminate the
negotiated rulemaking process so we
could observe the effects of two recent
policy changes. One is a change to
§ 668.14(b)(32)(iii) that went into effect
on July 1, 2024. See 88 FR 74568. The
new regulation requires institutions to
certify to the Department that they are
in compliance with all State laws
related to closure of postsecondary
institutions, including record retention,
teach-out plans or agreements, and
tuition recovery funds or surety bonds.
That change addressed one of the major
concerns the Department had related to
state authorization—ensuring that States
were not limited in their ability to
manage the effects of closure on
students living within their borders,
even if the college is located in a
different state. Given that the change to
§ 668.14(b)(32)(iii) only took effect a few
months ago, evaluating its effect as
closures occur will help the Department
understand whether further
modifications may be necessary.
The Department also believes it is
worth evaluating how State-led efforts at
improving state authorization proceed
before making further regulatory
changes. This particularly involves the
policy modification process adopted by
the National Council for State
Authorization Reciprocity Agreements
(NC–SARA), an organization formed in
partnership with four regional compacts
E:\FR\FM\26DEP1.SGM
26DEP1
ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 247 / Thursday, December 26, 2024 / Proposed Rules
in which almost all states across the
country participate for purposes of
providing state authorization and
reciprocity. NC–SARA first started using
a policy modification process in January
2023 to create a formal mechanism for
addressing issues with state
authorization and reciprocity.1 That
process continues to be refined. As
many commenters noted during the
public hearings and negotiated
rulemaking sessions on state
authorization, allowing this policy
modification process to continue is one
way to address the Department’s goals.
Regarding accreditation, the
Department adopted a series of final
regulations in this area that went into
effect on July 1, 2020. See 84 FR 58834.
These regulations made significant
changes to the Department’s process for
reviewing and recognizing accrediting
agencies. Although these regulations
went into effect four years ago, the
Department is still in the midst of the
first cycle of implementing these
changes across all accrediting agencies.
That is a result of the five-year
timeframe on renewal of recognition for
accrediting agencies, as well as the
requirements that agencies submit
applications for renewal two years
before their deadline for renewal and
the additional periods institutions have
for submitting compliance or
monitoring reports. Allowing a full 5year review cycle under the 2020
regulations for all accrediting agencies
provides a greater opportunity to
demonstrate the effectiveness of the
existing rules and evaluate outcomes
before making other changes to the
process. This also allows Department
staff to focus on existing reviews instead
of directing focus away from these key
activities. Seeing the effects across a full
cycle will help us better identify any
needed modifications.
The Department also has decided to
terminate the negotiated rulemaking
process on the third remaining
regulatory area, cash management.
While we discussed several regulatory
changes to this topic, the most
significant was a proposal addressing
textbook billing practices. That issue
generated significant discussion during
negotiated rulemaking and from public
commenters, among all the cash
management proposals. We are
persuaded by concerns raised during the
negotiated rulemaking sessions about
the need to gather additional data,
assess evolving industry practices, and
evaluate how policies related to the
costs of books and supplies as part of
1 https://www.nc-sara.org/sara-policymodification-process.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:56 Dec 23, 2024
Jkt 265001
tuition and fees best serve students and
their use of financial aid. The current
provisions are in § 668.164(c) and (m).
The Department received public
feedback during the negotiated
rulemaking process articulating the
benefits of these policies. The
Department also acknowledges concerns
from commenters, including from
students who have experience
navigating these products, that these
policies may not always deliver costs to
students that are below market rates or
may not give students a true
opportunity to opt out. Given this mix
of input, we believe further research to
assess the benefits or drawbacks of this
way of billing for textbooks is needed
before proceeding with rulemaking.
Additionally, because textbook billing is
the most significant issue related to cash
management addressed by the
committee, we do not believe exploring
further regulatory changes in this part of
the regulations is the best use of limited
Department resources at this time. Any
institution that includes the costs of
books and supplies as part of tuition
and fees as described in 668.164(c) must
ensure they have a clearly
communicated and actionable policy
under which the student may opt out of
the method the institution provides for
students to obtain books and supplies.
If the Department continues to find that
institutions are not complying with the
current requirements in § 668.164(c) and
(m), we may propose additional
protective or restrictive measures to
ensure that students have access to
books or supplies at below competitive
market rates.
For the reasons described above, at
this time the Secretary exercises his
discretion to terminate the negotiated
rulemaking process for issues related to
accreditation, state authorization, and
cash management. Were the Department
to issue a regulation in this area in the
future, it would be bound by the
requirements of Section 492(a) and (b)
of the HEA, 20 U.S.C. 1098a(a) and (b).
Accessible Format: On request to the
program contact person listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT,
individuals with disabilities can obtain
this document in an accessible format.
The Department will provide the
requestor with an accessible format that
may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or
text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3
file, braille, large print, audiotape,
compact disc, or other accessible format.
Electronic Access to This Document:
The official version of this document is
the document published in the Federal
Register. You may access the official
edition of the Federal Register and the
Code of Federal Regulations at
PO 00000
Frm 00040
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
104939
www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can
view this document, as well as all other
Department documents published in the
Federal Register, in text or Portable
Document Format (PDF). To use PDF
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader,
which is available free at the site.
You may also access Department
documents published in the Federal
Register by using the article search
feature at www.federalregister.gov.
Specifically, through the advanced
search feature at this site, you can limit
your search to documents published by
the Department.
Miguel Cardona,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2024–30919 Filed 12–20–24; 2:00 pm]
BILLING CODE 4000–01–P
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Parts 30 and 682
[Docket ID ED–2023–OPE–0123]
RIN 1840–AD93
Student Debt Relief for the William D.
Ford Federal Direct Loan Program
(Direct Loans), the Federal Family
Education Loan (FFEL) Program, the
Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins)
Program, and the Health Education
Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program;
Withdrawal
Office of Postsecondary
Education, Department of Education.
ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of
proposed rulemaking and termination of
rulemaking proceeding.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Department of
Education (Department) is withdrawing
a notice of proposed rulemaking
(NPRM) that, under the Secretary’s
authority to waive repayment of a loan
provided by the Higher Education Act of
1965, as amended (HEA), proposed to
do the following: amend regulations
regarding waiver of certain student loan
debts; provide targeted debt relief as
part of efforts to address the burden of
student loan debt; and modify the
Department’s existing debt collection
regulations to provide greater specificity
regarding certain non-exhaustive
situations in which the Secretary may
exercise discretion to waive all or part
of any debts owed to the Department.
DATES: The notice of proposed
rulemaking published in the Federal
Register at 89 FR 27564 on April 17,
2024, is withdrawn as of December 20,
2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Tamy Abernathy, U.S. Department of
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\26DEP1.SGM
26DEP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 247 (Thursday, December 26, 2024)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 104937-104939]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30919]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
34 CFR Parts 600, 602, and 668
[Docket ID ED-2022-OPE-0050]
RIN 1840-AD82, 1840-AD83, 1840-AD86
Program Integrity and Institutional Quality: State Authorization,
Cash Management, Accreditation and Related Issues
AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.
ACTION: Termination of negotiated rulemaking process for State
Authorization, Cash Management, Accreditation and Related Issues.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Education (Department) announces the
termination of the negotiated rulemaking process for three Program
Integrity and Institutional Quality issues that were undertaken as part
of a larger negotiated rulemaking process for
[[Page 104938]]
Federal programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act
of 1965, as amended (HEA): State Authorization, Cash Management,
Accreditation and Related Issues (Accreditation).
DATES: The negotiated rulemaking process for State Authorization, Cash
Management, and Accreditation and Related Issues is terminated as of
December 20, 2024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Prince, U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW,
5th Floor, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202)453-5568. Email:
[email protected].
If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and
wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 24, 2023, the Department published a notification in the
Federal Register announcing our intent to establish a negotiated
rulemaking committee to prepare proposed regulations for the Federal
Student Aid programs authorized under title IV of the HEA. See 88 FR
17777.
On April 11-13, 2023, the Department held a virtual public hearing
at which individuals and representatives of interested organizations
provided advice and recommendations relating to the issues identified
in the March 24 notification. We also took written public comments from
March 24, 2023, through April 24, 2023.
On November 29, 2023, the Department published a negotiated
rulemaking in the Federal Register announcing its intent to establish a
negotiated rulemaking committee and soliciting nominations for
individual negotiators to represent key stakeholder constituencies for
the issues to be negotiated to serve on the rulemaking committee. See
88 FR 83365. The document covered six issues:
(1) The Federal TRIO programs, including improvements to
programmatic eligibility and operations under 34 CFR parts 642 through
647;
(2) The Secretary's recognition of accrediting agencies in 34 CFR
part 602 and related parts;
(3) Institutional eligibility under 34 CFR 600.2, including State
authorization as a component of such eligibility under 34 CFR 600.9;
(4) Return of title IV funds, to address requirements for
participating institutions to return unearned title IV funds in a
manner that protects students and taxpayers while easing administrative
burden for institutions of higher education under 34 CFR 668.22;
(5) Cash management, to address timely student access to
disbursements of title IV, HEA Federal student financial assistance and
provisions related to credit balances, escheatment, or loss of such
funds under 34 CFR part 668, subpart K; and
(6) The definition of ``distance education'' under 34 CFR 600.2 as
it pertains to clock hour programs and reporting for students who
enroll primarily online.
The Department held three negotiated rulemaking sessions of four
days each. During each daily negotiated rulemaking session, we provided
an opportunity for public comment and expanded that time to one hour
for the second and third sessions. Additionally, non-Federal
negotiators shared feedback from their stakeholders with the
negotiating committee.
On July 24, 2024, the Department published in the Federal Register
a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to amend the Student
Assistance General Provisions regulations to promote program integrity
and institutional quality in three of the six negotiated rulemaking
issues: (1) distance education; (2) the return of title IV, HEA funds;
and (3) the Federal TRIO programs. See 89 FR 60256. This document does
not apply to the issues covered in the July 24, 2024, NPRM, which will
be addressed through that separate rulemaking.
This document pertains to the three remaining issues included in
the November 29, 2023, notification establishing the negotiated
rulemaking committee: accreditation, state authorization, and cash
management. For the reasons discussed below, the Department is
terminating the negotiated rulemaking process for these issues.
Termination of the Negotiated Rulemaking Process for State
Authorization, Cash Management, Accreditation and Related Issues
The Department began the rulemaking efforts described above to
amend 34 CFR parts 600, 602, and 668 to create more student-friendly
policies relating to the use and receipt of Federal student financial
aid and to hold institutions accountable for providing high-quality
educational opportunities. However, the Department has decided not to
make any regulatory changes on the issues of accreditation, state
authorization, and cash management at this time, to allow for
additional evaluation of recent changes in other regulations and
industry practices. This decision reflects the Department's commitment
to deliberative policymaking and consideration of feedback received
during the negotiated rulemaking process, which highlighted the need
for additional time and further study. Terminating the negotiated
rulemaking process at this time will allow the agency to gather
additional data, assess evolving industry practices, and evaluate
whether existing regulations remain necessary or require modification.
The Department considered several factors in reaching the decision
to terminate the negotiated rulemaking process on these remaining three
identified issues. We considered that two of the areas--state
authorization and accreditation--have recently undergone significant
changes, as explained below, that continue to affect the field even
after the conclusion of negotiated rulemaking, and we decided it is
preferable to wait and see the effectiveness of those changes before
issuing further regulations. Waiting to assess the effects of these
changes will allow the Department to better identify any needed future
alterations and improve the evidentiary base for future rulemaking.
Regarding state authorization, the Department decided to terminate
the negotiated rulemaking process so we could observe the effects of
two recent policy changes. One is a change to Sec. 668.14(b)(32)(iii)
that went into effect on July 1, 2024. See 88 FR 74568. The new
regulation requires institutions to certify to the Department that they
are in compliance with all State laws related to closure of
postsecondary institutions, including record retention, teach-out plans
or agreements, and tuition recovery funds or surety bonds. That change
addressed one of the major concerns the Department had related to state
authorization--ensuring that States were not limited in their ability
to manage the effects of closure on students living within their
borders, even if the college is located in a different state. Given
that the change to Sec. 668.14(b)(32)(iii) only took effect a few
months ago, evaluating its effect as closures occur will help the
Department understand whether further modifications may be necessary.
The Department also believes it is worth evaluating how State-led
efforts at improving state authorization proceed before making further
regulatory changes. This particularly involves the policy modification
process adopted by the National Council for State Authorization
Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), an organization formed in partnership
with four regional compacts
[[Page 104939]]
in which almost all states across the country participate for purposes
of providing state authorization and reciprocity. NC-SARA first started
using a policy modification process in January 2023 to create a formal
mechanism for addressing issues with state authorization and
reciprocity.\1\ That process continues to be refined. As many
commenters noted during the public hearings and negotiated rulemaking
sessions on state authorization, allowing this policy modification
process to continue is one way to address the Department's goals.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://www.nc-sara.org/sara-policy-modification-process.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regarding accreditation, the Department adopted a series of final
regulations in this area that went into effect on July 1, 2020. See 84
FR 58834. These regulations made significant changes to the
Department's process for reviewing and recognizing accrediting
agencies. Although these regulations went into effect four years ago,
the Department is still in the midst of the first cycle of implementing
these changes across all accrediting agencies. That is a result of the
five-year timeframe on renewal of recognition for accrediting agencies,
as well as the requirements that agencies submit applications for
renewal two years before their deadline for renewal and the additional
periods institutions have for submitting compliance or monitoring
reports. Allowing a full 5-year review cycle under the 2020 regulations
for all accrediting agencies provides a greater opportunity to
demonstrate the effectiveness of the existing rules and evaluate
outcomes before making other changes to the process. This also allows
Department staff to focus on existing reviews instead of directing
focus away from these key activities. Seeing the effects across a full
cycle will help us better identify any needed modifications.
The Department also has decided to terminate the negotiated
rulemaking process on the third remaining regulatory area, cash
management. While we discussed several regulatory changes to this
topic, the most significant was a proposal addressing textbook billing
practices. That issue generated significant discussion during
negotiated rulemaking and from public commenters, among all the cash
management proposals. We are persuaded by concerns raised during the
negotiated rulemaking sessions about the need to gather additional
data, assess evolving industry practices, and evaluate how policies
related to the costs of books and supplies as part of tuition and fees
best serve students and their use of financial aid. The current
provisions are in Sec. 668.164(c) and (m). The Department received
public feedback during the negotiated rulemaking process articulating
the benefits of these policies. The Department also acknowledges
concerns from commenters, including from students who have experience
navigating these products, that these policies may not always deliver
costs to students that are below market rates or may not give students
a true opportunity to opt out. Given this mix of input, we believe
further research to assess the benefits or drawbacks of this way of
billing for textbooks is needed before proceeding with rulemaking.
Additionally, because textbook billing is the most significant issue
related to cash management addressed by the committee, we do not
believe exploring further regulatory changes in this part of the
regulations is the best use of limited Department resources at this
time. Any institution that includes the costs of books and supplies as
part of tuition and fees as described in 668.164(c) must ensure they
have a clearly communicated and actionable policy under which the
student may opt out of the method the institution provides for students
to obtain books and supplies. If the Department continues to find that
institutions are not complying with the current requirements in Sec.
668.164(c) and (m), we may propose additional protective or restrictive
measures to ensure that students have access to books or supplies at
below competitive market rates.
For the reasons described above, at this time the Secretary
exercises his discretion to terminate the negotiated rulemaking process
for issues related to accreditation, state authorization, and cash
management. Were the Department to issue a regulation in this area in
the future, it would be bound by the requirements of Section 492(a) and
(b) of the HEA, 20 U.S.C. 1098a(a) and (b).
Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities
can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will
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Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file,
braille, large print, audiotape, compact disc, or other accessible
format.
Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of
Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can view this
document, as well as all other Department documents published in the
Federal Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the
site.
You may also access Department documents published in the Federal
Register by using the article search feature at
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search
feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published
by the Department.
Miguel Cardona,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2024-30919 Filed 12-20-24; 2:00 pm]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
