Student Defense Statement on Department of Education’s Newly Proposed Gainful Employment Rule

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2023

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Student Defense Statement on Department of Education’s Newly Proposed Gainful Employment Rule

Today, the Department of Education released a newly-proposed Gainful Employment rule. Following the announcement, Student Defense President Aaron Ament released the following statement:

“Ever since the Trump Administration illegally repealed the 2014 Gainful Employment rule, students have been left unprotected from predatory higher ed profiteers. The Department’s proposed regulation is an important step toward restoring basic rules of the road for career college programs. It’s a strong proposal, and we’re especially glad to see they strengthened previous versions of the rule by relying upon the PEER Project’s proposed high school earnings benchmark.

“While we applaud the Department’s efforts and urge swift completion of the rulemaking process, this proposal will not take effect until July 2024 at the earliest. We also remain concerned that the finalization or implementation of this proposal could be stalled or completely sidelined by legal challenges. The Department should, once and for all, concede that the repeal of the 2014 Rule was illegal and consent to its immediate reinstatement as a bridge and a backstop to its new rule.”

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