The U.S. Education Department (ED) on Thursday concluded its first table in this round of negotiated rulemaking sessions on federal Title IV program integrity and quality issues, including accreditation, state authorization, distance education, return of Title IV funds (R2T4), cash management and TRIO eligibility.
The American Association of Community Colleges is highly engaged in this rulemaking and with the negotiators representing community colleges.
Based on this week’s meetings, there is ample opportunity for negotiators to work together to improve and simplify processes for colleges and students, particularly around changes to R2T4. However, the first session also uncovered key areas of disagreements between negotiators. This includes the proposal to rewrite cash-management regulations in a way that restricts colleges’ ability to include the cost of textbooks and supplies in tuition and fees, which is a key component of “inclusive access” programs used by many community colleges.
Negotiators also shared diverging views on proposed changes to the regulation of distance education programs, state authorization issues around reciprocity agreements, new requirements for accreditors to conduct site visits for additional locations and new standards for who can serve as a “public member” on an accreditation review board. At this stage, it is unclear if negotiators will be able to reach consensus on these four papers.
The next two negotiated rulemaking sessions are for February 5-8 and March 4-7.
