The U.S. Education Department (ED) this week submitted its final proposed rules on program integrity and institutional quality to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) – a key last step before the rules are published in their final form in the Federal Register.
Earlier this year, ED held several panels of negotiated rulemaking on program integrity and institutional quality issues. Community colleges were represented on these panels. While the tables covered issues including cash management, state authorization and accreditation, ED only advanced proposed changes to distance education, Return of Title IV funds and TRIO eligibility in their August Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).
While the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) supported many of the changes in the NPRM, AACC submitted formal comments and met with ED officials to detail some significant concerns, which include required attendance-taking for all distance education courses, eliminating Title IV eligibility for asynchronous clock-hour programs offered online and new reporting for students enrolled in at least one distance education course.
Upon OIRA’s approval, the final rules will be published in the Federal Register. All final regulations must be published by November 1 to take effect for the next award year starting on July 1. This means the new regulations cannot take effect until July 2026, although institutions will likely have the opportunity to implement early.
While the incoming Trump administration is likely to rescind forthcoming final rules on student debt relief (also sent to OIRA this week), it is not yet clear what actions the new secretary will take on these regulations and other issues covered during the program integrity and institutional quality rulemaking.
