Why the ‘Gainful Employment’ Rule Is Failing Students

TPA recently released a new issue brief on the problems facing the American higher education system. The report’s release comes as the Department of Education’s Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee meets to contemplate changes to policies such as the “Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment” rule. This regulation, which primarily targets private higher education institutions while ignoring non-profit schools, has resulted in a confusing system of federal favoritism. 

The Trump-McMahon DoE can correct course with the impending launch of the AHEAD negotiated rulemaking committee, which finally has a chance to wrestle power from the vestiges of former President Biden’s unaccountable DoE. That includes finally ending the obsolete “Gainful Employment” rule. There’s simply no reason why the federal government should favor some college programs over others and straddle the sector in high duplicative costs that are passed along to students.

Read the full op-ed in Real Clear Education.