Another Delay for Revised TPS Expansion Guidance
Phil Hill
March 20, 2024
The ever-changing plans from the Department of Education on display
Two of the biggest questions in EdTech center around the plans for the US Department of Education (ED) and whether / when it will release revised guidance on two items targeting the Online Program Management (OPM) market.
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The third-party servicer (TPS) guidance released in February 2023 was created to rein in OPM companies but was written in a way to pull in most of EdTech in the US. Given the increasingly global nature of EdTech, that action generated massive pushback that led to ED pulling back the guidance. When will it release revised guidance?
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The bundled services exception was released in 2011 and underpins OPM tuition revenue-sharing models. ED has stated that it is reviewing that guidance and considering whether to rescind it. If done, that action would blow up the OPM market and cause hundreds of contracts to be rewritten, and a redefinition of the market itself.
