Controversy Surrounding the Gainful Employment Act and ForProfit Education Providers
Elaine Mendonca
October 17, 2023
On October 17, 2023, a tweet surfaced from Citron Research, expressing criticism towards $LOPE, a for-profit education provider. The tweet specifically targeted the company’s anti-government rhetoric and management posturing, highlighting their stance in light of the recently enacted Gainful Employment Act. This act, introduced to enhance transparency and hold career training programs accountable, aims to ensure that students receive financial value from their education.
Under the Gainful Employment Act, career training programs that consistently burden graduates with unaffordable debts or provide low earnings would face the consequence of losing federal aid. Additionally, institutions would be required to provide warnings to students attending programs that are at risk of losing access to aid due to failing Gainful Employment metrics. The Education Department has been diligently working on updating and releasing a new Gainful Employment rule for nearly two years, building upon a previous effort that was discarded during the Trump administration.
