July 9, 2026
On July 1, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education published a final rule implementing a new Title IV-program earnings premium measure established by Congress one year ago in the Working Families Tax Cut Act (also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”). The final rule, titled “Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand-Driven Workforce Pell: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability,” stays close to the consensus language agreed upon in the Department’s Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-Driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) negotiated rulemaking, with some important changes noted below after public comment following publication of the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).
The final rule overhauls the accountability framework for Title IV programs by replacing the former financial value transparency (FVT) rule and gainful employment (GE) debt-to-earnings (D/E) metric (GE/FVT) with a revised earnings premium measure through a new Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS). The stated goal is to increase institutional accountability for graduate earnings, expand transparency regarding program costs and outcomes, and protect students from low-earning programs. Under this “do no harm” standard, a program passes if its graduates’ median earnings equal or exceed those of working adults aged 25-34 with only the next-lower credential level (a high school diploma for undergraduate programs or a bachelor’s degree for graduate programs).