ED Publishes Final Rules on R2T4, Distance Education
Jill Desjean
January 6, 2025
On Friday, the Department of Education (ED) finalized rules for two topics it negotiated as part of its Program Integrity and Institutional Quality rulemaking committee from 2023-24. While it missed the November 1 deadline that would have made the rules for Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) and distance education effective this upcoming July, ED opted for early implementation of several provisions, with the rest becoming effective July 1, 2026.
ED chose not to finalize the TRIO rules it proposed earlier this year, including only minor technical changes to the TRIO program rules in Friday’s package.
The final rules are significantly pared down from what ED initially proposed in July, with the deapartment acknowledging throughout the preamble that it was persuaded to make changes in response to public comments.
