ED’s Gainful Employment Rule Will Stifle Innovation, Increase College Costs
June 20, 2023
WASHINGTON – Today, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT) sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona calling for the Department to abandon its proposed Gainful Employment rule, a sweeping regulatory package that imposes burdensome requirements on postsecondary education institutions, increases college tuition, and threatens the future of online learning.
In the letter, Reps. Foxx and Owens write: “Despite commitments you have made to work with Congress on robust accountability for all institutions of higher education (IHEs), your Department has reverted to using a mere few words in statute as an excuse to create hundreds of pages in regulations primarily targeting IHEs who do not share your preferred tax status. In doing so, the Department proposes using flawed, arbitrary metrics to determine whether programs leave students and taxpayers better off for investing in them.”
Reps. Foxx and Owens continue: “It is puzzling why the Department refuses to work with the legislative branch when there is clearly bipartisan agreement on these issues and instead chooses to operate by executive fiat. … Moreover, in doing so, the Department is issuing overly burdensome and unnecessary requirements for IHEs that cut against the shared goal of lowering college costs and improving student outcomes.”
