Five Takeaways From the Higher Ed Accountability Rulemaking
Preston Cooper
January 15, 2026
Colleges which fail to deliver a return on investment for their graduates have been put on notice.
Last week, the Education Department convened a negotiated rulemaking committee to draft implementing regulations for a section of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) that holds colleges accountable for students’ earnings outcomes. The committee—in which I participated as the designated advocate for taxpayers and the public interest—adopted the 64-page regulation by consensus, meaning the Department is bound to use the language we agreed on when it issues a formal proposed rule.
Here are five major takeaways from the rulemaking.
1. Programs will need to pass a harmonized earnings benchmark.
The Education Department’s goal in crafting accountability regulations was “harmonization”—the principle that the same standards should apply to all higher education programs, regardless of the college’s sector or the credential type. To that end, the regulation requires all programs receiving federal student loan funding to pass an earnings test.
