[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 117 (Monday, June 18, 2018)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 28177-28178]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-13054]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket ID ED-2017-OPE-0090]


Program Integrity: Gainful Employment

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Announcement of applicable dates; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: On January 6 and January 19, 2017, the Department announced 
dates by which institutions subject to the Department's gainful 
employment (GE) regulations must comply with certain disclosure 
requirements in the GE regulations. On July 5, 2017, the Department 
announced that it was allowing additional time, until July 1, 2018, to 
comply with those provisions. This document announces that the 
Department allows additional time, until July 1, 2019, for institutions 
to comply with those disclosure requirements in the GE regulations and 
invites comment on this action.

DATES: The Department is allowing additional time--until July 1, 2019--
for institutions to comply with 34 CFR 668.412(d) and (e). We must 
receive your comments on or before July 18, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments by fax or by email or those submitted after the comment 
period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, please 
submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the Docket 
ID at the top of your comments.
    <bullet> Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under ``Help.''
    <bullet> Postal Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you 
mail or deliver your comments, address them to Jean-Didier Gaina, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Room 290-34, Washington, 
DC 20202.
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy for comments received from 
members of the public (including comments submitted by mail, commercial 
delivery, or hand delivery) is to make these submissions available for 
public viewing in their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include 
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly 
available on the internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Filter, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Room 290-42, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: (202) 453-7249. Email at: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#edbe8e829999c3ab848199889fad8889c38a829b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="56053539222278103f3a22332416333278313920">[email protected]</span></a>.
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 34 CFR 668.412(d) and (e), 
institutions subject to the GE regulations would be required to include 
a disclosure template with information specified by the Department, or 
a link thereto, in their GE program promotional materials

[[Page 28178]]

and to directly distribute the disclosure template to prospective 
students.
    On January 6 and January 19, 2017, the Department announced dates 
by which institutions subject to the GE regulations must comply with 
certain provisions of the GE regulations, including the requirements in 
34 CFR 668.412(d) and (e). On March 6, 2017, the Department announced 
that it was allowing additional time, until July 1, 2017, to comply 
with those requirements. On June 30, 2017 in an electronic announcement 
and in a notice published in the Federal Register on July 5, 2017, the 
Department announced that it was allowing additional time, until July 
1, 2018, to comply with those requirements and invited comment (82 FR 
30975). The Department received 45 comments on that action. Many 
commenters expressed general support for the GE regulations, while 
others expressed general opposition to the GE regulations. One 
commenter recommended the development of a mass upload tool for GE 
disclosure templates. Another commenter requested the Department review 
the information that had to be disclosed for GE programs, as they 
contended the disclosures were confusing to students. Other commenters 
provided comments on other aspects of the GE regulations, such as on 
the alternate earnings appeals process, the student warning 
requirement, and the reporting requirements.
    From December 4, 2017, through March 15, 2018, the Department 
conducted three negotiated rulemaking sessions related to the GE 
regulations. The committee did not reach consensus. The Department 
intends to develop proposed regulations that would replace the GE 
regulations. As part of this rulemaking process, the Department 
continues to evaluate the efficacy of these disclosures to students, 
including the manner in which the GE regulations would require 
institutions make these disclosures, and the burden associated with the 
implementation of these requirements. As the Department continues to 
review the utility of these requirements in connection with the 
proposed rulemaking, we are allowing institutions additional time--
until July 1, 2019--to comply with the provisions in 34 CFR 668.412(d) 
and (e). The requirements in 34 CFR 668.412(a), (b), and (c) that 
schools post disclosures on their program websites using the approved 
disclosure template provided by the Department and that those 
disclosures be updated annually remain in effect.
    We are inviting your comments on this action. We will consider 
these comments in determining whether to take any future action in 
connection with the implementation of the disclosure requirements.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., Braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program contact person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this 
document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may 
access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of 
Federal Regulations via the Federal Digital System at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well as all other 
documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text 
or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you must have Adobe 
Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature of this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: June 13, 2018.
Betsy DeVos,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2018-13054 Filed 6-15-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P


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