Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 247 / Thursday, December 26, 2024 / Proposed Rules 104937 

DATES: The notice of proposed 

rulemaking published in the Federal 

Register on April 13, 2023, 88 FR 22860, 

is withdrawn as of December 20, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Bianca Costello, U.S. Department of 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, 

Fifth Floor, Washington, DC 20202. 

Telephone: (202) 219–2126. Email: 

bianca.costello@ed.gov. 

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or 

have a speech disability and wish to 

access telecommunications relay 

services, please dial 7–1–1. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On April 13, 2023, the Department 

published a notice of proposed 

rulemaking titled ‘‘Nondiscrimination 

on the Basis of Sex in Education 

Programs or Activities Receiving 

Federal Financial Assistance: SexRelated Eligibility Criteria for Male and 

Female Athletic Teams’’ (Athletics 

NPRM) in the Federal Register that 

proposed amending 34 CFR 106.41 of 

the Department’s regulations 

implementing Title IX. 88 FR 22860. 

The intent of the Athletics NPRM was 

to ‘‘propose a regulatory standard under 

Title IX that would govern a recipient’s 

adoption or application of sex-related 

criteria that would limit or deny a 

student’s eligibility to participate on a 

male or female athletic team consistent 

with their gender identity.’’ Id. The 

Department’s proposed rule provided 

that, if a recipient adopts or applies sexrelated criteria that would limit or deny 

a student’s eligibility to participate on a 

male or female team consistent with 

their gender identity, such criteria must, 

for each sport, level of competition, and 

grade or educational level: (i) be 

substantially related to the achievement 

of an important educational objective, 

and (ii) minimize harms to students 

whose opportunity to participate on a 

male or female team consistent with 

their gender identity would be limited 

or denied. 88 FR 22891. 

The Department invited the public to 

comment on all aspects of the Athletics 

NPRM, as well as the Regulatory Impact 

Analysis. In response, the Department 

received more than 150,000 public 

comments on the Athletics NPRM 

during the 30-day comment period. 

Withdrawal of the Notice of Proposed 

Rulemaking and Termination of the 

Rulemaking Proceeding 

The Department reviewed and 

considered all comments submitted 

during the comment period and 

appreciates the time and effort spent by 

commenters in sharing their views with 

the Department. Commenters offered a 

broad spectrum of opinions on the 

Athletics NPRM. Some commenters 

expressed general support for the 

proposed regulation, and some asked 

the Department to modify the proposed 

regulation to provide for more students 

to participate on a sex-separate athletic 

team consistent with their gender 

identity, particularly at the elementary 

and secondary school levels. Other 

commenters opposed the proposed 

regulation in its entirety and asked the 

Department to withdraw the Athletics 

NPRM. Numerous commenters 

expressed concerns about the 

application of the proposed regulation 

in practice, arguing that the proposed 

regulation was unclear or too complex 

for recipients to implement, and many 

commenters offered alternative 

regulatory text for the Department’s 

consideration to clarify, simplify, 

elaborate on, or substantively change 

the focus and impact of the proposed 

rule. Additionally, a significant number 

of commenters included discussions of 

case law, scientific studies and research 

papers, and existing athletic association 

policies and practices regarding athletic 

eligibility criteria that, according to the 

commenters, supported the adoption, 

modification, or withdrawal of the 

proposed regulation. 

The Department recognizes that there 

are multiple pending lawsuits related to 

the application of Title IX in the context 

of gender identity, including lawsuits 

related to Title IX’s application to 

athletic eligibility criteria in a variety of 

factual contexts. In light of the 

comments received and those various 

pending court cases, the Department has 

determined not to regulate on this issue 

at this time. Therefore, the Department 

hereby withdraws the Athletics NPRM 

and terminates this rulemaking 

proceeding. We do not intend for a final 

rule to be issued on this NPRM. If, in 

the future, we decide it is appropriate to 

issue regulations on this topic, we will 

do so via a new notice of proposed 

rulemaking, subject to the requirements 

of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 

U.S.C. 551, et seq. 

To the extent the Department receives 

complaints of discrimination about a 

recipient’s obligation to provide equal 

opportunity to participate in athletics 

regardless of sex, it will continue to 

apply the longstanding legal standards 

reflected in the athletics regulations at 

34 CFR 106.41 and in U.S. Dep’t of 

Health, Educ., and Welfare, Office for 

Civil Rights, A Policy Interpretation: 

Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics, 44 

FR 71413 (Dec. 11, 1979), https://

www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1979- 

12-11/pdf/FR-1979-12-11.pdf. 

The Athletics NPRM issued on April 

13, 2023, is hereby withdrawn, and the 

rulemaking proceeding for that NPRM is 

terminated as of the date of publication 

of this notice in the Federal Register. 

Accessible Format: On request to the 

program contact person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, 

individuals with disabilities can obtain 

this document in an accessible format. 

The Department will provide the 

requestor with an accessible format that 

may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or 

text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3, 

braille, large print, audiotape, compact 

disc, or other accessible format. 

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 at 

www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can 

view this document, as well as all other 

Department documents 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 the site. 

You may also access Department 

documents published in the Federal 

Register by using the article search 

feature at www.federalregister.gov. 

Specifically, through the advanced 

search feature at this site, you can limit 

your search to documents published by 

the Department. 

Miguel Cardona, 

Secretary of Education. 

[FR Doc. 2024–30921 Filed 12–20–24; 2:00 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Parts 600, 602, and 668 

[Docket ID ED–2022–OPE–0050] 

RIN 1840–AD82, 1840–AD83, 1840–AD86 

Program Integrity and Institutional 

Quality: State Authorization, Cash 

Management, Accreditation and 

Related Issues 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Termination of negotiated 

rulemaking process for State 

Authorization, Cash Management, 

Accreditation and Related Issues. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Education (Department) announces the 

termination of the negotiated 

rulemaking process for three Program 

Integrity and Institutional Quality issues 

that were undertaken as part of a larger 

negotiated rulemaking process for 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
104938 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 247 / Thursday, December 26, 2024 / Proposed Rules 

Federal programs authorized under title 

IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 

as amended (HEA): State Authorization, 

Cash Management, Accreditation and 

Related Issues (Accreditation). 

DATES: The negotiated rulemaking 

process for State Authorization, Cash 

Management, and Accreditation and 

Related Issues is terminated as of 

December 20, 2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Scott Prince, U.S. Department of 

Education, Office of Postsecondary 

Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW, 

5th Floor, Washington, DC 20202. 

Telephone: (202)453–5568. Email: 

NegRegNPRMHelp@ed.gov. 

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or 

have a speech disability and wish to 

access telecommunications relay 

services, please dial 7–1–1. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On March 24, 2023, the Department 

published a notification in the Federal 

Register announcing our intent to 

establish a negotiated rulemaking 

committee to prepare proposed 

regulations for the Federal Student Aid 

programs authorized under title IV of 

the HEA. See 88 FR 17777. 

On April 11–13, 2023, the Department 

held a virtual public hearing at which 

individuals and representatives of 

interested organizations provided 

advice and recommendations relating to 

the issues identified in the March 24 

notification. We also took written public 

comments from March 24, 2023, 

through April 24, 2023. 

On November 29, 2023, the 

Department published a negotiated 

rulemaking in the Federal Register 

announcing its intent to establish a 

negotiated rulemaking committee and 

soliciting nominations for individual 

negotiators to represent key stakeholder 

constituencies for the issues to be 

negotiated to serve on the rulemaking 

committee. See 88 FR 83365. The 

document covered six issues: 

(1) The Federal TRIO programs, 

including improvements to 

programmatic eligibility and operations 

under 34 CFR parts 642 through 647; 

(2) The Secretary’s recognition of 

accrediting agencies in 34 CFR part 602 

and related parts; 

(3) Institutional eligibility under 34 

CFR 600.2, including State 

authorization as a component of such 

eligibility under 34 CFR 600.9; 

(4) Return of title IV funds, to address 

requirements for participating 

institutions to return unearned title IV 

funds in a manner that protects students 

and taxpayers while easing 

administrative burden for institutions of 

higher education under 34 CFR 668.22; 

(5) Cash management, to address 

timely student access to disbursements 

of title IV, HEA Federal student 

financial assistance and provisions 

related to credit balances, escheatment, 

or loss of such funds under 34 CFR part 

668, subpart K; and 

(6) The definition of ‘‘distance 

education’’ under 34 CFR 600.2 as it 

pertains to clock hour programs and 

reporting for students who enroll 

primarily online. 

The Department held three negotiated 

rulemaking sessions of four days each. 

During each daily negotiated 

rulemaking session, we provided an 

opportunity for public comment and 

expanded that time to one hour for the 

second and third sessions. Additionally, 

non-Federal negotiators shared feedback 

from their stakeholders with the 

negotiating committee. 

On July 24, 2024, the Department 

published in the Federal Register a 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) 

proposing to amend the Student 

Assistance General Provisions 

regulations to promote program integrity 

and institutional quality in three of the 

six negotiated rulemaking issues: (1) 

distance education; (2) the return of title 

IV, HEA funds; and (3) the Federal TRIO 

programs. See 89 FR 60256. This 

document does not apply to the issues 

covered in the July 24, 2024, NPRM, 

which will be addressed through that 

separate rulemaking. 

This document pertains to the three 

remaining issues included in the 

November 29, 2023, notification 

establishing the negotiated rulemaking 

committee: accreditation, state 

authorization, and cash management. 

For the reasons discussed below, the 

Department is terminating the 

negotiated rulemaking process for these 

issues. 

Termination of the Negotiated 

Rulemaking Process for State 

Authorization, Cash Management, 

Accreditation and Related Issues 

The Department began the rulemaking 

efforts described above to amend 34 

CFR parts 600, 602, and 668 to create 

more student-friendly policies relating 

to the use and receipt of Federal student 

financial aid and to hold institutions 

accountable for providing high-quality 

educational opportunities. However, the 

Department has decided not to make 

any regulatory changes on the issues of 

accreditation, state authorization, and 

cash management at this time, to allow 

for additional evaluation of recent 

changes in other regulations and 

industry practices. This decision reflects 

the Department’s commitment to 

deliberative policymaking and 

consideration of feedback received 

during the negotiated rulemaking 

process, which highlighted the need for 

additional time and further study. 

Terminating the negotiated rulemaking 

process at this time will allow the 

agency to gather additional data, assess 

evolving industry practices, and 

evaluate whether existing regulations 

remain necessary or require 

modification. 

The Department considered several 

factors in reaching the decision to 

terminate the negotiated rulemaking 

process on these remaining three 

identified issues. We considered that 

two of the areas—state authorization 

and accreditation—have recently 

undergone significant changes, as 

explained below, that continue to affect 

the field even after the conclusion of 

negotiated rulemaking, and we decided 

it is preferable to wait and see the 

effectiveness of those changes before 

issuing further regulations. Waiting to 

assess the effects of these changes will 

allow the Department to better identify 

any needed future alterations and 

improve the evidentiary base for future 

rulemaking. 

Regarding state authorization, the 

Department decided to terminate the 

negotiated rulemaking process so we 

could observe the effects of two recent 

policy changes. One is a change to 

§ 668.14(b)(32)(iii) that went into effect 

on July 1, 2024. See 88 FR 74568. The 

new regulation requires institutions to 

certify to the Department that they are 

in compliance with all State laws 

related to closure of postsecondary 

institutions, including record retention, 

teach-out plans or agreements, and 

tuition recovery funds or surety bonds. 

That change addressed one of the major 

concerns the Department had related to 

state authorization—ensuring that States 

were not limited in their ability to 

manage the effects of closure on 

students living within their borders, 

even if the college is located in a 

different state. Given that the change to 

§ 668.14(b)(32)(iii) only took effect a few 

months ago, evaluating its effect as 

closures occur will help the Department 

understand whether further 

modifications may be necessary. 

The Department also believes it is 

worth evaluating how State-led efforts at 

improving state authorization proceed 

before making further regulatory 

changes. This particularly involves the 

policy modification process adopted by 

the National Council for State 

Authorization Reciprocity Agreements 

(NC–SARA), an organization formed in 

partnership with four regional compacts 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 247 / Thursday, December 26, 2024 / Proposed Rules 104939 

1https://www.nc-sara.org/sara-policymodification-process. 

in which almost all states across the 

country participate for purposes of 

providing state authorization and 

reciprocity. NC–SARA first started using 

a policy modification process in January 

2023 to create a formal mechanism for 

addressing issues with state 

authorization and reciprocity.1 That 

process continues to be refined. As 

many commenters noted during the 

public hearings and negotiated 

rulemaking sessions on state 

authorization, allowing this policy 

modification process to continue is one 

way to address the Department’s goals. 

Regarding accreditation, the 

Department adopted a series of final 

regulations in this area that went into 

effect on July 1, 2020. See 84 FR 58834. 

These regulations made significant 

changes to the Department’s process for 

reviewing and recognizing accrediting 

agencies. Although these regulations 

went into effect four years ago, the 

Department is still in the midst of the 

first cycle of implementing these 

changes across all accrediting agencies. 

That is a result of the five-year 

timeframe on renewal of recognition for 

accrediting agencies, as well as the 

requirements that agencies submit 

applications for renewal two years 

before their deadline for renewal and 

the additional periods institutions have 

for submitting compliance or 

monitoring reports. Allowing a full 5- 

year review cycle under the 2020 

regulations for all accrediting agencies 

provides a greater opportunity to 

demonstrate the effectiveness of the 

existing rules and evaluate outcomes 

before making other changes to the 

process. This also allows Department 

staff to focus on existing reviews instead 

of directing focus away from these key 

activities. Seeing the effects across a full 

cycle will help us better identify any 

needed modifications. 

The Department also has decided to 

terminate the negotiated rulemaking 

process on the third remaining 

regulatory area, cash management. 

While we discussed several regulatory 

changes to this topic, the most 

significant was a proposal addressing 

textbook billing practices. That issue 

generated significant discussion during 

negotiated rulemaking and from public 

commenters, among all the cash 

management proposals. We are 

persuaded by concerns raised during the 

negotiated rulemaking sessions about 

the need to gather additional data, 

assess evolving industry practices, and 

evaluate how policies related to the 

costs of books and supplies as part of 

tuition and fees best serve students and 

their use of financial aid. The current 

provisions are in § 668.164(c) and (m). 

The Department received public 

feedback during the negotiated 

rulemaking process articulating the 

benefits of these policies. The 

Department also acknowledges concerns 

from commenters, including from 

students who have experience 

navigating these products, that these 

policies may not always deliver costs to 

students that are below market rates or 

may not give students a true 

opportunity to opt out. Given this mix 

of input, we believe further research to 

assess the benefits or drawbacks of this 

way of billing for textbooks is needed 

before proceeding with rulemaking. 

Additionally, because textbook billing is 

the most significant issue related to cash 

management addressed by the 

committee, we do not believe exploring 

further regulatory changes in this part of 

the regulations is the best use of limited 

Department resources at this time. Any 

institution that includes the costs of 

books and supplies as part of tuition 

and fees as described in 668.164(c) must 

ensure they have a clearly 

communicated and actionable policy 

under which the student may opt out of 

the method the institution provides for 

students to obtain books and supplies. 

If the Department continues to find that 

institutions are not complying with the 

current requirements in § 668.164(c) and 

(m), we may propose additional 

protective or restrictive measures to 

ensure that students have access to 

books or supplies at below competitive 

market rates. 

For the reasons described above, at 

this time the Secretary exercises his 

discretion to terminate the negotiated 

rulemaking process for issues related to 

accreditation, state authorization, and 

cash management. Were the Department 

to issue a regulation in this area in the 

future, it would be bound by the 

requirements of Section 492(a) and (b) 

of the HEA, 20 U.S.C. 1098a(a) and (b). 

Accessible Format: On request to the 

program contact person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, 

individuals with disabilities can obtain 

this document in an accessible format. 

The Department will provide the 

requestor with an accessible format that 

may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or 

text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 

file, braille, large print, audiotape, 

compact disc, or other accessible format. 

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 at 

www.govinfo.gov. At this site you can 

view this document, as well as all other 

Department documents 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 the site. 

You may also access Department 

documents published in the Federal 

Register by using the article search 

feature at www.federalregister.gov. 

Specifically, through the advanced 

search feature at this site, you can limit 

your search to documents published by 

the Department. 

Miguel Cardona, 

Secretary of Education. 

[FR Doc. 2024–30919 Filed 12–20–24; 2:00 pm] 

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

34 CFR Parts 30 and 682 

[Docket ID ED–2023–OPE–0123] 

RIN 1840–AD93 

Student Debt Relief for the William D. 

Ford Federal Direct Loan Program 

(Direct Loans), the Federal Family 

Education Loan (FFEL) Program, the 

Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins) 

Program, and the Health Education 

Assistance Loan (HEAL) Program; 

Withdrawal 

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary 

Education, Department of Education. 

ACTION: Withdrawal of notice of 

proposed rulemaking and termination of 

rulemaking proceeding. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Education (Department) is withdrawing 

a notice of proposed rulemaking 

(NPRM) that, under the Secretary’s 

authority to waive repayment of a loan 

provided by the Higher Education Act of 

1965, as amended (HEA), proposed to 

do the following: amend regulations 

regarding waiver of certain student loan 

debts; provide targeted debt relief as 

part of efforts to address the burden of 

student loan debt; and modify the 

Department’s existing debt collection 

regulations to provide greater specificity 

regarding certain non-exhaustive 

situations in which the Secretary may 

exercise discretion to waive all or part 

of any debts owed to the Department. 

DATES: The notice of proposed 

rulemaking published in the Federal 

Register at 89 FR 27564 on April 17, 

2024, is withdrawn as of December 20, 

2024. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Tamy Abernathy, U.S. Department of 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1