Gainful Employment Information 
Generally , in order to be eligible for funding under the Higher Education Act Title IV student assistance programs , an educational program must lead to a degree at a non - profit or public institution or it must prepare students for " gainful employment in a recognized occupation. " Therefore , with very few exceptions , any non - degree program offered by non - profit or public institutions and all educational programs offered at for - profit institutions must lead to gainful employment. Subpart Q of the Student Assistance General Provisions establishes Debt - to - Earnings rates D / E rates to determine whether a gainful employment GE program prepares students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation. A D / E rate is based on the typical loan debt and earnings of a cohort of the program s former students who completed the program, usually those who completed during a two - year period concluding two years prior to the D / E rate calculation year. This delay is to account for the ramping up of the students earnings upon completion of the program. Two D / E rates, the Annual Earnings Rate and the Discretionary Income Rate, are calculated for each program as a measure of the ability of program completers to reasonably repay the educational debt incurred for their attendance in the program. For the Annual Earnings Rate , the numerator is the calculated annual loan payment amount an estimate of the annual loan repayment amount based on the median educational debt of the members of the cohort. The denominator is the higher of the cohort s mean or median earnings obtained from the Social Security Administration SSA. The Discretionary Income Rate uses the same annual loan payment amount in the numerator as the Annual Earnings Rate but the denominator is the higher of the mean or median earnings minus 150% of the poverty guideline. Annual Earnings Rates of less than or equal to 8% are considered passing rates. Annual Earnings Ra

user: Why do I need gainful employment?

assistant: You need to be in an educational program that would lead to gainful employment in a recognized occupation or must lead to a degree at a non-profit or public institution to be eligible for funding under the Higher Education Act Title IV student assistance program.

user: What does the date of April 25, 2018 have to do with appeals?

assistant: As of April 25, 2018, no appeals that were review have been denied.

user: What is the earnings data?

assistant: do you mean as described previously, what is the earnings data?

user: Yes, that is what I am pertaining to.

assistant: The SSA calculates and returns to the US Department of Education the mean and median annual earnings of a cohort of students who completed the GE program during a specified period.

user: What does for Discretionary Income Rate mean?

assistant: They are rates less than or equal to 20% passing rates and rates higher than 20% but less than or equal to 30% are zone rates, and rates great than 30% are failing rates.

user: How is the annual earnings rate calculated?

assistant: The numerator is the calculated annual loan payment amount an estimate of the annual loan repayment amount based on the median education debt of the members and the denominator is the higher of the mean or median earnings gotten from the SSA.