In order for students attending a school to receive Title IV funds, a school must be: 1. licensed or otherwise legally authorized to provide higher education in the state in which it is located, 2. accredited by an agency recognized for that purpose by the Secretary 3. deemed eligible and certified to participate in federal student aid programs by Education. Under the Higher Education Act, Education does not determine the quality of higher education institutions or their programs; rather, it relies on recognized accrediting agencies to do so. As part of its role in the administration of federal student aid programs, Education determines which institutions of higher education are eligible to participate in Title IV programs. Education is responsible for overseeing school compliance with Title IV laws and regulations and ensuring that only eligible students receive federal student aid. As part of its compliance monitoring, Education relies on department employees and independent auditors of schools to conduct program reviews and audits of schools. Institutions that participate in Title IV programs must comply with a range of requirements, including consumer disclosure requirements, which include information schools must make available to third parties, as well as reporting requirements, which include information schools must provide to Education. Congress and the President enact the statutes that create federal programs; these statutes may also authorize or direct a federal agency to develop and issue regulations to implement them. Both the authorizing statute and the implementing regulations may contain requirements that recipients must comply with in order to receive federal funds. The statute itself may impose specific requirements; alternatively, it may set general parameters and the implementing agency may then issue regulations further clarifying the requirements. Federal agencies may evaluate and modify their regulatory requirements, but they lack the authority to modify requirements imposed by statute. In addition, when issuing rules related to programs authorized under Title IV, Education is generally required by the HEA to use negotiated rulemaking, a process that directly involves stakeholders in drafting proposed regulations. Once the department determines that a rulemaking is necessary, it publishes a notice in the Federal Register, announcing its intent to form a negotiated rulemaking committee, and holds public hearings to seek input on the issues to be negotiated. Stakeholders, who are nominated by the public and selected by Education to serve as negotiators, may include schools and their professional associations, as well as student representatives and other interested parties. A representative from Education and stakeholders work together on a committee that attempts to reach consensus, which Education defines as unanimous agreement on the entire proposed regulatory language. If consensus is reached, Education will generally publish the agreed-upon language as its proposed rule. If consensus is not reached, Education is not bound by the results of the negotiating committee when drafting the proposed rule. According to proponents, the negotiated rulemaking process increases the flow of information between the department and those who must implement requirements. Once a proposed rule is published, Education continues the rulemaking process by providing the public an opportunity to comment before issuing the final rule. The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requires federal agencies to assess and seek public comment on certain kinds of burden, in accordance with its purpose of minimizing the paperwork burden and maximizing the utility of information collected by the federal government. Under the PRA, agencies are generally required to seek public comment and obtain Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval before collecting information from the public, including schools. Agencies seek OMB approval by submitting information collection requests (ICR), which include among other things, a description of the planned collection efforts, as well as estimates of burden in terms of time, effort, or financial resources that respondents will expend to gather and submit the information. Agencies are also required to solicit public comment on proposed information collections by publishing notices in the Federal Register. If a proposed information collection is part of a proposed rulemaking, the agency may include the PRA notice for the information collection in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for that rule. The PRA authorizes OMB to approve information collections for up to 3 years. Agencies seeking an extension of OMB approval must re-submit an ICR using similar procedures, including soliciting public comment on the continued need for and burden imposed by the information collection. Over the last two decades, there have been several efforts to examine the federal regulatory burden faced by schools (see table 1). While intending to make regulations more efficient and less burdensome, several of these efforts also acknowledge that regulation provides benefits to government and the public at large. The specific results of initiatives varied, as described below. For example, Executive Order 13563, which was issued in 2011, requires agencies to, among other things, develop plans to periodically review their existing significant regulations and determine whether these regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed to make the agencies’ regulatory programs more effective or less burdensome. Consistent with the order’s emphasis on public participation in the rulemaking process, OMB guidance encourages agencies to obtain public input on their plans. The specific results of initiatives varied, as described below. Although the 18 experts we interviewed offered varied opinions on which Title IV requirements are the most burdensome, 16 said that federal requirements impose burden on postsecondary schools. While no single requirement was cited as most burdensome by a majority of experts, 11 cited various consumer disclosures schools must provide or make available to the public, students, and staff (see table 2). Among other things, these disclosure requirements include providing certain information about schools, such as student enrollment, graduation rates, and cost of attendance. The most frequently mentioned consumer disclosure requirement—cited by 5 experts as burdensome—was the “Clery Act” campus security and crime statistics disclosure requirement. Two experts noted the burden associated with reporting security data, some of which may overlap with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Beyond consumer disclosures, 4 experts stated that schools are burdened by requirements related to the return of unearned Title IV funds to the federal government when a student receiving financial aid withdraws from school. According to 2 experts, schools find it particularly difficult both to calculate the precise amount of funds that should be returned and to determine the date on which a student withdrew. Finally, 6 experts we interviewed stated that, in their view, it is the accumulation of burden imposed by multiple requirements—rather than burden derived from a single requirement—that accounts for the burden felt by postsecondary schools. Three stated that requirements are incrementally added, resulting in increased burden over time. Experts also described some of the benefits associated with Title IV requirements. For example, one expert stated that requiring schools to disclose information to students to help them understand that they have a responsibility to repay their loans could be beneficial. Another expert noted that consumer disclosures allow students to identify programs relevant to their interests and that they can afford. School officials who participated in our discussion groups told us that Title IV requirements impose burden in a number of ways, as shown in table 3. Participants in all eight groups discussed various requirements that they believe create burden for schools because they are, among other things, too costly and complicated. For example, participants in four groups said the requirement that schools receiving Title IV funds post a net price calculator on their websites—an application that provides consumers with estimates of the costs of attending a school—has proven costly or complicated, noting challenges such as those associated with the web application, obtaining the necessary data, or providing information that may not fit the schools’ circumstances. School officials from six discussion groups also noted that complying with requirements related to the Return of Title IV Funds can be costly because of the time required to calculate how much money should be returned to the federal government (see Appendix III for information on selected comments on specific federal requirements school officials described as burdensome). Participants in six of eight discussion groups said that consumer disclosures were complicated, and participants in seven groups said that Return of Title IV Funds requirements were complicated. For example, participants in one discussion group stated that consumer disclosures are complicated because reporting periods can vary for different types of information. Another explained that the complexity of consumer disclosures is a burden to staff because the information can be difficult to explain to current or prospective students. Also, participants in two groups stated that the complexity of consumer disclosures makes it difficult for schools to ensure compliance with the requirements. Likewise, participants noted that calculating the amount of Title IV funds that should be returned can be complicated because of the difficulty of determining the number of days a student attended class as well as the correct number of days in the payment period or period of enrollment for courses that do not span the entire period. Participants in three discussion groups found the complexity of Return of Title IV requirements made it difficult to complete returns within the required time frame. In addition, participants from four groups noted the complexity increases the risk of audit findings, which puts pressure on staff. Discussion group participants identified other types of concerns that apply primarily to consumer disclosures. For example, participants in two groups said that it is burdensome for schools to make public some disclosures, such as graduates’ job placement data, because they cannot easily be compared across schools, thereby defeating the purpose of the information. Like six of the experts we interviewed, participants in six discussion groups noted that burden results from the accumulation of many requirements rather than a few difficult requirements. Two participants said that when new requirements are added, generally, none are taken away. Similarly, two other participants commented that the amount of information schools are required to report grows over time. Another commented that it is difficult to get multiple departments within a school to coordinate in order to comply with the range of requirements to which schools are subject under Title IV. Other federal requirements, in addition to those related to Title IV, may also apply to postsecondary schools (see Appendix IV for selected examples). School officials also described some benefits of Title IV requirements. Participants in three discussion groups pointed out that some consumer information can be used to help applicants choose the right school. Other participants commented that consumer disclosures encourage transparency. For example, participants in two groups said the information schools are required to disclose regarding textbooks helps students compare prices and consider the total cost of books.