We provide a guide to the reporting obligations under ED's new Financial Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, Ability to Benefit Rule.

This guide helps colleges and universities understand TCPA regulations for text messages and calls to students, ensuring permission is obtained for promotional messages.

We have developed this Desk Guide to assist institutions as they contemplate compliance with the final version of the GE rule.

With regard to BDR claims, data released by ED suggests that virtually every institution in the U.S. has at least a handful of claims pending against it. Given this trend, we have developed this document to aid institutions with establishing protocols to responding to BDR claims.

To remain eligible to participate in the federal student aid programs, proprietary institutions must comply with the “90/10 rule." New regulations published by ED in October 2022 apply to institutional fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2023. This compliance resource, updated March 2023, compiles strategies for managing 90/10 rule compliance.

This compliance resource, organized as an FAQ, provides answers to the most common questions regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s updated GLBA Safeguards Rule, which becomes effective in June 2023 and applies to institutions of higher education.

For a wide range of reasons, institutions of higher education frequently determine to offer students the opportunity to finance all or part of their education using some form of institutional credit. Such arrangements may qualify as a “private education loan” under federal law, subjecting the institution to a multitude of requirements. This memorandum provides an overview of certain significant federal requirements that institutions of higher education should consider when contemplating an institutional loan program, or any other student financing opportunity.

In this HigherEdReg Rundown, Scott Goldschmidt provides preliminary analysis on the new Title IX rule.

In this HIgherEdReg Rundown, Aaron Lacey breaks down key announcements and clarifications included in the new guidance.

Join Thompson Coburn and WCET leadership for a timely webinar panel exploring the evolving landscape of state authorization in higher education. This informative session will provide a brief overview of current requirements, with a particular focus on upcoming regulatory changes and their potential impact on institutions.

In this annual webinar, Aaron discusses the final rules implemented in fall 2023, which are set to take effect during the summer of 2024. These encompass critical areas such as financial value transparency and gainful employment, administrative capability, certification, state authorization, and financial responsibility. Priority considerations for institutions will be highlighted.

This webinar takes a closer look at the Department’s debt-to-earnings calculations, and details a step-by-step process institutions can follow to project debt-to-earnings rates for their programs under the new GE Rule. The speaker will also discuss how institutions might project Earnings Premium performance.

This webinar provides an overview of the new rule and includes a detailed discussion of the regulatory framework, the key metrics, the Department’s new program information website, reporting and disclosure requirements, consequences of failure, and program certifications.

This presentation explores the BDR regulations as to student loan discharges, the Department’s processing of student BDR claims, and the litigation concerning the Department’s practices as to BDR claims. The webinar will then turn to a discussion about how an institution can best respond to BDR claims and attempt to avoid potential liability for federal student loans discharged by the Department.

This presentation provides an overview of the Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. (SFFA) v. President and Fellows of Harvard and SFFA v. University of North Carolina Supreme Court decision.

Significant revisions to the Federal Trade Commission’s GLBA Safeguards Rule become effective in June of 2023. For any higher education institution receiving Federal Student Aid, this will impose significant new requirements. for the protection of personal information. This webinar discusses the Safeguards Rule, ED guidance, and the posture of the FTC.

In February 2023, the U.S. Department of Education issued significant and controversial guidance regarding its oversight of “third-party servicers,” companies and organizations that provide certain services to postsecondary institutions. This 90-minute webinar examines the new guidance in detail and offer suggestions for comment.

On July 6, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education released the unofficial version of its proposed rewrite of the borrower defense to repayment rule. The BDR rule details the process by which former students can seek to have their federal loans forgiven based on misconduct by their institution. This special, 2-hour webinar discusses the proposed rule in detail, highlight significant changes, and suggest opportunities for public comment.

Under the Higher Education Act, the U.S. Department of Education is directed to issue regulations governing when student borrowers may seek to discharge their federal student loans due to the misconduct of their institutions of higher education. This webinar explores the BDR regulations as to student loan discharges, the Department’s processing of student BDR claims, and the litigation concerning the Department’s practices as to BDR claims.

Since 1992, institutions of higher education participating in the federal student aid programs have been required to comply with the U.S Department of Education’s prohibition on incentive compensation. This 90-minute presentation discusses the scope, interpretation, and enforcement of the rule, how it has changed over time, and what the future may bring.

To assist institutions of higher education working to comply with the Title IX rule, Thompson Coburn’s Higher Education Practice has created a free, online lecture series that provides foundational training for those individuals who will be administering the Title IX process

Click here to access the complete Thompson Coburn Higher Ed Webinar Library.

On April 15, 2024, the ED issued new guidance regarding the implementation of the program length restrictions for GE programs. These restrictions are included in the ED's Final Rule published in the Federal Register on October 31, 2023. The Final Rule takes effect on July 1, 2024.

We interrupt your Tortured Poets Department listening party to inform you that the Biden administration has released its long-awaited Title IX rules.

Thompson Coburn has followed the U.S. Department of Education’s BDR rules closely over many years. This blog post will outline three recent BDR-related developments that institutions of higher education should have on their radar.

We fear some elements of the Department's guidance might cause confusion among institutions and even lead to inaccurate conclusions. Specifically, we are concerned that some institutions might conclude there is no adverse consequence if they decide not to respond to a BDR claim – a conclusion that would be inaccurate.

On August 7, 2023, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a nationwide injunction in Career Colleges and Schools of Texas v. Cardona, preventing the ED from enforcing the latest version of its BDR rule, which was published in 2022.

Click here to access Thompson Coburn's Higher Education blog, REGucation