As reported in Politico’s Morning Education today the Department of Education will be pursuing yet another regulatory agenda in the coming year to include rewrite (or remove) the state authorization rules the credit hour rule accreditation regulations and the requirements for regular and substantive interaction with instructors in distance education programs. This action comes while Congress is still considering the reauthorization of Higher Education Act--including eliminating several of these regulations and prohibiting their future regulation if Chairwoman of the House education committee Virginia Foxx gets her way. New America has weighed in on that legislative process with substantive recommendations and analysis on these and other issues. But it seems that Secretary DeVos has little faith in Republican Congressional leadership and has decided to move forward with her own plan.
Of note the Department has yet to complete an outstanding regulatory agenda on two other Obama era rules Gainful Employment and Borrower Defense. With the addition of these topics to the regulatory slate the message is clear: the Department’s main focus is no longer to improve access to high-quality postsecondary education but to undo important protections for taxpayers students and their families.
Read more from New America's Ed Central: https://www.newamerica.org/education-policy/edcentral/the-department-of-deregulation/