[wactc-san] {Disarmed} FW: SAN Network : SAN Breaking News: Department of Education Rulemaking Proposals Target Distance Ed; Gut Reciprocity

Wed Feb 28 08:37:22 PST 2024

There’s a lot happening with the Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking<https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/index.html> including a proposal to take attendance in distance education courses and rules about having books and supplies as part of fees.
These proposed changes will go out for public comment in October and then the final rules would go into effect July 1, 2026.

From: Cheryl Dowd via WCET <Mail at ConnectedCommunity.org>
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 4:34 PM
To: McBurney, Melissa <mmcburney at columbiabasin.edu>
Subject: SAN Network : SAN Breaking News: Department of Education Rulemaking Proposals Target Distance Ed; Gut Reciprocity

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Dear SAN Members, The U.S. Department of Education released its proposed regulatory changes and additions for the third and final week of its... -posted to the "SAN Network*" community
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SAN Breaking News: Department of Education Rulemaking Proposals Target Distance Ed; Gut Reciprocity<https://wcetmix.wiche.edu/discussion/san-breaking-news-department-of-education-rulemaking-proposals-target-distance-ed-gut-reciprocity#bmde7459a4-bdd9-4561-a162-760c40ca4115>
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[Cheryl Dowd]<https://wcetmix.wiche.edu/people/cheryl-dowd1>
Feb 27, 2024 7:34 PM
Cheryl Dowd<https://wcetmix.wiche.edu/people/cheryl-dowd1>

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Dear SAN Members,

The U.S. Department of Education released its proposed regulatory changes and additions for the third and final week of its current "Program Integrity and Institutional Quality<https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/index.html>" rulemaking process.

In brief:

  *   Distance education is taking it on the chin. Distance education is simply not trusted.
  *   The proposed changes to state authorization reciprocity agreements would drastically reduce the benefits to states and institutions.

Remember that these are still proposals at this point. There is still a week of negotiations next week, but we suspect little to change. This message includes extremely brief summaries and is meant as a quick alert to our members...

Major Changes for State Authorization for Both In-State and Distance Education Reciprocity<https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/session-3-issue-paper-state-authorization-v3.pdf>

  *   For distance education state authorization...major changes are proposed for interstate reciprocity agreements. Such agreements (like SARA) would be reduced to covering only initial state authorization requirements. Institutions would be subject to all other state laws, such as marketing restrictions, tuition refund requirements, or contributing to bonding or tuition recovery funds.
  *   For in-state institutional authorization...exemptions for institutions that are exempted by state, charter, legislation, or years in operation would be ended. For institutions like Yale, Regis University, and (perhaps) some locally controlled community colleges, each state would need to develop paths for reviewing and authorizing those institutions.

Distance Education: Disallowing Clock Hour Programs and Asynchronous Courses<https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/session-3-issue-paper-distance-education-v3.pdf>

  *   Programs using the clock hour method of financial aid disbursement would no longer be able to offer asynchronous distance education courses. This will NOT affect courses offered through credit hours.

Distance Education: Requiring Attendance Taking in All Courses<https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/session-3-issue-paper-r2t4-v3.pdf>

  *   Attendance taking would be required in all distance education courses.
  *   Within 14 days of a student's last date of attendance, an institution must document a student's withdrawal date.

Distance Education:  Accreditation Requirements<https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/session-3-accreditation-regulatory-text-v3.pdf>

  *   An accrediting agency seeking to include distance education in its scope must "include adequate controls to prevent institutions from manipulating or otherwise inflating their performance to mee the standards." It is insulting that this is only in the distance education section.
  *   On a good note, the threshold for accrediting agencies to approve distance education programs returns to the old standard for a review for an initial institutional program that exceeds 50% at a distance. Additional oversight is needed if an institution has 50% of its courses or students in distance education.

Including Books or Resources in Tuition and Fees Becomes Opt-In<https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2023/session-3-issue-paper-cash-management-v3.pdf>

  *   Inclusive or equitable access programs for books, related materials, and related software would need to be opt-in for students or parents.
  *   Practical programs (e.g., Cosmetology, Welding) that include tools or materials in tuition and fees would similarly need to be opt-in. The exemption for health and safety reasons was eliminated.

There's more, but that is enough for now.

Overall, our take in brief:

  *   All distance education providers are being punished for the sins of a few. Requests for data to support the proposals has been minimal, anecdotal, or non-existent.
  *   Similarly, the argument against reciprocity has been more theoretical than fact-based. As we said previously, for anyone to assert that reciprocity will be just fine after these proposals is just being disingenuous.

For more details, see our blog post highlighting actions from the second week<https://wcet.wiche.edu/frontiers/2024/02/13/major-changes-to-distance-ed-dept-of-ed-rulemaking-week-2/> of negotiations. Watch the second week of March for a WCET Frontiers blog post<https://wcet.wiche.edu/frontiers/> with the outcomes and how you can voice your support or concerns.

We are supporting negotiators in questioning some of these proposals. We do not expect much to change. If the Department keeps its current schedule, these regulations would not go into effect until July 1, 2026.

Your action – if you have not done so, start talking to your governmental relations staff. You will want to let your state government leaders and Congressional delegation know of your support or opposition for these proposals.

Cheryl Dowd
Russ Poulin
Van Davis

Cheryl Dowd

Senior Director, State Authorization Network (SAN) & WCET Policy Innovations

3035  Center Green Drive

Boulder, CO 80301

303-541-0210

cdowd at wiche.edu<mailto:cdowd at wiche.edu>; https://wcetSAN.wiche.edu<https://wcetsan.wiche.edu/>

Working from the Eastern time zone.

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