Prepared by: Wes Huffman (whuffman@wpllc.net)
November 20, 2013
Today, the Department of Education published a notice in the Federal Register seeking nominees to serve on an upcoming negotiated rulemaking panel on “program integrity and improvement” in the Title IV programs. Nominations are due by December 20. The negotiations are scheduled to take place from February-April of 2014.
In announcing the call for nominations, the Department published a list of topics for negotiation. The notice indicates the list is subject to change throughout the process. The list is below:
In its initial announcement of plans for negotiations over a year ago, the Department indicated it intended to streamline regulations in the campus-based programs. However, some streamlining was arguably achieved in a previous round of negotiated rulemaking which aligned Perkins and Direct Loan regulations and the topics above do not make a direct reference to the campus-based programs.
When the Department issues these calls for nominations, they publish a list of constituencies which they expect may be materially impacted by the negotiations. A list of the potentially impacted constituencies is included below:
The Department has been quite active with negotiated rulemaking in recent months. In addition to this call for nominations, negotiations over the definition of “gainful employment” in the Title IV programs are currently ongoing and negotiations over provisions of the Clery Act and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) are in the early stages.