Correspondence

Dear Secretary Duncan:

Over the past four years, the Department of Education has embraced an active regulatory approach to define program quality. We urge you to abandon these efforts and instead let Congress address these issues as part of the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

In 2010 the Department of Education advanced several “program integrity” regulations. Over the last year, several of these regulations have been subject to legal challenges – and at least two have been struck down by the courts. In one case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down the distance education portion of the state authorization regulation. Later that same month, in a separate case, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia threw out the bulk of the gainful employment regulation, including the requirement that institutions of higher education obtain approval from the department prior to starting new programs. And just a few weeks ago, the District Court reaffirmed its decision to prohibit the department from fully implementing the gainful employment regulation when the court denied a department motion to amend its judgment in the case.

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