Scathing GAO reports blame Education Department leaders for FAFSA mess
Higher Ed Dive
SEPTEMBER 24, 2024
A monthslong investigation found the department failed to properly oversee vendors and communicate with colleges and students.
Education Department faces freedom of information lawsuit over campus protests
Higher Ed Dive
NOVEMBER 7, 2024
Columbia University's Knight First Amendment Institute alleges the department failed to turn over communications en masse as required by law.
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330,000 FAFSAs must be reprocessed, Education Department says
Higher Ed Dive
APRIL 2, 2024
A tax data issue affecting about 5% of submitted applications will be corrected starting in early April.
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Misrepresentations by OPMs could land colleges in trouble, Education Department says
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 16, 2025
Higher education institutions could lose access to financial aid or face penalties if their external service providers mislead students, new guidance says.
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Education Department reverses course on batch FAFSA corrections
Higher Ed Dive
JULY 31, 2024
The change could increase colleges’ administrative burden and leave some students without financial aid this fall, one industry association said.
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Trump’s Education Department nixes DEI initiatives and guidance
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 24, 2025
The agency also said it has canceled contracts and placed employees tasked with leading diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on paid leave.
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Education Department to ease FAFSA verification requirements this year
Higher Ed Dive
FEBRUARY 13, 2024
The agency is temporarily rolling back administrative requirements as colleges grapple with an abridged financial aid timeline.
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Colleges won’t receive FAFSA applicant info until March, Education Department says
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 30, 2024
The delay further truncates the timeline for institutions to make financial aid offers, and experts have worried that holdups may harm students.
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New FAFSA will debut in December, Education Department says
Higher Ed Dive
MARCH 22, 2023
Typically the student financial aid form goes live in October every year, but it’s in the process of being simplified.
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Education Department officially launches 2025-26 FAFSA
Higher Ed Dive
NOVEMBER 21, 2024
Agency officials struck an optimistic tone about the release of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
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Education Department: 2025-26 FAFSA to fully debut by Dec. 1
Higher Ed Dive
AUGUST 7, 2024
To avoid a repeat of this year's glitches, the agency plans to release the form for testing starting Oct. 1 with a limited number of students and institutions.
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Why doesn’t the Education Department collect racial data on college applicants?
Higher Ed Dive
NOVEMBER 29, 2022
A new report calls for gathering deeper information on other admissions factors, too, like institutions’ legacy preferences and early decision programs.
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Education Department: Common medical conditions have disability protections
Higher Ed Dive
FEBRUARY 22, 2024
The documents explain colleges and K-12 schools' Section 504 responsibilities for students with asthma, diabetes, food allergies or GERD.
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Education Department civil rights cases eclipse prior year’s record high
Higher Ed Dive
JUNE 3, 2024
A report confirming an unprecedented caseload comes as the education secretary and civil rights groups plead for more funding.
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Education Department unveils stricter college oversight rules
Higher Ed Dive
OCTOBER 24, 2023
The regulatory package broadens the circumstances in which financially shaky colleges must offer letters of credit, among other consumer protections.
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Education Department will use ‘secret shoppers’ to monitor colleges
Higher Ed Dive
MARCH 14, 2023
The agency said shoppers will evaluate whether institutions are misrepresenting themselves in areas like completion rates and job placements.
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Florida sues Education Department over accreditation
Higher Ed Dive
JUNE 23, 2023
Ron DeSantis called accrediting agencies “unaccountable, unappointed, unelected” in a press conference Thursday.
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A dozen education groups press Education Department for FAFSA release date
Higher Ed Dive
OCTOBER 16, 2023
The groups say “every day counts” to help students go through the new process for filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
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Penn’s legacy admissions under investigation by Education Department
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 23, 2024
The agency is determining whether legacy preferences constitute racial discrimination — a probe similar to one opened at Harvard.
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Education Department official renews call for free community college
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 26, 2023
In remarks at a conference for accreditors, Assistant Secretary Nasser Paydar also scolded some colleges for "chasing the rankings."
Education Department issues ‘landmark’ final rule to protect students in career education programs
Higher Ed Dive
SEPTEMBER 27, 2023
The highly anticipated gainful employment regulation requires for-profit institutions to pass debt-to-earnings tests to access federal aid.
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Education Department failed to properly report on policy experiments at colleges, agency watchdog says
Higher Ed Dive
NOVEMBER 2, 2022
The department said by the end of the year it will produce for Congress a comprehensive summary of all the recent trials.
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Amid rocky FAFSA rollout, Education Department to deploy staff to help colleges
Higher Ed Dive
FEBRUARY 5, 2024
The effort aims to smooth the so-far bumpy debut of the new form, which has been hampered by delays and glitches.
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Education Department boosts FAFSA outreach efforts to close completion gap
Higher Ed Dive
MAY 6, 2024
The agency announced a $50 million effort to provide more support to students and families in light of the botched rollout of the new form.
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579 colleges consider legacy status, new Education Department data finds
Higher Ed Dive
DECEMBER 12, 2023
The agency recently started asking about the contentious practice of giving admissions preference to alumni’s relatives.
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Higher ed groups, researchers ask Education Department to preserve key sample studies
Higher Ed Dive
DECEMBER 22, 2023
The organizations want to keep three large-scale studies that track college students, their outcomes and how they pay for their education.
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Biden’s proposed $90B Education Department budget features tuition-free community college
Higher Ed Dive
MARCH 9, 2023
The president’s fiscal 2024 blueprint, which would also boost the maximum Pell Grant, has virtually no chance of surviving Congress as drafted.
New College of Florida settles disability complaint with Education Department
Higher Ed Dive
OCTOBER 2, 2023
The public institution said noncompliant aspects of its web presence stemmed from “years of inattentiveness.”
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In reversal, Education Department to reprocess all FAFSAs hit by tax error
Higher Ed Dive
APRIL 5, 2024
The process will affect between 15% and 20% of previously submitted federal financial aid applications.
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Ed Department changes reporting requirements for online colleges
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 2, 2025
Colleges offering distance education programs will be required to report which students receive federal financial aid starting July 2027.
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New FAFSA will now be adjusted for inflation, Education Department says
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 24, 2024
The head of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators voiced concerns the change will further delay financial aid offers.
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Education Department could face ‘stronger and new challenges’ post-Chevron, Moody’s says
Higher Ed Dive
JULY 11, 2024
The credit ratings agency flagged several regulations that could fall under threat, including the new gainful employment and Title IX rules.
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Education Department plans to ramp up transmission of FAFSA data to colleges
Higher Ed Dive
MARCH 14, 2024
The agency also announced fixes to issues that prevented some students from completing the form, though it flagged several new glitches.
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GOP lawmakers raise pressure on Education Department after Chevron decision
Higher Ed Dive
JULY 12, 2024
In a letter to the agency, Reps. Virginia Foxx and James Comer said they will ensure adherence to the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision.
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Education Department unveils timeline for Title IX, loan forgiveness rules
Higher Ed Dive
DECEMBER 7, 2023
The agency’s regulatory agenda also reveals it will pursue rulemaking on the law requiring colleges to report foreign gifts worth $250,000 or more.
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Accreditation group wants Education Department to withdraw guidance on complaints
Higher Ed Dive
SEPTEMBER 27, 2023
CHEA said the August directive curtails accreditors' independence in creating resolution processes.
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Education Department pledges ‘strongest-ever’ protections with long-awaited gainful employment draft
Higher Ed Dive
MAY 17, 2023
The agency also introduced regulatory proposals to collect and publish new data from all colleges, like potential earnings.
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Education Department sued over gainful employment rule
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 5, 2024
The American Association of Cosmetology Schools said the rule is based on a “flawed” debt-to-earnings ratio.
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Education Department calls on colleges to stop asking about applicants’ criminal histories
Higher Ed Dive
MAY 1, 2023
The recommendation came in a wide-ranging report about how colleges can better support students who were formerly incarcerated.
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Education Department presses forward with review of accreditation and distance ed rules
Higher Ed Dive
NOVEMBER 28, 2023
The agency will conduct negotiated rulemaking next year, which brings together representatives of different groups to discuss policy details.
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Education Department discharges $4.5B in loans for former Ashford University students
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 15, 2025
The agency also is moving to bar the former founder and CEO of Zovio, which owned the online university, from leading any institution taking Title IV funds.
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Senate committee offers slight increase for Education Department in FY 2025
Higher Ed Dive
AUGUST 5, 2024
The $80 billion proposal would bump up the maximum Pell Grant to $7,495, an increase of $100.
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Education Department sued over race-based criteria for McNair grants
Higher Ed Dive
AUGUST 30, 2024
Young America's Foundation, a conservative activist group, argued that the program’s eligibility requirements violate the Constitution.
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Education Department report reveals snags in student loan programs
Higher Ed Dive
JANUARY 30, 2023
FSA received 90,000 complaints in 2022, many of which related to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and income-driven repayment programs.
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