U.S. Department of Education Pauses Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDR) Regulation and Announces Negotiated Rulemaking Committees to Revise BDR and Gainful Employment Regulations (Duane Morris)
In parallel notices that will formally be published in the Federal Register on June 16, 2017, the U.S. Department of Education will make two major announcements:
- Its intent to establish two negotiated rulemaking committees to develop proposed regulations to revise the Gainful Employment (GE) regulations and the Borrower Defense to Repayment (BDR) regulations published by the Department during the Obama administration – See Federal Register Document 2017-12555; and
- A partial delay of the effective date of the BDR regulations in response to a pending challenge to that rule under the Administrative Procedure Act in California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS) v. DeVos et al, Case No. 1:17-cv-00999-RDM (U.S. Dist. D.C.) (the “CAPPS Litigation”) – See Federal Register Document 2017-12562.
Gainful Employment and Borrower Defense to Repayment – New Negotiated Rulemaking Committees
The Department’s Notice of Intent to Conduct Negotiated Rulemaking references two rulemaking committees. One committee would develop proposed regulations to revise the GE regulations published on October 31, 2014 (79 FR 64889). A second committee would develop proposed regulations to revise the BDR regulations published November 1, 2016 (81 FR 75926), and the authority of guaranty agencies in the Federal Family Education Loan Program to charge collection costs under 34 CFR 682.410(b)(6) to a defaulted borrower who enters into a repayment agreement with the guaranty agency.
The Department will conduct public hearings on GE and BDR on July 10, 2017, in Washington, D.C. and on July 12, 2017, in Dallas, Texas. These hearing are open to the public.
Following the public hearings, the Department anticipates that the negotiated rulemaking committees will begin negotiations in November or December of 2017, with the committees meeting for up to three sessions of three to four days each at roughly five to eight week intervals. The committees will include representatives of organizations or groups with interests that are significantly affected by the subject matter of the proposed regulations.
Additionally, the Department will accept written comments on the topics suggested by the Department and suggestions for additional topics that should be considered for action by the negotiating committees. Comments should be submitted by July 12, 2017. We strongly encourage clients to submit comments regarding provisions related to these rules that they believe should be addressed during the negotiations.
Current Gainful Employment Rule Remains in Effect
In these announcements, the Department has not proposed any changes to the current GE rule that went into effect on July 1, 2015. As a result, based on the Department’s most recent guidance, E-Announcement 105 (3-6-2017), schools have until July 1, 2017, to (1) submit an alternative earnings appeal to the GE Debt-to-Earnings rates that were released by the Department on January 9, 2017, and (2) comply with the GE program disclosure requirements as noted in Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #103, published on January 19, 2017.
As of this writing, the Department has not announced any additional steps to delay or change the impact of the current GE rule. Schools should monitor Department announcements for any new information prior to July 1, 2017, that may impact their obligations to provide GE disclosures, submit GE data or comply with other obligations under the current GE regulations.