[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 200 (Monday, October 18, 2010)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 63763-63764]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-26180]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Part 668

RIN 1840-AD04
[Docket ID ED-2010-OPE-0012]


Program Integrity: Gainful Employment

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION:  Notice of public meeting sessions.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education (Secretary) announces public 
meeting sessions to receive oral presentations and to interact with 
commenters regarding comments that were submitted to the Department of 
Education in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Program 
Integrity: Gainful Employment, published in the Federal Register on 
July 26, 2010 (75 FR 43616).

DATES: The public meeting sessions will be held on the dates and at the 
locations specified later in this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Leigh Arsenault, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Room 7E304, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: 202-453-7127 or by e-mail: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), call the 
Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  On July 26, 2010, the Department published 
a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register 
proposing regulations for determining whether a postsecondary 
educational program provides training that leads to gainful employment 
in a recognized occupation and the conditions under which such a 
program would remain eligible for the student financial assistance 
programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 
as amended (HEA). Comments on the Department's proposed regulations 
were due on September 9, 2010. The Department received over 90,000 
comments from a wide range of stakeholders, including for-profit 
universities and colleges, community colleges, students, higher 
education associations, members of Congress, financial analysts, 
economists, and college and university faculty.
    The Department appreciates the tremendous feedback, both positive 
and negative, that it received on the proposed regulations. The 
response from so many individuals and entities demonstrates how 
important the issues relating to gainful employment and this rulemaking 
are. To better understand parties' comments and have an opportunity to 
interact with commenters, the Department will hold four public meeting 
sessions over the course of two days. During this time, commenters who 
have timely submitted comments on the NPRM may orally present their 
comments to a panel of Department representatives. Commenters also may 
have an opportunity to respond to questions from the Department about 
their comments.

Public Meeting Dates, Times, Locations, and Registration Information

    The four public meeting sessions will be held on the following 
dates and times at the U.S. Department of Education, Barnard 
Auditorium, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202.
    Session 1: November 4, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
    Session 2: November 4, 2010, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
    Session 3: November 5, 2010, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
    Session 4: November 5, 2010, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Oral Presentations From Commenters

    Oral presentations at the public meeting sessions will be limited 
only to individuals or entities that timely submitted comments on the 
NPRM and only to the comments the commenter submitted. No new topics or 
concerns may be introduced. Each commenter who is interested in making 
an oral presentation of comments on the NPRM will be allowed a total of 
five minutes. The Department will not accept any written materials from 
any presenter or other individual or entity attending the public 
meeting sessions.
    If you are interested in making an oral presentation of your 
comments at one of the public meeting sessions, you must register at 
http://usdoedregistration.ed.gov/profile/web/index.cfm?PKwebID=0x3626e49. We will accept registrations at this Web 
site, beginning at 12 noon, Washington, DC

[[Page 63764]]

time, on October 18, 2010, through 12 noon, Washington, DC time, on 
October 20, 2010. Please include in your registration the following 
information regarding your comments and oral presentation:
     Name of individual or entity that submitted the comments 
to the Department and the date the comments were submitted.
     Name of individual who will be making the oral 
presentation on behalf of the commenter.
     E-mail address of the individual who will be making the 
oral presentation.
     If available, the number assigned to your comments by 
http://www.regulations.gov.
     The preferred date and session for your presentation.
    We will follow the following registration process for presentations 
for the public meeting sessions.
     Upon receipt of the information identified above, the 
Department will verify that it is accurate (i.e., that the individual 
or entity identified timely submitted a comment on the NPRM) and will 
send an e-mail to the commenter indicating whether the commenter has 
been selected to make a presentation at one of the public meeting 
sessions and the specific time slot reserved for that commenter's 
presentation.
     A commenter may make only one presentation at the public 
meeting sessions; the Department reserves the right to reject the 
registration of an entity or individual that submitted separate 
comments but is affiliated with a commenter that is selected to make a 
presentation.
     We anticipate receiving a large number of registrations 
from commenters for the four public meeting sessions. In addition, we 
are interested in hearing from a broad range of the commenters during 
those sessions. In the event that we receive more registrations than we 
are able to accommodate and to ensure a broad representation of 
commenters, the Department may randomly select among the registrations 
the commenters who will be invited to make a presentation at a session.
     We will not accept any walk-in registrations at any of the 
November 4 or November 5 public meeting sessions.

Public Attendance at the Meetings

    The public meeting sessions are open to members of the public; 
however, given space constraints, we may not be able to accommodate all 
persons interested in attending. Members of the public interested in 
attending the public meeting sessions will be required to register at 
http://usdoedregistration.ed.gov/profile/web/index.cfm?PKwebID=0x3626e49. We will accept registrations at this Web 
site, beginning at 12 noon, Washington, DC time, on October 18, 2010, 
through 12 noon, Washington, DC time, on October 20, 2010.
    Members of the public interested in attending will need to indicate 
in their registration the session they wish to attend. The Department 
will send an e-mail to the individual indicating whether the individual 
has been selected to attend one of the public meeting sessions. Again, 
we will not accept any written materials from any presenter or other 
individual or entity attending the public meeting sessions. We also 
will not accept any walk-in registrations to attend any of the public 
meeting sessions on November 4 or November 5.

Availability of Information From the Public Meeting Sessions

    The Department is committed to gathering and sharing publicly the 
presentations made at these public meeting sessions. Each session will 
be videotaped and/or transcribed, and the video and/or transcript will 
be available for viewing at http://usdoedregistration.ed.gov/profile/web/index.cfm?PKwebID=0x3626e49.

Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities at the Public Meeting 
Sessions

    The meeting sites will be accessible to individuals with 
disabilities and sign language interpreters will be available. If you 
need an auxiliary aid or service other than a sign language interpreter 
to participate in the session (e.g., interpreting service such as oral, 
cued speech, or tactile interpreter; assisted listening device; or 
materials in alternate format), notify the contact person listed under 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT at least two weeks before the scheduled 
meeting date. Although we will attempt to meet a request we receive 
after this date, we may not be able to make available the requested 
auxiliary aid or service because of insufficient time to arrange it.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or computer diskette) on request to the program contact 
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You can view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
    To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available 
free at this site.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: October 13, 2010.
Arne Duncan,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2010-26180 Filed 10-15-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P