[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 127 (Wednesday, July 5, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 30975-30976]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-14186]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Part 668

[Docket ID ED-2017-OPE-0090]


Program Integrity: Gainful Employment

AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION: Announcement of applicable dates; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: On January 6 and January 19, 2017, the Department announced 
dates by which institutions subject to the Department's gainful 
employment (GE) regulations must comply with certain provisions of the 
GE regulations relating to the submission of alternate earnings appeals 
and disclosure requirements. On March 6, 2017, the Department announced 
that it was allowing additional time, until July 1, 2017, to comply 
with those provisions. On June 15, 2017, the Department announced its 
intention to negotiate issues related to gainful employment. This 
document announces that the Department allows additional time, until 
July 1, 2018, for institutions to comply with certain disclosure 
requirements in the GE regulations and invites comment on this action. 
The Department also extends the deadline for all programs to file

[[Page 30976]]

alternate earnings appeals in light of the Court Order in American 
Association of Cosmetology Schools v. DeVos, Civil Action No. 17-0263, 
D.D.C. June 28, 2017 (Court Order). We will issue a Federal Register 
notice to specifically implement the Court Order, including 
establishing new deadlines, and anticipate doing so within 30 days from 
the publication date of this notice. We do not change the July 1, 2017, 
deadline for the requirement to provide a completed disclosure 
template, or a link thereto, on GE program Web pages.

DATES: The Department is allowing additional time--until July 1, 2018--
for institutions to comply with 34 CFR 668.412(d) and (e). We must 
receive your comments on or before August 4, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments through the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
or via U.S. mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. We will not 
accept comments by fax or by email or those submitted after the comment 
period. To ensure that we do not receive duplicate copies, please 
submit your comments only once. In addition, please include the Docket 
ID at the top of your comments.
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to 
submit your comments electronically. Information on using 
Regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, 
submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site 
under ``Are you new to this site?''
    U.S. Mail, Commercial Delivery, or Hand Delivery: If you mail or 
deliver your comments, address them to Scott Filter, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW., Room 6W253, Washington, DC 20202.
    Privacy Note: The Department's policy for comments received from 
members of the public (including comments submitted by mail, commercial 
delivery, or hand delivery) is to make these submissions available for 
public viewing in their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include 
in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly 
available on the internet.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott Filter, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW., Room 6W253, Washington, DC 20202. 
Telephone: (202) 453-7249 or by email at: [email protected].
    If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or a text 
telephone (TTY), call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-
800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On January 6 and January 19, 2017, the 
Department announced dates by which institutions subject to the 
Department's GE regulations must comply with certain provisions of the 
GE regulations relating to the submission of alternate earnings appeals 
and disclosure requirements. On March 6, 2017, the Department announced 
that it was allowing additional time, until July 1, 2017, to comply 
with those provisions. On June 16, 2017, the Department announced its 
intention to negotiate issues related to gainful employment.
    Consistent with the Department's March 6, 2017 announcement, by 
July 1, 2017, institutions must comply with the requirement in 34 CFR 
668.412(c) to provide a completed disclosure template, or a link 
thereto, on its GE program Web pages. The revised template is available 
for use at https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/reg/hearulemaking/2009/negreg-summerfall.html. The Department believes that it should evaluate 
the utility of these disclosures to students and the implementation of 
this requirement prior to requiring institutions to include the 
disclosure template, or a link thereto, in their GE program promotional 
materials and to directly distribute the disclosure template to 
prospective students under 34 CFR 668.412(d) and (e). Moreover, the 
Department expects to further review these requirements as part of its 
review of the GE regulations and their implementation, including 
through negotiated rulemaking. Accordingly, the Department is allowing 
institutions additional time--until July 1, 2018--to comply with the 
provisions in 34 CFR 668.412(d) and (e).
    The Department also extends the deadline for all programs to file 
alternate earnings appeals in light of the Court Order. We will issue a 
Federal Register notice to specifically implement the Court Order, 
including establishing new deadlines, and anticipate doing so within 30 
days from the publication date of this notice.
    We are inviting your comments on this action. We will consider 
these comments in determining whether to take any future action in 
connection with the implementation of the disclosure requirements.
    Accessible Format: Individuals with disabilities can obtain this 
document in an accessible format (e.g., braille, large print, 
audiotape, or compact disc) on request to the program contact person 
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
    Electronic Access to This Document: 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 via the Federal Digital System 
at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys. At this site you can view this document, as well 
as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF you 
must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at this site.
    You may also access documents of the Department published in the 
Federal Register by using the article search feature at: 
www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search 
feature of this site, you can limit your search to documents published 
by the Department.

    Dated: June 30, 2017.
Betsy DeVos,
Secretary of Education.
[FR Doc. 2017-14186 Filed 6-30-17; 4:15 pm]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P