[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 125 (Friday, June 28, 2024)] [Notices] [Pages 53986-53988] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2024-14217] [[Page 53986]] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment: List of Approved Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) Codes for Qualifying Graduate Programs AGENCY: Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education. ACTION: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Secretary announces the list of applicable CIP codes for qualifying graduate programs that have an extended earnings measurement period under the Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment regulations. DATES: The list of CIP codes published in this notice apply to the first three award years that the Secretary calculates debt-to-earnings (D/E) rates and the earnings premium (EP) measure under subpart Q of 34 CFR part 668. This period is established under the regulatory definition of Qualifying graduate program at Sec. 668.2(b) as the ``initial period,'' and includes the 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025- 2026 award years. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph Massman, U.S. Department of Education. Email: [email protected]. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 10, 2023, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) published final regulations on Financial Value Transparency (FVT) and Gainful Employment (GE), which become effective July 1, 2024 (88 FR 70004). These regulations, in part, (1) Establish a transparency framework to provide information about financial costs and benefits to students at nearly all academic programs at postsecondary institutions that are eligible to participate in the student assistance programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA); and (2) Establish an eligibility framework for postsecondary educational programs designed to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation. Both the transparency and accountability frameworks rely upon D/E rates and an EP measure, as established under Sec. Sec. 668.403 and 668.404 respectively, to assess debt and earnings outcomes for postsecondary program graduates. The calculation of these metrics is based, in part, on the earnings of a cohort of graduates measured several years after program completion. The cohort period, as defined under Sec. 668.2(b), is the set of award years used to identify a group of students who completed a program and whose debt and earnings outcomes are used to calculate the D/E rates and EP measure. The specific years included in the cohort period used in calculating D/E and EP metrics for a given program depend, in part, upon whether the program is a qualifying graduate program, as separately defined under Sec. 668.2(b) Qualifying graduate program. In developing the regulations, the Department recognized that certain graduate programs, mostly concentrated in medical and clinical fields, are associated with an initial period of depressed graduate earnings while graduates complete a required period of postgraduate clinical or residency work necessary to obtain a professional licensure, after which graduates realize significant earnings growth. For purposes of calculating the D/E rates and EP measure, the Department therefore extends the earnings measurement period for such qualifying graduate programs, when compared to other postsecondary programs. As an example, a two-year cohort period for most programs would be the third and fourth award years prior to the year of the most recent earnings data used in the calculation. In contrast, the two-year cohort period for a qualifying graduate program would be the sixth and seventh award years prior to the year of the earnings data, meaning that income is measured three years farther out after graduation for completers of such programs. These cohorts are used to measure earnings for both the standard and transitional reporting options under the FVT/ GE regulations. To be treated as a qualifying graduate program, a program must meet three specific and rigorous criteria. First, the program must be identified under the CIP code list below as being potentially eligible to be considered a qualified graduate program. Second, the program must be one whose students must complete a ''required postgraduation training program'' to obtain licensure, which is a supervised training program that (1) requires the student to hold a degree in one of the qualifying fields and (2) must be completed before the student may be licensed by a State and board certified for professional practice or service. Third, the institution must attest that at least half of the program's graduates obtain licensure in a State where the postgraduation training requirements apply, and that, if necessary for licensure, the graduate program is accredited by an accrediting agency that meets State requirements. For the first criterion, paragraph (1)(i)(A) of the regulatory definition of a qualifying graduate program at Sec. 668.2(b) provides a generalized list of occupations for qualifying graduate programs, which will apply to the first three award years the Department calculates the D/E rates and EP measure. The qualifying fields for this initial period include medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, clinical psychology, marriage and family counseling, clinical social work, and clinical counseling. The National Center for Education Statistics provides a taxonomy of instructional program classifications and descriptions, most recently updated in 2020, known as CIP codes. For purposes of the FVT and GE regulations, specific programs offered by institutions are classified using a six-digit CIP code. Consistent with this regulatory definition, the Secretary identifies the following graduate programs under their respective CIP codes as being potentially eligible to be considered a qualified graduate program, conditional on meeting all other required criteria: Medicine, Osteopathy, Dentistry14.0501: Biomedical/Medical Engineering 26.0101: Biology/Biological Services, General 26.0102: Biomedical Sciences, General 26.0202: Biochemistry 26.0204: Molecular Biology 26.0205: Molecular Biochemistry 26.0207: Structural Biology 26.0208: Photobiology 26.0209: Radiation Biology/Radiobiology 26.0210: Biochemistry/Biophysics and Molecular Biology 26.0299: Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Other 26.0401: Cell/Cellular Biology and Histology 26.0403: Anatomy 26.0404: Developmental Biology and Embryology 26.0406: Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology 26.0407: Cell Biology and Anatomy 26.0499: Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences, Other 26.0502: Microbiology, General 26.0503: Medical Microbiology and Bacteriology 26.0504: Virology 26.0505: Parasitology 26.0506: Mycology 26.0507: Immunology 26.0508: Microbiology and Immunology 26.0599: Microbiological Sciences and Immunology, Other [[Page 53987]] 26.0801: Genetics, General 26.0802: Molecular Genetics 26.0806: Human/Medical Genetics 26.0807: Genome Sciences/Genomics 26.0899: Genetics, Other 26.0901: Physiology, General 26.0902: Molecular Physiology 26.0903: Cell Physiology 26.0904: Endocrinology 26.0905: Reproductive Biology 26.0907: Cardiovascular Science 26.0908: Exercise Physiology 26.0909: Vision Science/Physiological Optics 26.0910: Pathology/Experimental Pathology 26.0911: Oncology and Cancer Biology 26.0912: Aerospace Physiology and Medicine 26.0999: Physiology, Pathology, and Related Sciences, Other 26.1001: Pharmacology 26.1002: Molecular Pharmacology 26.1003: Neuropharmacology 26.1004: Toxicology 26.1005: Molecular Toxicology 26.1006: Environmental Toxicology 26.1007: Pharmacology and Toxicology 26.1099: Pharmacology and Toxicology, Other 26.1101: Biometry/Biometrics 26.1102: Biostatistics 26.1103: Bioinformatics 26.1199: Biomathematics and Bioinformatics, Other 26.1201: Biotechnology 26.1306: Population Biology 26.1309: Epidemiology 26.1399: Ecology, Evolution, Systematics and Population Biology, Other 26.1401: Molecular Medicine 26.1501: Neuroscience 26.1502: Neuroanatomy 26.1503: Neurobiology and Neurophysiology 26.1504: Neurobiology and Behavior 26.1599: Neurobiology and Neurosciences, Other 26.9999: Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Other 30.1001: Biopsychology 30.1101: Gerontology 30.1901: Nutrition Sciences 51.0000: Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General 51.0001: Health and Wellness, General 51.0101: Chiropractic (DC) 51.0201: Communication Disorders, General 51.0202: Audiology/Audiologist and Hearing Services 51.0203: Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist 51.0204: Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/ Pathologist 51.0299: Communication Disorders Sciences and Services, Other 51.0401: Dentistry (DDS, DMD) 51.0501: Dental Clinical Sciences, General (MS, Ph.D.) 51.0502: Advanced General Dentistry (Cert, MS, Ph.D.) 51.0503: Oral Biology and Oral Pathology (MS, Ph.D.) 51.0504: Dental Public Health and Education (Cert., MS/MPH, Ph.D./DPH) 51.0505: Dental Materials (MS, Ph.D.) 51.0506: Endodontics/Endodontology (Cert., MS, Ph.D.) 51.0507: Oral/Maxillofacial Surgery (Cert., MS, Ph.D.) 51.0508: Orthodontics/Orthodontology (Cert., MS, Ph.D.) 51.0509: Pediatric Dentistry/Pedodontics (Cert., MS, Ph.D.) 51.0510: Periodontics/Periodontology (Cert., MS, Ph.D.) 51.0511: Prosthodontics/Prosthodontology (Cert., MS, Ph.D.) 51.0599: Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences, Other 51.0912: Physician Assistant 51.1201: Medicine (MD) 51.1401: Medical Scientist (MS, Ph.D.) 51.1701: Optometry (OD) 51.1901: Osteopathic Medicine/Osteopathy (DO) 51.2001: Pharmacy (PharmD [USA], PharmD or BS/BPharm [Canada]) 51.2002: Pharmacy Administration and Pharmacy Policy and Regulatory Affairs (MS, Ph.D.) 51.2004: Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry (MS, Ph.D.) 51.2008: Clinical, Hospital, and Managed Care Pharmacy (MS, Ph.D.) 51.2010: Pharmaceutical Sciences 51.2099: Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration, Other 51.2101: Podiatric Medicine/Podiatry (DPM) 51.2314: Rehabilitation Science 51.2399: Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions, Other 51.3101: Dietetics/Dietician (RD) 51.3199: Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services, Other 51.9999: Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other Clinical Psychology, Marriage and Family Counseling, Clinical Social Work, Clinical Counseling 13.1101: Counselor Education/School Counseling and Guidance Services 19.0701: Human Development and Family Studies, General 19.0704: Family Systems 19.0707: Family and Community Services 19.0710: Developmental Services Worker 19.0799: Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services, Other 30.1001: Biopsychology 30.1701: Behavioral Sciences 30.2501: Cognitive Science 42.0101: Psychology, General 42.2701: Cognitive Psychology and Psycholinguistics 42.2702: Comparative Psychology 42.2703: Developmental and Child Psychology 42.2704: Experimental Psychology 42.2705: Personality Psychology 42.2706: Physiological Psychology/Psychobiology 42.2707: Social Psychology 42.2708: Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology 42.2709: Psychopharmacology 42.2799: Research and Experimental Psychology, Other 42.2801: Clinical Psychology 42.2802: Community Psychology 42.2803: Counseling Psychology 42.2804: Industrial and Organizational Psychology 42.2805: School Psychology 42.2806: Educational Psychology 42.2807: Clinical Child Psychology 42.2808: Environmental Psychology 42.2809: Geropsychology 42.2810: Health/Medical Psychology 42.2811: Family Psychology 42.2812: Forensic Psychology 42.2813: Applied Psychology 42.2814: Applied Behavior Analysis 42.2899: Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology, Other 42.9999: Psychology, Other 44.0701: Social Work 44.0702: Youth Services/Administration 44.0799: Social Work, Other 51.1501: Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling 51.1503: Clinical/Medical Social Work 51.1504: Community Health Services/Liaison/Counseling 51.1505: Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling 51.1506: Clinical Pastoral Counseling/Patient Counseling 51.1507: Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy 51.1508: Mental Health Counseling/Counselor 51.1509: Genetic Counseling/Counselor 51.1599: Mental and Social Health Sciences and Allied Professions, Other As further described in the regulatory definition of a qualifying graduate program, the above list of eligible professions applies only to the initial three award years the Department [[Page 53988]] calculates the D/E and EP metrics. Following this initial period, and every three award years thereafter, the Secretary will publish an updated list of CIP codes that contains qualifying graduate programs, identifying fields that lead to a graduate degree for which graduates must complete postgraduate training programs averaging at least three years to complete and for which the Secretary determines that a majority of programs demonstrate outlier earnings growth. Accessible Format: On request to the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an accessible format. The Department will provide the requestor with an accessible format that may include Rich Text Format (RTF) or text format (txt), a thumb drive, an MP3 file, braille, large print, audiotape, or compact disc, or other accessible format. Electronic Access to This Document: The official version of this document is the document published in the Federal Register. You may access the official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations at www.govinfo.gov. 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 at this site, you can limit your search to documents published by the Department. Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1087 et seq. Nasser Paydar, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education. [FR Doc. 2024-14217 Filed 6-27-24; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4000-01-P