Beginning Tuesday January 15, following a day and a half of weather delay, the Department of Education initiated negotiated rulemaking sessions covering a considerable number of issues important to UPCEA and its membership. Meetings will continue through the months of February and conclude in March. Among the issues being discussed include, but is not limited to:

• State authorization
• Regular and substantive interaction
• Definition of “credit hour”
• Discussion of EQUIP-style programmatic delivery by third-party providers
• Barriers to innovation
• Direct assessment + competency-based programs
• Faith based entities taking part in title IV/HEA programs

The department has decided to split this rulemaking session into one main committee regarding “Accreditation and Innovation”, and three topic-based subcommittees: the Distance Learning and Educational Innovation Subcommittee; the Faith-Based Entities Subcommittee; and the TEACH Grants Subcommittee. The Department has also aligned the rulemaking topics into three “buckets” which align with these subcommittees. The most consequential and in-depth bucket will fall to the Distance Learning and Educational Innovation subcommittee, as they are tasked with covering important and weighty items like state authorization, regular and substantive interaction, definitions of credit hour, and accreditation, among others. The Department has provided recommendations for how they would like to see the committee change these regulations, and those recommendations can be accessed below. UPCEA encourages our members to weigh in and follow these sessions and reach out to the negotiators (list found here) who represent your constituency group, and let them know your thoughts on these regulatory developments.
 
Main Negotiated Rulemaking Site from the Department. For more information and access to the live streams, click here.

Click here to access a list of the negotiators.

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Materials handed out by the Department prior to the negotiated rulemaking session 1:

• Agenda  MS Word 
• Draft Protocols  MS Word 
• 602 Accreditation  MS Word 
• 654 Robert C Byrd Program  MS Word 
• 668 Student Assistance General Provisions  MS Word
• 686 TEACH Grant Program  MS Word 
• Religious Inclusion in Title IV Grant Making  MS Word
• Summary 600 Institutional Eligibility  MS Word 
• Summary 602 Accreditation  MS Word 
• Summary 654 Robert C Byrd Honors Scholarship Program  MS Word 
• Summary 668 Student Assistance General Provisions  MS Word 
• Summary 686 TEACH Grants  MS Word 
• Summary Religious Inclusion  MS Word 
• 600 Institutional Eligibility  MS Word 
• Faith-Based Entities Subcommittee Overview  MS Word 
• Faith-Based Entities Subcommittee Memorandum  PDF 
• Faith-Based Entities Subcommittee Opinion

 

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Full Schedule of Rulemaking Committee/Subcommittee Meetings:

Accreditation and Innovation (Main Committee)
Live streaming available on: edstream.ed.gov

Session 1: January 14-16, 2019

The U.S. Department of Education
Barnard Auditorium
400 Maryland Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20202

Session 2: February 19-22, 2019

The U.S. Department of Education
Potomac Center Plaza (UCP) Auditorium 
550 12th St. SW
Washington, DC 20202

Session 3: March 25-28, 2019

The U.S. Department of Education
Barnard Auditorium
400 Maryland Ave. SW
Washington, DC 20202

The Accreditation and Innovation Committee meetings are open to the public to attend in person. The committee meetings will also be made available to the public through a Department-provided livestream accessible from edstream.ed.gov.

 

Distance Learning and Educational Innovation Subcommittee

Session 1: January 17-18, 2019

Session 2: February 12-13, 2019

Session 3: March 11-12, 2019

 

TEACH Grants Subcommittee

Session 1: January 17-18, 2019

Session 2: February 12-13, 2019

Session 3: March 11-12, 2019

 

Faith-Based Entities Subcommittee

Session 1: January 17-18, 2019

Session 2: February 12-13, 2019

Session 3: March 11-12, 2019

 

The  Subcommittee meetings are not open to the public to attend in person. The subcommittee meetings will be made available to the public through a Department-provided livestream.