Under Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Department of Education has taken steps to roll back several of the most controversial rules enacted during the Obama administration. At the same time, Republicans in the House of Representatives are considering a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act — the main federal law governing higher education — that would significantly constrain the government’s oversight of colleges. Here’s a chronology of some of the key deregulatory steps taken by the Trump administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
February 22, 2017: The Education Department withdraws guidance that required public schools to allow transgender students to use restrooms that match their gender identity, rather than the gender on their birth certificates. In a “Dear Colleague” letter, the department said, “There must be due regard for the primary role of the states and local school districts in establishing educational policy.” The topic had become relevant to colleges, too, after the passage of a North Carolina law requiring people in public buildings to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate.
June 14, 2017: Secretary DeVos announces a “regulatory reset” on two rules that had been made final during the Obama administration. One, the gainful-employment rule, was devised to hold colleges accountable for the earnings of their graduates. The department had begun collecting data from colleges, but no enforcement of the regulation had taken place before the decision to rewrite it.
The other, known as the borrower defense-to-repayment rule, provided students a path to having their student loans forgiven if they were defrauded by their college. The final rule, issued in fall 2017, was set to take effect last July 1.
To replace those rules, the department has initiated the “negotiated rule-making” process, bringing together panels of policy makers and representatives of colleges and students to hash out new rules. By the spring, each panel will have met three times. The department was scheduled to publish proposed rules this year, with final rules to take effect in 2019.
September 22, 2017: The department issues “interim” guidance on how colleges should investigate and penalize sexual assault under Title IX, the federal law that prohibits gender discrimination in education. The new guidance replaces two controversial “Dear Colleague” letters issued by the Obama administration in 2011 and 2014. DeVos has announced that the department would begin a process for replacing the Obama-era guidance, though no formal rule-making on the issue has yet begun.
December 1, 2017: Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, introduces her bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The proposed legislation makes significant changes in existing law, including streamlining student-aid programs, paring regulations, and opening federal coffers to a wider variety of institutions that offer skills training. On December 12, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approves the bill along party lines. While a Senate committee has held several hearings to consider higher-education issues, reauthorization of the HEA, as it is called, faces an uncertain future, with partisan disagreements likely to emerge over solutions to affordability and accountability.
Eric Kelderman writes about money and accountability in higher education, including such areas as state policy, accreditation, and legal affairs. You can find him on Twitter @etkeld, or email him at eric.kelderman@chronicle.com.
