Dive Summary:
- U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Education, denying its request for a reinstatement of key provisions of its "gainful employment" rule.
- The rule was released in June 2011 and applied to most for-profit institutions programs, as well as non-degree programs at public and nonprofit private institutions, with the purpose of making sure federal student-aid money going to those programs is a good investment and that students are being prepared for well-paying jobs.
- After The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities sued to overturn the rule last summer, Judge Contreras invalidated a handful of provisions, including three "debt measures" that would have examined income earned and debt repaid by former students and requiring the institutions to meet at least one of three benchmarks to continue receiving federal student aid.
From the article:
... In his ruling last summer, Judge Contreras affirmed the department's authority to issue the rule, but agreed with the association's argument that the department had set one of the benchmarks in an arbitrary manner. The other two benchmarks were "inextricably intertwined" with the faulty one, the judge ruled, and were therefore vacated along with it. ...