NAICU Washington Update

Gainful Employment Updates: Announcements 70 and 71

December 18, 2015

The Department of Education continues to provide notices to institutions about regulatory requirements that must be met for gainful employment (GE) programs.

The Department recently published two new notices: Announcement 70: Transitional Certification and Announcement 71: Reviewing and Correcting GE Completers Lists. The regulations and myriad updates are provided together through “Information for Aid Professionals” (IFAP).

Below are overview and links to the two announcements:

Announcement 70: Transitional Certification

By December 31, 2015, the most senior executive officer of an institution that provides GE programs must sign a certification that each of the institution’s eligible GE programs listed on its Eligibility and Certification Approval Report (ECAR) meets the requirements of 34 CFR 668.414(d) regarding appropriate accreditation and educational prerequisites required for students to take licensing exams.

For more information about the DCAS System, see GE Electronic Announcement 67.

Announcement #71: Reviewing and Correcting GE Completers Lists

Later this winter, the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) will send a draft list of its GE completers to each institution with a GE (gainful employment) program. This process allows institutions to review the data they reported to the Department earlier and to challenge any errors through the Data Challenges and Appeals Solution (DCAS) system via the Student Aid Internet Gateway (SAIG).

Institutions will receive this information through their GE SAIG mailbox. This past fall, a number of schools experienced significant difficulty assuring the correctness of the GE completers reported to the Department. Announcement # 71 explains how to ensure the accuracy of the information provided.

In addition, By January 31, 2016, schools with GE programs must update their required disclosures for each GE program to reflect information from the 2014-2015 award year. Departmental guidance on this was provided on October 23, 2015, GE electronic announcement #65.

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