Accountability in Higher Education Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD 2.0)

STATS and Earnings Accountability / Do No Harm

The Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability framework would implement the Working Families Tax Cuts Act's new statutory earnings accountability measure. The framework is designed to determine whether students leave a program financially better off than when they entered and penalize programs that do not. As proposed, the regulation will consolidate three overlapping systems by replacing Financial Value Transparency (FVT) with STATS, updating Gainful Employment (GE) regulations, and implementing the new earnings-accountability requirement, and would apply across all sectors.

Under the earnings test, undergraduate programs whose completers do not earn more than a typical high school graduate, and graduate programs whose completers do not earn more than a typical bachelor's degree holder, could lose access to federal student loans, with additional Title IV consequences in some circumstances. The Department of Education has indicated final rules will take effect on July 1, 2027, with the first Earnings Premium metric calculated in early 2027.