United States – Education – ED’s New Financial Responsibility Rules Deserve Attention (Video)

The U.S. Department of Education’s new financial
responsibility rules take effect July 1, 2024. These rules are part
of a sweeping set of regulations that become effective the same day
and cover financial value transparency and gainful employment,
professional licensure programs, the bare minimum rule, transcript
withholding, and diploma verification, among many other topics.

With so much on the agenda, the new financial responsibility
rules have garnered relatively little discussion. They
deserve attention. In particular, the new rules revise and
expand the reporting obligations at 34 CFR § 668.171, which
require institutions to report certain “triggering
events” to the Department. These reporting requirements are
meant to alert the agency that an institution “may not be able
to meet its financial responsibilities.” If an institution
fails to report a triggering event within the requisite timeframe,
the Department may take administrative action, up to terminating
the institution from the federal financial aid programs. And if an
institution reports a triggering event (or the Department otherwise
becomes aware that an event has occurred), the Department may
determine that the institution is not financially responsible,
depending on the nature and significance of the event reported.

In this 20-minute video, Aaron Lacey discusses the new financial
responsibility rules, with an emphasis on the revised and expanded
financial responsibility reporting requirements. He also introduces
Thompson Coburn’s new Financial Responsibility Reporting Guide,
which is free and available on the firm’s higher education
resources page.

Click below to access this video update, the latest in our
HigherEdReg Rundown series. Click here to view the slides.

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