Department Of Education Proposes New Rules For Schools Providing Online Courses To Ensure Students Get a Quality Education

  • 07/25/16

Washington, D.C. — The Department of Education proposed new rules today for schools providing distance education, such as online courses, in order to get the state authorization needed to qualify for federal financial aid dollars. The proposal will help ensure students get a quality education and that taxpayer dollars aren’t wasted on schools that fail to deliver, according to Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports.

“Online courses have become an increasingly popular option for students seeking a higher education, especially for vocational training” said Suzanne Martindale, staff attorney for Consumers Union, who participated in the Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking process that led to the proposed reforms. “Today’s proposal represents an important step towards creating baseline federal standards for distance education programs that will help protect students from poor quality schools that do little more than burden them with debt.”

Under the proposal announced today, the Department would require a school offering distance education programs to get authorization in each state where it wants to market its programs to students.  It also requires any reciprocity agreement between states to leave room for states to enforce their own consumer protection laws.

However, the rule stops short of requiring schools offering distance education programs to obtain programmatic accreditation in all states where they want to do business.  The rule requires disclosures, and an “acknowledgement” from the student that they received the disclosure, but in practice the disclosure could be buried in an enrollment contract.  This means that students could sign up for programs with little actual notice that it won’t make them eligible to sit for an exam to obtain a professional credential, such as a nurse’s license, in their home state.

“Some for-profit career colleges have a history of enrolling students in online courses that mire them in debt without providing the education they need to get a license in the state where they live,” said Martindale.  “The Department of Education should strengthen its proposal by requiring accreditation for all specific programs offered to ensure students aren’t pushed into signing up for programs that won’t meet their needs.”

In addition, the proposed rule doesn’t give a student’s home state clear and final authority to resolve complaints.  It lets the reciprocity agreement determine which state has authority to resolve complaints, which could undercut states with stronger consumer protections.  Consumers Union called on the Department to make clear that a student’s home state always has final authority to resolve complaints, as well as generally apply their consumer protection laws.

Featured

  • Missouri State University Debuts Construction Education Center

    Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo., recently opened a new 10,000-square-foot addition and renovation to support the School of Construction, Design, and Project Management, according to university news. The Construction Education Success Center, built onto the existing Kemper Hall, provides academic space for the school’s construction managers and cost $9.6 million.

  • How One School Reimagined Learning Spaces—and What Others Can Learn

    When Collegedale Academy, a PreK–8 school outside Chattanooga, Tenn., needed a new elementary building, we faced the choice that many school leaders eventually confront: repair an aging facility or reimagine what learning spaces could be. Our historic elementary school held decades of memories for families, including some who had once walked its halls as children themselves. But years of wear and the need for costly repairs made it clear that investing in the old building would only patch the problems rather than solve them.

  • Extron, CENTEGIX Partner for Comprehensive School Security Solution

    Professional audiovisual solutions provider Extron recently announced a partnership with CENTEGIX, which provides rapid incident response technology, to integrate two of their top products in the name of school safety.

  • North Dakota State University Completes Music School Renovation

    North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., recently announced that construction on the Challey School of Music has finished, according to a news release. The university partnered with Foss Architecture & Interiors for design and Kraus-Anderson for construction services, and construction began in July 2024.