Ed Department changes reporting requirements for online colleges

Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Department of Education announced final regulations this week requiring colleges to report which students receiving federal financial aid are enrolled in distance education or correspondence courses.
• The distance rule will go into effect July 1, 2027, a year later than the department originally proposed. The change will give colleges the time needed to comply, the department said.
• The department’s action Monday notably excluded an expansion of eligibility for some federal TRIO programs to undocumented students. TRIO had been part of the bundle of draft rules along with distance education announced in July.

Dive Insight:

The Biden administration’s Education Department released policy proposals on several topics — including distance education — a year ago, as part of the negotiated rulemaking process. But negotiators failed to reach consensus. This allowed the department to independently release draft rules, which it did in July.

The regulations released Monday formalizes the definition of a distance education course as any class that uses a modality such as the internet or audio conferencing “to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor or instructors and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor or instructors, either synchronously or asynchronously.”

Under the rule, a student who is enrolled in “even one class that allows for distance education” would be considered a hybrid learner for reporting purposes.

James Kvaal, the Education Department’s top higher ed official, said the new regulation would help students make informed decisions about the way they take their courses.

“Online learning can reach more students and sometimes at a lower cost to students, but what we know about the outcomes of online education compared to traditional in-person instruction is woefully inadequate,” Kvaal said in a Monday statement. “The new reporting in this final rule will help the Department and the public better assess student outcomes at online programs.”

The distance education regulations are set to publish in the Federal Register on Friday.

But the finalized rule softened many of the stances the department took in its July proposal following pushback from stakeholders. Within 30 days, the bundle of proposals that included the draft distance education rule garnered comments from 454 parties, the Education Department said.

The agency initially sought to disallow colleges from offering distance education programs that run asynchronously. But in response to comments, it dropped that provision in the regulation released Monday.

“We will continue to conduct oversight on how institutions offer any asynchronous clock hour programs and may revisit this issue at a later date through a future rulemaking effort if we find continued evidence of widespread problems,” the department said in the final rule. The agency reiterated that colleges must verify that their asynchronous programs offer “regular and substantive interaction with an instructor.”

The July draft proposals also included a rule that would have made all students who attend high school in the U.S. — not just citizens — eligible for certain TRIO programs. TRIO is designed to help support disadvantaged students from middle school onward.

Notably, the expansion was one place where negotiators in the rulemaking process did, in fact, reach consensus. In March, the TRIO subcommittee unanimously approved the Education Department’s proposal to open three TRIO programs to undocumented students.

However, the Education Department declined to finalize that proposal Monday, citing feedback received during the public comment period.

Stakeholders argued that the proposed rule was “restrictive in its continued consideration of immigration status as a barrier to participation in the TRIO programs,” the department said. The Higher Education Act does not limit TRIO eligibility to citizens.

Commenters also criticized expanding eligibility for just three of the five TRIO programs. Such a split would increase administrative burden and create confusion for students, they said. 

The department ultimately agreed. It said it intends “to reconsider how best to ensure that the TRIO programs are able to reach all populations of disadvantaged students” and left the door open to return to TRIO proposals in future rulemaking. 

It’s unclear when that would be, as President-elect Donald Trump has not indicated whether TRIO will be a policy priority. During his first term, the Education Department issued distance learning rules that offered online programs more flexibility amid the pandemic.

The new distance learning rules come as online learning has grown in popularity, a trend only accelerated by the pandemic. 

An August survey of chief online learning officers found that two-thirds wanted to create virtual versions of classes and programs their colleges offered on campus. And 48% said they were prioritizing the launch of entirely new online programs.

The flurry of federal activity in the last days of 2024 also extended to the presidential pen. On Dec. 24, President Joe Biden signed the first federal anti-hazing law.

The bill, known as the Stop Campus Hazing Act, incorporates the structure of the longstanding Clery Act, under which federally funded colleges must provide notices about public safety issues and support victims of violence.

Moving forward, colleges will be required to collect hazing statistics and publish them publicly twice a year. Institutions must also offer comprehensive hazing prevention programs for faculty and students.

The legislation received support from both sides of the aisle, the National Panhellenic Conference and from the parents of children who have died as the result of hazing.