DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Statement of Regulatory Priorities

I. Introduction

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) supports States, local communities, institutions of higher education, and families in improving education and other services nationwide in order to ensure that all Americans, including those with disabilities, receive a high-quality education and are prepared for high-quality employment. We provide leadership and financial assistance pertaining to education and related services at all levels to a wide range of stakeholders and individuals, including State educational and other agencies, local school districts, providers of early learning programs, elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher education, career and technical schools, nonprofit organizations, postsecondary students, members of the public, families, and many others. These efforts are helping to ensure that all children and students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 will be ready for, and succeed in, postsecondary education or employment, and that students attending postsecondary institutions are prepared for a profession or career.

We also vigorously monitor and enforce the implementation of Federal civil rights laws in educational programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance, and support innovative programs, research and evaluation activities, technical assistance, and the dissemination of data, research, and evaluation findings to improve the quality of education.

Overall, the laws, regulations, and programs that the Department administers will affect nearly every American during his or her life. Indeed, in the 2018-19 school year, about 57 million students will attend an estimated 133,000 elementary and secondary schools in approximately 13,600 districts, and about 20 million students will enroll in degree-granting postsecondary schools. All of these students may benefit from some degree of financial assistance or support from the Department.

In developing and implementing regulations, guidance, technical assistance, evaluations, data gathering and reporting, and monitoring related to our programs, we are committed to working closely with affected persons and groups. We know that improving education starts with allowing greater decision-making authority at the State and local levels while also recognizing that the ultimate form of local control occurs when parents and students are empowered to choose their own educational paths forward. Our core mission includes this empowerment of local education, serving the most vulnerable, and facilitating equal access for all, to ensure all students receive a high-quality education, and complete it with a well-considered and attainable path to a sustainable career.

Toward these ends, we work with a broad range of interested parties and the general public, including families, students, and educators; State, local, and Tribal governments; other Federal agencies; and neighborhood groups, community-based early learning programs, elementary and secondary schools, colleges, rehabilitation service providers, adult education providers, professional associations, advocacy organizations, businesses, and labor organizations.

If we determine that it is necessary to develop regulations, we seek public participation at the key

stages in the rulemaking process. We invite the public to submit comments on all proposed regulations through the internet or by regular mail. We also continue to seek greater public participation in our rulemaking activities through the use of transparent and interactive rulemaking procedures and new technologies.

To facilitate the public's involvement, we participate in the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS), an electronic single Government-wide access point (www.regulations.gov) that enables the public to submit comments on different types of Federal regulatory documents and read and respond to comments submitted by other members of the public during the public comment period. This system provides the public with the opportunity to submit comments electronically on any notice of proposed rulemaking or interim final regulations open for comment, as well as read and print any supporting regulatory documents.

We are committed to reducing burden with regard to regulations, guidance, and information collections, reducing the burden on information providers involved in our programs, and making information easily accessible to the public. To that end and consistent with Executive Order 13777 ("Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda"), we are in the process of reviewing all of our regulations and guidance to modify and rescind items that: (1) eliminate jobs, or inhibit job creation; (2) are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective; (3) impose costs that exceed benefits; (4) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with regulatory reform initiatives and policies; (5) are inconsistent with the requirements of section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (44 U.S.C. 3516 note), or the guidance issued pursuant to that provision, in particular those regulations that rely in whole or in part on data, information, or methods that are not publicly available or that are insufficiently transparent to meet the standard for reproducibility; or (6) derive from or implement Executive orders or other Presidential directives that have been subsequently rescinded or substantially modified.

II. Regulatory and Deregulatory Priorities

Proposed Rulemakings

The following are the key regulatory and deregulatory rulemaking actions the Department is planning for the coming year. We provide below information about the potential costs and benefits for several of these rulemaking actions, including whether they would be considered regulatory or deregulatory actions under Executive Order 13771. For rulemakings that we are just beginning now, we have limited information about their potential costs and benefits and cannot estimate at this time whether they would be considered regulatory or deregulatory actions.

Postsecondary Education/Federal Student Aid

The Department will continue its work to complete two rulemakings in the area of higher education and Federal Student Aid under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). The Department has completed negotiated rulemaking for these two rulemakings, described below, and we are revisiting these regulations with the goals of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens and ensuring appropriate protections for students, institutions, taxpayers, and the Federal government. Through the use of the negotiated rulemaking process, we have received input from a diverse range of interests and affected parties.

The Department recently published new proposed regulations that would govern the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program regarding the standard and the process for determining whether a borrower has a defense to repayment on a loan based on an act or omission of a school. We also have proposed to amend other sections of the Direct Loan Program regulations, including those that codify our current policy regarding the impact that discharges have on the 150 percent Direct Subsidized Loan Limit and the Student Assistance General Provisions regulations providing the financial responsibility standards and disclosure requirements for schools. In addition, we proposed to amend the discharge provisions in the Federal Perkins Loan, Direct Loan, and Federal Family Education Loan programs. These proposed regulations would replace those promulgated by the Department in 2016. The Department recently proposed regulations that would rescind the Gainful Employment (GE) regulations and remove them from subparts Q and R of the Student Assistance and General Provisions in 34 CFR part 668. Under the proposed rescission, the Department would remove the provisions providing for a debt-to-earnings (D/E) rates measure to determine a gainful employment program's continuing eligibility for participation in the programs authorized by title IV of the HEA as well as certain disclosure and reporting requirements.

Additionally, the Secretary plans to initiate a new rulemaking to revise regulations related to the Secretary's recognition of accrediting agencies, including specific topics such as: the requirements of accrediting agencies in their oversight of member institutions; requirements for accrediting agencies to honor institutional mission; criteria used by the Secretary to recognize accrediting agencies, emphasizing criteria that focus on educational quality; developing a single definition for purposes of measuring and reporting job placement rates; and simplifying the process for recognition and review of accrediting agencies. The rulemaking will also cover issues such as: State authorization, to address the requirements related to programs offered through distance education or correspondence courses, including disclosures about such programs to enrolled and prospective students, and other State authorization issues; the definitions of a number of terms in the regulations governing institutional and programmatic eligibility; requirements of the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH Grant) program, in an effort to minimize inadvertent grant-to-loan conversions and improve outcomes for TEACH Grant recipients; direct assessment programs and competency-based education; and regulations regarding the eligibility of faith-based entities to participate in the Title IV, HEA programs.

Civil Rights/Title IX

The Secretary is planning a new rulemaking to address issues under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended. In this action, we seek to clarify schools' obligations in redressing sex discrimination, including complaints of sexual misconduct, and the procedures by which they must do so.

Special Education

The Department will continue its work to complete its rulemaking in the area of significant disproportionality under section 618(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In July 2018, the Department published a final rule extending the compliance date for States until July 1, 2020. We are revisiting the significant disproportionality regulations with the goal of better serving children with disabilities.

Deregulatory Actions

The Department anticipates issuing a number of deregulatory actions in the upcoming fiscal year. We have thus far been focusing our deregulatory efforts on eliminating outdated regulations. In many instances, our deregulatory actions are being taken because legislation has superseded our regulations. For example, we are planning to rescind a number of sections from our Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education regulations to remove outdated, superseded regulations for programs no longer administered by the Department. This deregulatory action will clarify for our stakeholders and the general public which of our regulations are still in effect. The unified agenda identifies other deregulatory actions that will provide cost savings and clarity.

Additionally, during the course of its Executive Order 13777 review, the Department's Regulatory Reform Task Force has identified a number of information collections (ICRs) as being outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective. We are currently working to discontinue these.

III. Regulatory Review

As stated previously, the Department is continuing its comprehensive regulatory reform efforts pursuant to Executive Order 13777, focusing on rescinding and modifying all outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective regulations, guidance, and information collections. Section 3(e) of the Executive order requires the Department, as part of this effort, to "seek input and other assistance, as permitted by law, from entities significantly affected by Federal regulations, including State, local, and tribal governments, small businesses, consumers, non-governmental organizations, and trade associations" on regulations that meet some or all of the criteria above. The Department will continue to consider public input and feedback as part of these efforts.

IV. Principles for Regulating

Over the next year, we may need to issue other regulations because of new legislation or programmatic changes. In doing so, we will follow the Principles for Regulating, which determine when and how we will regulate. Through consistent application of those principles, we have eliminated unnecessary regulations and identified situations in which major programs could be implemented without regulations or with limited regulatory action.

In deciding when to regulate, we consider the following:

In deciding how to regulate, we are mindful of the following principles: