🎓Updates to State Approving Agency Jurisdiction Rule
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) publishes a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) to amend its definitions of the terms "independent study," "distance learning," and "resident learning," and to establish a new term, "standard curriculum." These proposed amendments, which distinguish distance learning from resident learning and independent study from standard curriculum, address concerns from VA stakeholders who view independent study and distance learning as having distinct and separate meanings and clarify State Approving Agency (SAA) jurisdiction over courses taken solely by distance learning.
Learn More📜Proposed PSLF Regulations
The Secretary proposes to amend the regulations on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program under 34 CFR 685.219 to exclude employers that engage in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose. The proposed regulations would prevent taxpayer-funded PSLF benefits from being improperly provided to individuals who are employed by organizations that engage in activities that have a substantial illegal purpose. These proposed changes are intended to improve the administration of the PSLF program and provide protection for taxpayers.
Learn More🎓Update on 81-Month Rule for Dependents' Education Assistance
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this final rule to update its regulation governing a beneficiary's receipt of education assistance from two or more programs. This action is necessary to implement a statutory amendment enacted in August 2012, which authorized an 81-month aggregate period for use of Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance (Chapter 35) benefits in combination with other programs listed in the statute. This rulemaking amends the regulation to align it with the current statutory text.
Learn More🎓VA Proposes Changes to Overpayment Recovery Regulations for Education
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend the Veteran Readiness and Employment and Education regulations to implement section 1019 of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 (Isakson Roe Act), which was effective January 5, 2021. These proposed amendments would update regulations governing the waiver or recovery of overpayments to address the assignment of financial responsibility for benefits paid directly to an educational institution on behalf of the student.
Learn More📄Removal of Obsolete Regulations on Federal Grants and Contracts
This DFR removes obsolete grant and contract regulations in the Department of Labor's regulations. These grant and contract regulations were superseded by the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB's) Guidance for Grants and Agreements, codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, which the Department of Labor adopted and gave regulatory effect to in 2014.
Learn More⚖️2025 Civil Monetary Penalties Adjustment Regulations Summary
The Department of Education (Department) issues these final regulations to adjust the Department's civil monetary penalties (CMPs) for inflation. This adjustment is required by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (2015 Act), which amended the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (Inflation Adjustment Act). These final regulations provide the 2025 annual inflation adjustments being made to the penalty amounts in the Department's final regulations published in the Federal Register on January 25, 2024 (2024 final rule).
Learn More🎓Analysis of Indian Education Grant Program Regulations and Implications
The Department of Education (Department) amends the regulations that govern the Professional Development (PD) program, authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA), to establish priorities, requirements, and a definition for the program, including a priority for educator retention projects.
Learn More🎓Post-9/11 VA Educational Assistance Regulations Overview
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is amending its regulations that govern VA's administration of educational assistance programs to implement the provisions of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010, which modified the manner in which payments of educational assistance are determined and expanded the types of programs students may pursue under the Post-9/11 GI Bill; section 1002 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009, which authorized the "Marine Gunnery Sergeant John David Fry Scholarship;" and a select number of provisions of the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017.
Learn More⚖️2025 Civil Penalties Adjustments for Businesses Under NAGPRA
This rule revises U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) regulations implementing the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) to provide for annual adjustments of civil penalties to account for inflation under the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 and Office of Management and Budget guidance. The purpose of these adjustments is to maintain the deterrent effect of civil penalties and to further the policy goals of the underlying statute. This rule also updates the mailing address for the NAGPRA Program.
Learn More🎓Income-Contingent Repayment Plan Changes
The Department of Education (Department) adopts as final, without changes, the interim final rule published in the Federal Register on November 15, 2024. This final rule amends the regulations governing income-contingent repayment plans available to Federal student loan borrowers to satisfy the Department's statutory obligation under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, (HEA) to offer borrowers access to an income-contingent repayment plan. The scope of this rule is narrow. It revises the last date for most borrowers to enroll in the Income-Contingent Repayment or Pay As You Earn plans from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2027. Changing the eligibility restrictions that went into effect on July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2027, allows the Department to meet its statutory obligations while it undertakes the necessary administrative changes to make its repayment plans compliant with the terms of an injunction pending appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Eighth Circuit).
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