AHEAD Committee Receives Agenda, Discussion Draft of New Institutional and Programmatic Accountability Regulations and Key Program-level Data on Performance Outcomes In Preparation for Next Week’s Second Session of Federal Negotiated Rulemaking
Overview
Late yesterday afternoon the U.S. Department of Education provided Non-Federal negotiators on the Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee with copies of the January 2026 Session Materials in advance of next Monday’s Second Session. Included in the information provided by the Department were:
* A Session 2 Agenda providing day-by-day outlines of the proceedings
* Two versions of a “Preliminary Discussion Guide: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability” (a clean version and annotated version); and
* Various documents related to a program-level dataset containing information on the performance outcomes of almost all Title IV higher education programs.
The Agenda and the Preliminary Discussion Guide will be available for download on CSPEN’s website (centralstatesedu.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=75e01bde202d593ed21c1c91c&id=fd3873be8e&e=05bce952ad) later this morning.
Also later this morning the Department has stated to the Non-Federal negotiators that they will upload the dataset, entitled 2026 Program Performance Data (PPD:26) to the Department’s website (centralstatesedu.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=75e01bde202d593ed21c1c91c&id=2379f26d1b&e=05bce952ad) and Knowledge Center (centralstatesedu.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=75e01bde202d593ed21c1c91c&id=83c2cc671b&e=05bce952ad) .
In addition to providing the community with these resources, CSPEN has already completed a review of all of the documents and has this initial summary and analysis for your consideration of the draft regulatory proposal.
Topic-by-Topic Summary & Initial Analysis
Preliminary Discussion Guide:
Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability
(Released by the U.S. Department of Education to Non-Federal Negotiators December 29, 2025)
Topic 1: Accountability Technical and Conforming Changes
PART 600—INSTITUTIONAL ELIGIBILITY UNDER THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED
Subpart A—General § 600.10 Date, extent, duration, and consequence of eligibility.
Subsection (c)(3), which previously required the reporting of only all GE programs as part of its PPA, is now expanded to include the reporting/updating of all programs.
Subpart B—Procedures for Establishing Eligibility
§ 600.21 Updating application information.
Subsection (a)(11) is revised to require the reporting of any additional program within 10 days of the offering of the program.
(Note: The U.S. Department of Education (Department) states that, unlike revisions to the application process that require approval of the new short-term workforce programs established in the prior negotiations by the AHEAD Committee, an institution does not have to have approval in advance of offering a new program.
The Department goes on to state that under the proposed revision such new programs will be evaluated during the institution’s recertification process.)
PART 668—STUDENT ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS
Subpart D—Institutional and Financial Assistance Information for Students
§ 668.43 Institutional and programmatic information.
Subsection (d)(1), which previously required the establishment of a website to provide the Financial Value Transparency data for each program by no later than July 1, 2026, proposes a series of revisions and additions to the website and the information provided. The changes and additions include:
* Repeal of the July 1, 2026 launch date for the publication of the institutional and programmatic data;
* Adding to the list of data to be provided the median length of calendar time (i.e., weeks, months, years) taken for full-time and less-than-full-time students to complete the program’s academic requirements and obtain the degree or credential awarded by the program;
* Replacing the inclusion of the debt-to-earnings and earnings premium rate information with the newly proposed ;
* Repeal of the differences in the calculation of postgraduate training programs; and
* Elimination of the institutional requirement to links to this website and its information on any institutional web page containing academic, cost, financial aid, or admissions information about the program or institution.
(Note: The Department makes it clear that it intends to align the existing GE/FVT regulations with the new statutory requirements enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB).
Furthermore, the Department states their proposed intent to “harmonize the requirements and limitations imposed by the GE regulations with the OBBB accountability framework.”)
Subpart G—Fine, Limitation, Suspension and Termination Proceedings
§ 668.91 Initial and final decisions.
Subsection (a)(3) is expanded to include the termination of any program that fails to meet the newly established earnings accountability eligibility requirements.
PART 685—WILLIAM D. FORD FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM
Subpart A—Purpose and Scope
§ 685.102 Definitions
Subsection (a)(1) adds two new definitions – 1) Eligible non-GE program and 2) Gainful employment program (GE program) – to the list used in conjunction with eligibility and participation in the Direct Loan program.
(Note: The Department makes clear that the inclusion of these two definitions is part of its intent to limit the consequences of failing the new earnings accountability eligibility requirements to solely the loss of Direct Loan eligibility.
The Department states that rather than the loss of all Title IV eligibility, which is currently the consequence for GE programs that fail the metric in two out of three consecutive award years, failing of the new earnings premium metric in two out of three consecutive award years will be the same for all programs.)
Subpart C—Requirements, Standards, and Payments for Direct Loan Program Schools
§ 685.300 Agreements between an eligible school and the Secretary for participation in the Direct Loan program
Subsection (a) is updated to include the addition of a new Federal Direct Loan eligibility requirements consistent with the establishment of the new student tuition and transparency system requirements and earnings accountability requirements.
Topic 2: General Definitions, Cohort Construction and Comparison Groups
PART 668—STUDENT ASSISTANCE GENERAL PROVISIONS
Subpart A—General
§ 668.2 General definitions.
Subsection (b) is amended by making a series of deletions and revisions to the list of general definitions.
The list of general definitions proposed for elimination include:
* Annual Debt-to-Earnings Rate;
* Debt-to-Earnings Rate;
* Discretionary Debt-to-Earnings Rate;
* Metropolitan Statistical Area;
* Poverty Guideline;
* Qualifying Graduate Program; and
* Substantially Similar Program.
Revisions to the list of general definitions proposed include:
* Reconstruction of the definition of Cohort Period – the cohort of individuals whose earnings are used to calculate the newly established earnings premium metric under the earnings accountability requirements;
* Adaptation of the definition of Earnings Premium to comply with the statutory directives contained within OBBB and apply to all institutional programs under the new earnings accountability requirements;
Revisions to the definition of Earnings Threshold
* Modification to the definition of Institutional Grants and Scholarships in an effort to clarify the types of assistance that are not considered to be institutional grants or scholarships.
(Note: The reconstructed Cohort Period definition and revisions to the Earnings Premium and Earnings Threshold definitions is a major substantive change from the current regulations.
The inclusion throughout the new proposals in these three definitions will have a major impact on the calculations and resulting determinations of the existing regulations if adopted.)
Topic 3: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS): Metric Calculation
Subpart Q—Student Tuition and Transparency System
§ 668.401 Student tuition and transparency system scope and purpose.
.
Under the new proposal the Department eliminates the debt-to-earnings metric, keeping only the earnings premium metric as the earnings accountability eligibility standard for all institutions and their programs – adding institutions and their programs located in U.S. Territories and Freely Associated States to the system which were previously exempt.
The newly proposed system also makes other revisions consistent with OBBB and statutory language and other modifications including:
* Determining a program passes the earnings premium metric if the program’s median annual earnings calculation equals or exceeds the earnings threshold – previously a program with a determination equal to the earnings threshold failed the eligibility requirement;
* Repealing the annual publication of earnings thresholds in the Federal Register – choosing instead to provide the determinations through other publications such as Dear Colleague Letters;
* Eliminating specific graduate program regulatory requirements;
* Setting the aggregated earnings threshold at 16 students to align the data with existing IRS data collection criteria – reducing the threshold from at least 30 students under the current regulations; and
* Withdraws the student acknowledgment requirement from the system requirements.
Topic 4: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS): Reporting Requirements
§ 668.4068 Reporting requirements.
The Department proposes to streamline and simplify the reporting requirements of the new Student Tuition and Transparency System.
Under the proposed reporting requirement changes the Department:
* Simplifies the reporting requirements for programs leading to licensure or taking of a licensure examination;
* Repeals specific graduate program reporting requirements;
* Reduces the amount and type of certain student data elements (e.g. attendance dates, enrollment status, COA, “actual” tuition and fees);
* Eliminates other information such as the total amount of student debt that a student owes any party after completing or withdrawing from the program;
* Adds new data regarding the total amount of Federal, State, private, or other grant and scholarships provided for the entire enrollment in the program; and
* Rescinds the transitional reporting period requirements.
Topic 5: Earnings Accountability and Student Warnings
Subpart S—Earnings accountability
§ 668.601 Earnings accountability scope and purpose.
The Department proposes to rebrand the existing Gainful Employment regulations and rebuild Subpart S as a new Earnings Accountability low-earning outcome eligibility regulations.
Under the new proposal the Department establishes rules and procedures under which the Secretary determines that the program is eligible for title IV, Direct Loan Program funds.
§ 668.602 Earnings accountability criteria.
The Department aligns the regulations to the OBBB criteria proposing that all programs lead to an acceptable earnings outcome if they satisfy applicable certification requirements and does not fail the earnings premium measure
§ 668.603 Low-earning outcome programs.
The proposed regulations require that a program that fails the earnings premium measure in two out of any three consecutive award years in which the program’s eligibility is calculated to be a low-earnings outcome program.
Such program loses Direct Loan Program eligibility upon completion of the termination actions under Subpart G.
Prior to termination an institution may initiate an appeal under Subpart G if it believes the Secretary erred in the calculation of the program’s earnings premium measure.
§ 668.604 Certification requirements for GE programs and eligible non-GE programs.
The proposal aligns the new earnings accountability proposals with all other eligibility and recertification requirements.
§ 668.605 Student warnings.
The proposal aligns the existing regulatory student warning requirements with the expanded accountability requirements for all programs.
Further, the proposal removes requirements contained in the existing regulations which require an institution at risk of failing the accountability earnings premium measure to
* Provide a description of the academic and financial options available to students to continue their education in another program at the institution, including whether the students could transfer credits earned in the program to another program at the institution and which course credits would transfer, in the event that the program loses eligibility for title IV, HEA program funds;
* An indication of whether, in the event that the program loses eligibility for title IV, HEA program funds, the institution will—
(i) Continue to provide instruction in the program to allow students to complete the program; and
(ii) Refund the tuition, fees, and other required charges paid to the institution by, or on behalf of, students for enrollment in the program; and
* Include an explanation of whether, if the program loses eligibility for title IV, HEA program funds, the students could transfer credits earned in the program to another institution in accordance with an established articulation agreement or teachout plan or agreement.
What’s Next
As noted in the Overview, CSPEN has also reviewed all of the 2026 Program Performance Data (PPD:26) documents presented by the Department in advance of the official publication of the dataset/file. This included review of
* PPD:26 Fact Sheet. This brief document provides a high-level summary of the data elements included in the PPD:26 dataset and the privacy-suppression protocols that were implemented when constructing the data.
* PPD:26 Variable Codebook. This document contains a detailed description of all of the data elements included in the PPD:26 dataset, including variable names, variable descriptions, and the source of each data element. Variable names are organized by category.
* PPD:26 Technical Data Appendix. This document describes the process used to assemble the PPD:26 dataset and includes additional technical details pertaining to how specific data elements were constructed.
CSPEN intends to use these resources to review and provide summary and analysis of the PPD:26 information in a future email.
Stay tuned for more information and updates yet to come this week even as we prepare to say goodbye to 2025 and usher in 2026.
