Gainful Employment

This Web page contains information about our rulemaking efforts on gainful employment. For more information about our negotiated rulemaking efforts in 2017-2018, including related Federal Register notices and transcripts from our public hearings, please see our general information page.

For more information about negotiated rulemaking in general, please see our question and answer page.

All sessions will run from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., unless otherwise indicated.

Committee meetings are open to the public.

Committee Members List of negotiators MS Word (36K)

Session 1: December 4-7, 2017

The U.S. Department of Education
Union Center Plaza (UCP) Learning Center
830 First Street, NE, Lobby Level
Washington, DC 20002

Session 2: February 5-8, 2018

The U.S. Department of Education
Barnard Auditorium
400 Maryland Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20202

Session 3: March 12-15, 2018

The U.S. Department of Education
Potomac Center Plaza Auditorium
550 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20202

Session 1

Meeting Summary, as accepted: MS Word (33K)

Materials that the Department provided to the negotiating committee prior to Session 1:

• Agenda: MS Word (16.5K)
• Protocols (accepted): MS Word (37.5K)
• Issue Paper #1 – Scope and Purpose: MS Word (16K)
• Issue Paper #2 – Gainful Employment Metrics: MS Word (16K)
• Issue Paper #3 – Debt Calculations: MS Word (19K)
• Issue Paper #4 – Sanctions: MS Word (16K)
• Issue Paper #5 - Alternate Earnings Appeals: MS Word (17K)
• Issue Paper #6 – Program Disclosures: MS Word (18K)
• Issue Paper #7 – Reporting Requirements: MS Word (17K)
• Issue Paper #8 – Certification Requirements: MS Word (17K)

Transcripts and Audio Recordings of Negotiation session 1:

• Monday, December 4, 2017:
  • Transcript MS Word (161K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (47M), Part 2 MP3 (50M), Part 3 MP3 (84M)
• Tuesday, December 5, 2017:
  • Transcript MS Word (95K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (82M), Part 2 MP3 (67M), Part 3 MP3 (97M), Part 4 MP3 (62M)
• Wednesday, December 6, 2017:
  • Transcript MS Word (362K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (79M), Part 2 MP3 (80M), Part 3 MP3 (79M), Part 4 MP3 (58M)
• Thursday, December 7, 2017:
  • Transcript MS Word (110K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (49M), Part 2 MP3 (57M), Part 3 MP3 (75M)

Materials handed out during Session 1 by the Committee:

• Email Regarding CAVT, Submitted by Sandy Sarge: MS Word (18K)
• NYU Law Article on Disclosures, Submitted by Whitney Barkley: PDF (154K)
• Disparities in Debt to Earning Outcomes by CIP Code and Credential, Submitted by Jennifer Blum: PDF (257K)
• GE Comment (original submitted through Regs.gov, ED-2017-OPE-0076-0001), Submitted by Jordan Matsudaira : MS Word (16K)
• Capping Student Debt and How it Affects the Median, Submitted by Jeff Arthur: MS Word (39K)
• Email Regarding Metrics, Submitted by Marc Jerome: MS Word (32K)
• Patricia Link Testimony, Submitted by Jen Diamond: PDF (87K)
• Sanders Fabares Testimony, Submitted by Jen Diamond: PDF (47K)
• Student Loan Repayment Rates (TICAS), Submitted by Laura Metune

Session 2

Meeting Summary, as accepted: MS Word (28K)

Materials that the Department provided to the negotiating committee prior to Session 2:

• Agenda: PDF (114K)
• Issue Paper #1 – Scope and Purpose: PDF (183K)
• Issue Paper #2 – Debt to Earning: PDF (164K)
• Issue Paper #3 – Debt Calculations: PDF (186K)
• Issue Paper #4 – Sanctions: PDF (183K)
• Issue Paper #5 - Alternate Earnings Appeals: PDF (193K)
• Issue Paper #6 – Program Disclosures: PDF (275K)
• Issue Paper #7 – Reporting Requirements: PDF (164K)
• Issue Paper #8 – Certification Requirements: PDF (170K)
• Issue Paper - Technical and Confirming Changes
• Issue Paper - GE Regulatory Language Combined

Transcripts and Audio Recordings of Negotiation session 2:

• Monday, February 5, 2018:
  • Transcript PDF (865K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (69M), Part 2 MP3 (72M), Part 3 MP3 (75M), Part 4 MP3 (92M)
• Tuesday, February 6, 2018:
  • Transcript PDF (741K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (70M), Part 2 MP3 (51M), Part 3 MP3 (78M), Part 4 MP3 (70M)
• Wednesday, February 7, 2018:
  • Transcript PDF (409K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (44M), Part 2 MP3 (96M)
• Thursday, February 8, 2018:
  • Transcript PDF (963K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (87M), Part 2 MP3 (62M), Part 3 MP3 (94M), Part 4 MP3 (97M)

Materials handed out during Session 2 by the Department:

• Proposed Language for Borrower Defense Disclosure, 2/5/18: MS Word (15K)
• Gainful Employment Background Data Analysis: MS Word (201K)
• Debt to Earnings Analysis using College Scorecard Data: MS Word (126K)
• Press Release, Improved Borrower Defense Discharge Process, 2/5/18

Materials handed out during Session 2 by the Committee:

• Issue Paper #8 – Certification paper, submitted by Laura Metune, 2/6/18: MS Word (33K)
• Tough Love Report by The Education Trust, submitted by Marc Jerome, 2/7/28: MS Word (3.92M)
• Edits to Issue Paper 2, submitted by Jennifer Blum, 2/7/18: MS Word (20K)
• GE Institution vs. Program Level Data, submitted by Jordan Matsudaira 2/7/18: MS Word (35K)
• Guide to the Post-Completion Wages of Graduates by State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, submitted by Jeff Arthur, 2/8/18
• Inside Higher Ed article on Texas Data, submitted by Ryan Fischer 2/8/18
• Texas Data, submitted by Ryan Fischer 2/8/18
• Cosmetology Sector Commendations submitted by Jeff Schrade: MS Word (129K)

Session 3

Materials that the Department provided to the negotiating committee prior to Session 3:

• Agenda: PDF (241K)
• Issue Paper #1 – Scope and Purpose: PDF (199K)
• Issue Paper #2 – Debt to Earning: PDF (180K)
• Issue Paper #3 – Debt Calculations: PDF (222K)
• Issue Paper #4 – Sanctions: PDF (225K)
• Issue Paper #5 - Alternate Earnings Appeals: PDF (199K)
• Issue Paper #6 – Program Disclosures: PDF (292K)
• Issue Paper #7 – Reporting Requirements: PDF (167K)
• Issue Paper #8 – Certification Requirements: PDF (173K)
• Issue Paper - Technical and Confirming Changes
• Issue Paper - GE Regulatory Language Combined

Transcripts and Audio Recordings of Negotiation Session 3:

• Monday, March 12, 2018:
  • Transcript PDF (915K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (75M), Part 2 MP3 (62M), Part 3 MP3 (55M), Part4 MP3 (47M), Part5 MP3 (53M)
• Tuesday, March 13, 2018:
  • Transcript PDF (931K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (58M), Part 2 MP3 (48M), Part 3 MP3 (64M), Part4 MP3 (94M), Part5 MP3 (1.2M)
• Wednesday, March 14, 2018:
  • Transcript PDF (830K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (77M), Part 2 MP3 (29M), Part 3 MP3 (84M), Part 4 MP3 (74M)
• Thursday, March 15, 2018:
  • Transcript PDF (739K)
  • Audio: Part 1 MP3 (48M), Part 2 MP3 (92M), Part 3 MP3 (84M)

Materials handed out during Session 3 by the Department:

• Report on Outliers: PDF (220K)
• GE Algorithm: PDF (160K)
• Corrected Scatterplots: PowerPoint (169K)

Materials handed out during Session 3 by the Committee:

• Language on Certifications, submitted by Laura Metune and Jennifer Blum: PDF (250K)
• Report by the Georgetown University Center on Education & Workforce, submitted by Tim Powers: PDF (11M)
• Sanctions Flow Chart, Submitted by Mark McKenzie: PDF (298K)
• Consumer Testing language, Submitted by Jennifer Blum: MS Word (15K)
• Debt to Earnings Data Across All Sectors, Submitted by Marc Jerome: PDF (38M)
• Summary of September 2017 Scorecard Data, Submitted by Marc Jerome: MS Word (3.36M)
• Minimum Earnings Necessary to pass D/E, Various Measures, Submitted by Jordan Matsudaira:
  • Sheet 1 PDF (29K)
  • Sheet 2 PDF (29K)
  • Sheet 3 PDF (29K)
  • Sheet 4 PDF (29K)