NASFAA Signs Onto Letter Responding to OMB’s Information Request on Deregulation
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
NASFAA signed onto a letter, led by the American Council on Education (ACE), in response to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) request for information (RFI) on rules to be targeted for rescission, or deregulation, providing a list of guiding principles and feedback to the administration.
The letter – signed by over a dozen higher education organizations – noted that while some federal regulations promote accountability, transparency, and student success, there are many examples of regulations that are “duplicative, redundant or poorly-targeted that increase burden and cost to colleges and universities.”
The organizations noted a set of guiding principles that the administration, specifically the Department of Education (ED), should consider when developing, implementing, and enforcing regulations, which come from a previous ACE task force report. Those guiding principles include that regulations should be clear and comprehensible, ED should recognize good faith efforts by institutions, penalties should be imposed at a level appropriate to the violation, and more.
Considering these principles, the organizations listed several examples of regulatory issues either currently in effect or set to take effect that do not meet these standards, such as gainful employment (GE) and financial value transparency (FVT), administrative capability, certification procedures, financial responsibility standards, and more.
Specifically, the organizations called on ED to delay or provide additional information regarding the final rule from the Department of Justice on “Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability,” and ED’s GE and FVT final rules. Already this year, ED announced it extended the institutional reporting deadline for GE and FVT until September 30.
While institutions are preparing to comply with ED’s current regulations, even though they entail significant commitments of resources and staff time, the organizations wrote that it’s still unclear what compliance entails regarding some of these regulations.
“Given the shifts in administration priorities, as well as the changes to staffing and leadership, that accompany a transition between administration, there is a lack of clarity as to what compliance may necessitate,” the letter reads. “We therefore ask OMB and federal agencies to review these regulations in light of the compliance challenges that covered entities still need to work through and to move quickly to clarify their status going forward.”
Furthermore, the organizations request that the Trump administration consider the list of guiding principles set in the letter, and work with the higher education community when implementing any new regulations.
“It is very difficult to comply with existing regulations unless there is a shared understanding of the requirements,” the letter reads. “Our institutions want to be in compliance and take their responsibilities seriously, but that is difficult when regulations suddenly change without prior notice and consultation.”
NASFAA also submitted its own comments to OMB regarding the RFI. NASFAA’s comments focused on three topics that cause extraordinary burden for financial aid administrators, including Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4), GE and FVT, and regulations requiring institutions to definitively determine and document that programs meet licensure requirements in every state where enrolled distance education students are located.
Publication Date: 5/15/2025
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