IHEP and 13 Partners Respond to ED’s Proposed Distance Education Regulations
Washington, DC (August 23, 2024) – The Institute for Higher Education Policy and 13 members and partners of the Postsecondary Data Collaborative responded to the Department of Education’s (ED) recently proposed regulations on distance education.
Online education expanded rapidly in the aftermath of COVID-19. Now it provides millions of students with convenient and flexible postsecondary opportunities. But researchers, policymakers, and institutional leaders lack sufficient information on these programs, including their availability, compliance with federal rules and regulations, and student outcomes.
We commend ED’s efforts to improve the integrity and quality of online programs. Two provisions of these regulations are particularly critical for closing gaps in our nation’s higher education data infrastructure.
- Expand the definition of “additional location” to include virtual locations. This change would improve ED’s understanding of the prevalence of distance education. Additionally, this change would enable student loan borrowers to access closed school discharges if their institution closes online operations while maintaining a physical presence, or vice versa.
- Require distance education data reporting on federal aid recipients. By requiring institutions to report the distance education status of federal aid recipients, ED and other stakeholders will gain valuable information on the outcomes of these students. Ideally, this would allow ED to publish aggregate student outcomes by distance education status on the College Scorecard.
Read the full letter to learn more.
