Student Financial Aid - New Rules Aim To Help Improve Federal Student Aid Programs

The Obama administration recently announced details of a new set of rules which have been designed to strengthen the federal student aid programs at for-profit, nonprofit and public institutions. These new rules will help to ensure that students are provided with accurate and realistic advice regarding the potential benefits of college and training programs, as well as ensuring that only eligible students and programs receive federal aid. During the creation of this new set of rules, suggestions and constructive criticism from departmental officials as well as members of the public were taken into consideration.

Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, issued the following statement regarding this new set of rules: “These new rules will help ensure that students are getting from schools what they pay for, solid preparation for a good job. I’d like to thank everyone who worked with the Department during the public comment period. We made thoughtful changes based on the comments we received. These changes help us fashion the best regulation possible to protect the interest of students and taxpayers. We continue to be thoughtful as we move forward with finalizing new gainful employment eligibility rules. We’re taking additional time to analyze all the feedback we’ve received to help us strike the right balance between holding these programs accountable to protect students and taxpayers from abuse and making sure we keep whole those programs that are doing a good job.”