Statement from Arnold Ventures’ Kelly McManus on the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rules on accountability and transparency for career-training programs

WASHINGTON, DC (May 17, 2023) — For too long, postsecondary education providers have been able to get away with offering programs of little to no value at the expense of the students and taxpayers who invest their time and money with the promise of moving Americans up the economic ladder. Today, the Education Department released a proposed rule that would effectively hold career training programs responsible for ensuring they provide real opportunity to their students and meaningful returns on the billions of dollars taxpayers invest in higher education every year. The proposed rule would also ensure that potential and enrolled students at all institutions – across all sectors and types of programs – are provided with critical information about the outcomes of their prospective institutions before they enroll, enabling them to make informed choices about their futures. These proposed regulations would also enable stronger oversight of institutions that present a high risk of closure or misconduct, and would allow the Department to take stronger and earlier steps to protect students and taxpayers. 

We applaud the Biden-Harris administration’s work to improve the higher education system by ensuring federal aid eligibility excludes low-value programs, and we urge Congress to build on these efforts through legislation that will further strengthen requirements for higher education to meet a minimum bar for outcomes.