The announcement was a welcome development. The 2024-25 FAFSA rollout has been fraught with errors and delays, causing unexpected time and resource challenges for many institutions.

On March 29, 2024, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona heeded the call of a bipartisan group of senators, the American Council on Education and numerous other influential higher education constituencies by extending the institutional data reporting deadline from July 31, 2024, to October 1, 2024, for the new financial value transparency (FVT) and gainful employment (GE) rules.

In its recent announcement, the Department provides the following revised timeline for reporting of FVT/GE data:

• Data entry start date: Institutions will have the ability to start reporting FVT/GE data through the National Student Loan Data System starting July 1, 2024.
• Hard deadline: Institutions will have until October 1, 2024, to provide all required reporting (revised from prior July 31, 2024, deadline).

The announcement was a welcome development. The 2024-25 FAFSA rollout has been fraught with errors and delays, causing unexpected time and resource challenges for many institutions. The two-month extension on the FVT/DE data reporting deadline, however, is unlikely to quell concerns that the technical transition to the new FAFSA system will continue to require additional resources and attention―by both institutions and the Department.

On March 29, 2024, the Department also published a FVT/GE overview Dear Colleague Letter that provides a detailed overview of the FVT/GE regulatory frameworks. This is the first FVT/GE related guidance document the Department has issued since the final rule was published in October 2023. The Department plans to publish frequently asked questions related to the FVT/GE requirements in the near future. It will also establish a new “Topics” page on the Knowledge Center that will include policy and operational information about the FVT/GE requirements, including reporting requirements. Finally, the Department announced that it still intends to publish the first official round of FVT/GE metrics in “early 2025.”

Next Steps

Institutions should:

1. Plan now for resource allocation to meet these reporting obligations;
2. Keep an eye on the Department’s forthcoming additional guidance via the Knowledge Center; and
3. Consider filing public comments with the Department before the April 22, 2024, deadline in the GE/FVT reporting requirements call for public comment to express concerns about any aspect of the reporting requirements including any information that would support further extension of the reporting timeline based on burden placed on institutions from the reporting requirements. Instructions for filing such comments are included in the Federal Register notice.

Reporting

Below is a list of the new institutional reporting requirements (contained within the FVT/GE rule) that institutions must provide to the Department by the new deadline of October 1, 2024.

For each GE program and eligible non-GE program during an award year, an institution would be required to report:

1. The name, CIP code, credential level and length of the program;
2. Whether the program is programmatically accredited and, if so, the name of the accrediting agency;
3. Whether the program meets professional licensure requirements or prepares students to sit for a licensure examination in a particular occupation for all states in the institution’s metropolitan statistical area;
4. The total number of students enrolled in the program during the most recently completed award year, including both recipients and nonrecipients of Higher Education Act Title IV funds; and
5. Whether the program is a qualifying graduate program whose students are required to complete postgraduate training programs.

For each recipient of Title IV funds, the institution would also be required to annually report at a student level:

1. Information needed to identify the student and the institution;
2. The date each student initially enrolled in the program;
3. The student’s attendance dates and attendance status (e.g., enrolled, withdrawn or completed) in the program during the award year;
4. The student’s enrollment status (e.g., full-time, three-quarter time, half-time, less than half-time) as of the first day of the student’s enrollment in the program;
5. The student’s total annual cost of attendance;
6. The total tuition and fees assessed to the student for the award year;
7. The student’s residency tuition status by state or district;
8. The student’s total annual allowance for books, supplies and equipment;
9. The total annual allowance for housing and food;
10. The amount of institutional grants and scholarships disbursed;
11. The amount of other state, tribal or private grants disbursed; and
12. The amount of any private education loans disbursed to the student for enrollment in the program that the institution is, or should reasonably be, aware of―including private education loans made by the institution.

In addition, if the student completed or withdrew from the program during the award year, the institution would also be required to report:

1. The date the student completed or withdrew from the program;
2. The total amount the student received from private education loans for enrollment in the program that the institution is, or should reasonably be, aware of;
3. The total amount of institutional debt the student owes any party after completing or withdrawing from the program;
4. The total amount of tuition and fees assessed for the student's entire enrollment in the program;
5. The total amount of the allowances for books, supplies and equipment included in the student's Title IV cost of attendance for each award year in which the student was enrolled in the program, or a higher amount if assessed the student by the institution for such expenses; and
6. The total amount of institutional grants and scholarships provided for the student’s entire enrollment in the program.

For More Information

If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact any of the attorneys in our Higher Education Group or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Disclaimer: This Alert has been prepared and published for informational purposes only and is not offered, nor should be construed, as legal advice. For more information, please see the firm's full disclaimer.