Dive Brief:

• The Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities plans to appeal a June 23 U.S. district court ruling that upheld the Department of Education’s gainful employment rule.
• In an announcement of its intent to appeal, the for-profit college group said the regulation “needlessly complicates the effort of new traditional students to achieve a career-focused education.”
• The rule went into effect July 1 and could force major changes to or closure of 1,400 programs that may lose eligibility for federal student aid.

Dive Insight:

For-profit colleges have been fighting the gainful employment rule since it was introduced as another way to police the industry. While the regulation will apply to career-focused community college programs as well, the vast majority of programs expected to be at risk of losing federal aid because of the rule are for-profit. Two lawsuits were filed against the Department of Education’s right to implement the regulation and both have been decided in favor of the department since the end of May. Besides the legal challenges, the gainful employment rule could be jettisoned by legislators if the Congressional budget prohibits spending on enforcement. The rule took effect July 1 and the federal government’s next fiscal year begins October 1.