The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education today announced its intention to commence negotiated rulemaking on various programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. The Department invites public feedback on ways to streamline higher education regulations and federal assistance programs to create efficiencies for students, institutions, and key stakeholders, as well as ideas to improve the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Repayment plan, and the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan.
“This process will focus on how the Department can rightsize Title IV regulations that have driven up the cost of college and hindered innovation,” said Acting Under Secretary James Bergeron. “Not only will this rulemaking serve as an opportunity to identify and cut unnecessary red tape, but it will allow key stakeholders to offer suggestions to streamline and improve federal student aid programs.”
Background:
Section 492 of the Higher Education Act requires that the Secretary solicit public involvement in the development of proposed regulations before publishing any proposed rules implementing programs authorized under Title IV. After obtaining advice and recommendations from the public and stakeholders, the Secretary conducts negotiated rulemaking to develop the proposed regulations.
Public Comment:
The Department will also host two public hearings – an in-person meeting on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 and a virtual hearing on Thursday, May 1, 2025. It will also accept written comments that must be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at Regulations.gov. If you require an accommodation or cannot otherwise submit your comments via Regulations.gov, please contact regulationshelpdesk@gsa.gov or by phone at 1-866-498-2945. The deadline for public comment is 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
More information can be found here.