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Education Department

Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand- Driven Workforce Pell: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability

Published July 1, 2026. Takes effect July 1, 2027, printed at 91 FR 40136, amending 34 CFR 600, 34 CFR 668, 34 CFR 685. 111,757 words.

In plain English

This changes the rules a college must meet to get student aid money.

Read it at the Federal Register →

What the Rule Says It Does

The Secretary of Education (Secretary) amends the regulations governing institutional eligibility, general provisions, and the William D. Ford Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program under title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended (the title IV, HEA programs) to implement statutory changes to the title IV, HEA programs included in the Working Families Tax Cuts Act (WFTCA) signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025. These changes include revisions to program eligibility requirements for the Direct Loan program and the introduction of an earnings accountability framework that limits Direct Loan eligibility to programs whose graduates meet certain earnings benchmarks. This action finalizes regulations to implement the provisions of the WFTCA related to low-earning outcome programs and the Direct Loan program, and to harmonize those regulations with requirements for programs that are required to lead to gainful employment (GE programs).

This is the rule's own summary, as the Federal Register prints it.

The Order It Names

The rule names this order itself. What it does about it is a reading, and none is recorded here.

On the Face of the Rule

As filed

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 125 (Wednesday, July 1, 2026)] [Rules and Regulations] [Pages 40136-40287] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 2026-13286]

Vol. 91

Wednesday,

No. 125

July 1, 2026

Part III

Department of Education

34 CFR Parts 600, 668, and 685

Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand-Driven Workforce Pell: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability; Final Rule

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Parts 600, 668, 685

[Docket ID ED-2026-OPE-0100] RIN 1840-AE06

Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand- Driven Workforce Pell: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability

AGENCY

Office of Postsecondary Education, Department of Education.

ACTION

Final rule.

DATES

Effective dates: This rule is effective July 1, 2027, except for instructions 13 and 14, which are effective August 31, 2026.

Implementation dates: For the implementation dates of the regulatory provisions, see the Implementation Date of These Regulations in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Joseph Massman, Office of Postsecondary Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20202. Telephone: (202) 453-7771. Email: [email protected].

If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability and wish to access telecommunications relay services, please dial 7-1-1.

A brief summary of these final regulations is available at www.regulations.gov/docket/ED-2026-OPE-0100.

The fields the Federal Register prints at the head of the rule, quoted as printed. Its summary is quoted above.

Why the Agency Says It Is Doing This

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Table of Contents

I. Abbreviations II. Executive Summary

1. Summary of Major Provisions

2. Summary of Costs and Benefits III. Purpose of this Regulatory Action IV. Background V. Implementation Date of These Regulations VI. Authority for the Regulatory Action VII. Analysis of Public Comment and Changes VIII. Regulatory Analyses

1. Regulatory Planning and Review Including Regulatory Impact Analysis

a. Need for Regulatory Action

b. Summary of Comments and Changes From the NPRM

c. Discussion of Costs, Benefits, and Transfers

d. Accounting Statement

e. Alternatives Considered

2. Regulatory Flexibility Act

3. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

4. Congressional Review Act

Intergovernmental Review

Assessment of Education Impact

Federalism

The passage that opens the rule's preamble, where the agency sets out what it is doing and on what authority. Every heading that follows it is listed below.

What the Rule Contains

Every heading the Federal Register prints in this rule, in the order it prints them. 48 headings, 111,757 words in all.

  1. AGENCYOn its face · 8 words
  2. ACTIONOn its face · 3 words
  3. SUMMARYOn its face · 145 words
  4. DATESOn its face · 42 words
  5. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACTOn its face · 58 words
  6. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATIONPreamble · 2 words
  7. Table of ContentsPreamble · 3 words
  8. I. Abbreviations II. Executive SummaryPreamble · 103 words
  9. I. AbbreviationsPreamble · 254 words
  10. II. Executive SummaryPreamble · 296 words
  11. 1. Summary of Major Provisions of This Regulatory Action General DefinitionsPreamble · 1,379 words
  12. 2. Summary of Costs and Benefits:Preamble · 222 words
  13. III. Purpose of This Regulatory ActionPreamble · 41 words
  14. IV. BackgroundPreamble · 172 words
  15. WFTCA Earnings Accountability FrameworkPreamble · 216 words
  16. V. Implementation Date of These RegulationsPreamble · 228 words
  17. VI. Authority for This Regulatory ActionPreamble · 6,275 words
  18. VII. Analysis of Public Comment and ChangesPreamble · 57,288 words
  19. VIII. Regulatory Impact AnalysesPreamble · 4 words
  20. 1. Regulatory Planning and Review, Including a Regulatory Impact AnalysisPreamble · 1,003 words
  21. 2. Need for Regulatory ActionPreamble · 393 words
  22. 3. Summary of Comments and Changes in the Final RulePreamble · 513 words
  23. 4. Summary of Comments From the NPRMPreamble · 4,576 words
  24. 5. Impact of the Final RegulationPreamble · 677 words
  25. Analytic SamplePreamble · 2,412 words
  26. Methodology for Current Regulation CalculationsPreamble · 1,075 words
  27. Methodology for Final Regulation CalculationsPreamble · 2,251 words
  28. Impact of the Final Regulations on InstitutionsPreamble · 854 words
  29. Impact of the Final Regulations on ProgramsPreamble · 2,219 words
  30. Impact of the Delayed Implementation for Certain ProgramsPreamble · 916 words
  31. Impact on the Cosmetology SectorPreamble · 453 words
  32. 6. Discussion of Costs and BenefitsPreamble · 3,529 words
  33. 7. Net Budget ImpactPreamble · 205 words
  34. Methodology for Net Budget ImpactPreamble · 375 words
  35. Enrollment Growth AssumptionsPreamble · 156 words
  36. Program Performance Transition AssumptionsPreamble · 546 words
  37. Student Response AssumptionsPreamble · 3,229 words
  38. Increased Program Transition BandPreamble · 111 words
  39. Accounting StatementPreamble · 142 words
  40. 8. Alternatives ConsideredPreamble · 4,079 words
  41. 9. Regulatory Flexibility ActPreamble · 2,178 words
  42. 10. Alternatives Considered (Small Entities)Preamble · 273 words
  43. 11. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995Preamble · 4,697 words
  44. 12. Congressional Review ActPreamble · 142 words
  45. FederalismPreamble · 256 words
  46. List of SubjectsRegulatory text · 2,969 words
  47. Subpart Q--Student Tuition and Transparency SystemRegulatory text · 1,931 words
  48. Subpart S--Earnings AccountabilityRegulatory text · 2,753 words

The Rest of the Text

This rule runs to 111,757 words. The rest of it is set out over 5 pages, split at the rule's own headings so that no heading is parted from the words printed under it.

How to cite this
  1. The rule itself

    Education Department, “Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand- Driven Workforce Pell: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability,” 91 FR 40136 (July 1, 2026). Effective July 1, 2027.
    https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/01/2026-13286/accountability-in-higher-education-and-access-through-demand--driven-workforce-pell-student-tuition

  2. This page

    “Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand- Driven Workforce Pell: Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability,” a final rule naming an order indexed here. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/rules/rule-2026-13286/ (retrieved October 10, 2026).

Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.

How This Rule Is Set Out

Federal Register documents are United States government works and are not under copyright, so the rule is here whole rather than cut to an excerpt. It is split at the headings the Register itself prints: the line it is filed under, the captioned fields on its face, the preamble where the agency says what it is doing and why, and the amendments to the Code of Federal Regulations. No passage is shortened. This rule is long enough that its text is set out over 5 pages rather than one.

Two things the Register prints are not reproduced: the running head it repeats at every page break, and the tables it sets as pictures rather than as words. Its own marker for one of those tables, [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED], is left standing where the table was, so a reader can see that something is there and follow the link to the page it is on.

A heading with nothing quoted under it is one the rule prints on its own, with the words that follow it set under the headings beneath.