The Higher Education Act (HEA) requires that all career education programs receiving federal student aid “prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.” The HEA does not define “gainful employment,” but in 2014 the Education Department adopted the gainful employment (GE) rule providing a definition of how career training programs could demonstrate they met this requirement. As issued in 2014, the federal GE rule provided a safeguard against career education programs leaving their graduates with debts that were unaffordable relative to their eventual incomes, while also providing prospective students with key information about program costs and outcomes.
This new TICAS fact sheet provides an overview of the GE Rule and why it’s important to advance equity in higher education.
