Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #119 - Release of the 2019 GE Disclosure Template

Author
Federal Student Aid
Subject
Gainful Employment Electronic Announcement #119 - Release of the 2019 GE Disclosure Template

We are announcing the release of the 2019 Gainful Employment (GE) Disclosure Template. Institutions will have until July 1, 2019 to update disclosures for each of their Gainful Employment (GE) programs, using the 2019 GE Disclosure Template, and post the disclosures to program webpages.

The 2019 GE Disclosure Template has been simplified and streamlined from previous versions, providing the data that we believe are especially meaningful to students while reducing administrative burden for schools. It now includes:

  • Normal time to complete the program
  • Total program costs if completing the program within normal time (including tuition and fees plus books, supplies, and equipment; excluding room, board, or other expenses)
  • Median cumulative debt for Title IV students completing the program within normal time (including Federal, private, and institutional debt)
  • Licensure information for the program’s target occupation
  • URL for the College Scorecard
  • Warning language if required under 34 CFR 668.410

Unlike with previous templates, the 2019 GE Disclosure Template is not a web-based application. It will not generate a completed template for institutions. Instead, institutions may copy the provided text and fill in the information for their GE program(s), fill in the relevant data elements, and post the completed disclosure template to each relevant program webpage. Please ensure that when posting the GE template, the information is clearly available on the program website.

Any web page containing academic, cost, financial aid, or admissions information about a GE program must include the GE Disclosure Template for that program or a prominent, readily accessible, clear, conspicuous, and direct link to the program’s disclosure template.

Availability of the 2019 GE Disclosure Template

The 2019 GE Disclosure Template is available on the following web page:

https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/ge-template.html

Student Warnings

Under the GE regulations, institutions must provide warnings for programs that could become ineligible for Title IV aid based on the next round of final D/E rates. Loss of eligibility results after receiving overall “fail” ratings in any two (2) out of three (3) consecutive award years for which rates are calculated or after receiving a combination of “fail” and “zone” ratings for four (4) consecutive award years for which rates were calculated. Warning requirements are temporarily suspended for programs with an alternate earnings appeal currently under consideration. Following the first year of D/E rates, warnings are required for programs with an overall “fail” rating for their 2014-2015 rates without a pending earnings appeal. Following the withdrawal or rejection of a program’s appeal, an institution has 30 days to revise its GE Disclosures to include the warning.

Bulk Uploads

The new text-based format makes the use of a separate Bulk Upload Tool unnecessary. Institutions will be able to efficiently compile program information and upload it to their program webpage(s) without the use of a multi-step web-based tool.

Distribution of the GE Disclosure Template

On June 18, 2018 we published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that the Department would allow additional time, until July 1, 2019, for institutions to comply with 34 CFR 668.412(d) and (e). These provisions require inclusion of the GE Disclosure Template in all promotional materials, and direct distribution of the disclosure template to prospective students. It is important to note that this additional time is not applicable to student warnings. More information on the requirement to include the disclosure template information in all promotional materials and directly distribute the information to students will be provided in an upcoming Electronic Announcement.

Contact Information

The new text-based disclosure format will eliminate the need to contact the Department for assistance with technical issues on the Gainful Employment Disclosure Template. Schools will only need to work with their web team to figure out how to post the data to their website.

If there are any policy questions about the gainful employment disclosure requirements, please submit those questions to the GE Questions mailbox at GE-Questions@ed.gov.