On June 18, 2018, the Department of Education published a Notice in the Federal Register that allowed additional time, until July 1, 2019, for institutions to comply with the requirements of the Gainful Employment (GE) regulations in 34 CFR 668.412 (d) and (e). In this electronic announcement, we remind institutions that they will soon need to comply with these provisions. Specifically, beginning on July 1, 2019, affected institutions will be required to provide a prospective student or a third party acting on behalf of the prospective student, as a separate document, a copy of the disclosure template before the prospective student signs an enrollment agreement, completes registration, or makes a financial commitment to the institution.
In addition, all promotional materials made available by or on behalf of an institution to prospective students that identify a GE program by name, or otherwise promote the program, must include the disclosure template in a prominent manner. In cases where space or airtime constraints would preclude providing the disclosure template, an institution must include the Web address (URL) of, or the direct link to, the disclosure template. That URL or link must be prominent, readily accessible, clear, conspicuous, and direct.
In complying with these requirements, institutions may provide the disclosure template to the prospective student or third party by hand-delivering the disclosure template to the prospective student or third party individually, as part of a group presentation, or sending the disclosure template to the primary email address used by the institution for communicating with the prospective student or third party about the program.
If an institution chooses to hand-deliver the disclosure template to the prospective student or third party, it must obtain written confirmation from the prospective student or third party that the prospective student or third party received a copy of the disclosure template.
If an institution instead chooses to send the disclosure template to the prospective student or third party by email, the institution must ensure that the disclosure template is the only substantive content in the email; receive electronic or other written acknowledgement from the prospective student or third party that the prospective student or third party received the email; send the disclosure template using a different address or method of delivery if the institution receives a response that the email could not be delivered; and maintain records of its efforts to provide the disclosure template required under this section.
For purposes of these regulatory requirements, promotional materials include, but are not limited to, an institution's catalogs, invitations, flyers, billboards, and advertising on or through radio, television, print media, the Internet, and social media. We remind institutions that they must ensure that all promotional materials, including printed materials, about a GE program are accurate and current at the time they are published, approved by a State agency, or broadcast.
Additionally, institutions must continue to comply with the requirements in 34 CFR 668.412(a), (b), and (c) to distribute disclosures regarding their GE programs using the approved disclosure template provided by the Department. Please see GE Electronic Announcement # 119 for the 2019 GE Disclosure Template.