Chairman Walberg: Final Rule Ensures Higher Education Delivers Value

Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) released the following statement after the Department of Education announced its final rule implementing the accountability provisions of the Working Families Tax Cuts (WFTC):
 
"Today's final rule delivers on one of the most significant higher education accountability reforms in a generation. For too long, taxpayer dollars flowed to programs that left too many students worse off financially than if they had never enrolled in the first place. That is unacceptable for students, families, and taxpayers.
 
"Unlike the Biden-Harris administration, which targeted institutions based on tax status, this final rule holds every program to the same common-sense standard: whether graduates earn more because of the education they received.
 
"Higher education should open doors to opportunity, not leave students worse off than when they started. This rule helps ensure taxpayer dollars support programs that put students on a path to success."
 
BACKGROUND
The Committee’s policies included in the Working Families Tax Cuts saved $284 billion. Included in these savings are reforms to ensure higher education delivers value.
 
Hundreds of billions of taxpayer funds flow to postsecondary education every year, and many degrees provide little value while leaving graduates with enormous debt. The WFTC ensures colleges have a stake in students’ success with a “do no harm” measure of postgraduate earnings. The legislation:

• Prohibits student loans from paying for undergraduate programs in which most graduates make less than the average student with a high school diploma in the same state. 
• Prohibits student loans from paying for graduate programs in which most graduates make less than the average student with a bachelor’s degree in the same field of study and state.
• Removes loan eligibility from a program if it fails to meet the earnings standard for two years in a three-year period.
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