Trump-McMahon Ed Dept. Repeals Gainful Employment, Levels Playing Field for Veteran Students
After years of regulatory favoritism that spoke down to military members and veterans and devalued their earned education benefits, the Trump administration is finally releveling the playing field, National Defense Committee executive director Bob Carey writes in a new op-ed for Stripes & Stripes.
Last month the U.S. Department of Education concluded the AHEAD negotiated rulemaking. The committee reached consensus on new accountability standards, which will apply to all colleges and universities—not just a select few.
The committee unanimously agreed to repeal the Gainful Employment Rule—a selective, discriminatory regulation designed to target career colleges—and replace it with a new “earnings premium” test.
The regulatory reset levels the playing field for all types of post-secondary institutions to compete and innovate, while allowing military and veteran students to more freely use their earned education benefits at schools that best meet their learning and career goals.
“After more than 15 years of regulatory uncertainty under the previous three Administrations, we’ve developed an accountability framework that institutions can work with, students will benefit from, and taxpayers can rightfully expect to improve outcomes,” Under Secretary Nicholas Kent said. “We look forward to holding all programs—across all postsecondary institutions—accountable.”
On paper, the Gainful Employment Rule was meant to police schools that failed to prepare students for careers but saddled them with high debt. But in truth, it was a hammer to drive proprietary schools into the ground and protect the market share of conventional public, private, and state-run colleges and universities.
The Education Department’s new earnings premium test—which was required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—eliminates the regulatory bias. It requires all programs to show their worth, or risk losing eligibility for federal student aid.
President Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon pledged to restore educational control with students and their families—not bureaucrats in Washington. The Department’s actions to replace Gainful Employment is a major first step to deliver on that promise, and the administration is not done yet.
Late last month, Secretary McMahon announced the Department of Education will initiate another rulemaking later this spring to review college accreditors—opaque and Byzantine organizations that license post-secondary programs. Like the AHEAD committee, the review should create objective standards to verify the accreditation system truly reflects’ schools value to students, rather than protect the status quo.
President Trump and Secretary McMahon pledged to restore value to higher education, and they are making good on that commitment. The administration deserves high recognition for refocusing the Department of Education on what matters—preparing students to succeed and lead in a highly competitive economy—and setting clear and universal rules that allow colleges and universities, of every kind, to provide a high-quality education.
Read Capt. Carey’s full op-ed here.
