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Our holiday message arrived! The Department announced in the Federal Register on Friday, before the holiday weekend, that the Secretary proposes to delay until July 1, 2020, the effective date of the final regulations regarding state authorization of distance education that were published December 19, 2016. The reason for proposing a two – year delay […]
Read MoreBreaking news! The 2016 Federal regulations for State Authorization of Distance Education have been delayed. Today we are joined by Cheryl Dowd, Director of WCET’s State Authorization Network (SAN), to discuss what we do know about the delay and provide further information. Thank you Cheryl for today’s post! Enjoy the read and enjoy your day, […]
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Frequently Asked Questions: Overview and Direction of the Regulations The U.S. Department of Education is scheduled to implement state authorization for distance education regulations on July 1, 2018. There is still some uncertainty about whether the Department will implement the regulation and, if they do, what institutions need to do to comply. WCET and its […]
Read MoreWhen passed in 1965, the Higher Education Act (HEA) was intended to “to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education.” Updated or “reauthorized” several times since then, the Act has historically housed most of federal resources and regulations for higher education […]
Read MoreIn February 2018, we had a question submitted through our WCETDiscuss email list about the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. This prompted a discussion of how the reauthorization would or should impact distance education. The original question asked about academic integrity, specifically student identity authentication. Russ Poulin, our Director of Policy and Analysis, answered […]
Read MoreThe Senate is moving ahead with deliberations on its version of a bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act (HEA). Yesterday morning, the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a hearing focusing on “access and innovation.” Much was said about such issues as competency-based education, distance education, accountability, supporting students outside the classroom, and […]
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What a weird year for news. Comic actress Melissa McCarthy won an Emmy Award for her Saturday Night Live portrayal of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. It is hard to say which was more surreal, her version of “Spicey” or the actual twisted logic used by Spicer himself. Here at WCET and the Frontiers […]
Read MoreIn a new bill regarding higher education rules proposed in the House of Representatives: all federal state authorization rules are ended, competency-based education gets a boost with “regular and substantive interaction” being redefined and expanded accreditation oversight, accreditation reviews for distance education are a thing of the past, some confusion remains over distance and online […]
Read MoreThe federal state authorization for distance education regulation released in December 2016 will likely survive a little longer. Late last year, we reported that this federal regulation would likely be a victim of the Congressional Review Act (CRA). That rarely-used Act allows Congress to remove recently released regulations simply by passing a bill through both […]
Read MoreIt has been a busy few days since the U.S. Department of Education released the final version of its “State Authorization of Postsecondary Distance Education, Foreign Locations” regulations. You can see Cheryl Dowd’s and my initial take on the final rules, in which we were fine with many of the provisions, but alarmed at the changes regarding […]
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