Accountability Definitions

Section 84001 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025, modified the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). Proposed regulations stemming from the OBBBA require updates to several regulatory sections. Burden for these sections can be found spread across many currently approved information collection packages. On January 30, 2026, the Department published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) titled Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) (91 FR 4254) revising 34 CFR Part 685. Specifically, the RISE NPRM proposed to add several new definitions under §685.102: expected time to credential, graduate student, professional student and program length. The OBBBA accountability framework also proposes amending §685.102 by adding new definitions: eligible non-GE program and gainful employment program (GE program). Due to the timing of these regulatory packages, the Department is requesting approval of a new collection to define eligible non-GE program and gainful employment program (GE program). Once regulations are final, the Department will merge 1845-0190 with 1845-0021 William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (DL) Regulations so the burden for §685.102 stays within one information collection without compromising the public’s review of proposed rules and burden of the new accountability framework. This way, all regulations proposed by changes from the OBBBA can be put out for public comment and OMB approval, as we are unable to propose regulatory changes to §685.102 in two separate NPRMs.

The latest form for Accountability Definitions expires 2029-08-31 and is listed under ICR 202607-1845-002.

View the official OMB control history on Reginfo.gov.

Accountability Definitions - For Profit

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Education - Higher Education