March 31, 2023

Over the course of the last month the Department of Education has intensified an effort to make it harder for American colleges and universities to work with online program managers. These companies have played an important role in improving the online education offerings utilized by colleges of all stripes. They’ve provided the expertise and scale that colleges need to keep their coursework vibrant and up to date through online learning – even in the face of budget challenges.

The Department’s new anti-online education regulatory push will endanger the serious progress that’s been made in recent years by placing pressure on online program managers. CASE believes this is a  huge mistake, and we said as much to Department officials in public testimony earlier in March.

We also made our position a part of the public record by submitting a comment to the docket expressing our concerns with the effort. We believe – as we said in our comments and testimony – that the Department has failed to justify this regulatory overreach, that their arguments aren’t supported by data, and that these actions will make online education less vibrant. You can read our comments at this link: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/ED-2023-OPE-0030-0206

Online learning has come a long way. And as we said in our comment, this progress is possible, in large part, because of the powerful innovation driven by online program managers and their work with universities. The results speak for themselves. The underserved are being served.

The Department of Education should not take any actions that undermine this progress.