New on WCET Frontiers
Policy
New Federal Aid Rules Drop Proposed Change to “Distance Education” & Expand Pell Grants to Incarcerated Students
Published by: Lindsey Downs | 11/2/2022
Image by David Mark from Pixabay ‘Tis the season for all things pumpkin, brisk mornings, and the release of new U.S. Department of Education final regulations! WCET and the State Authorization Network (SAN) have been closely following and reporting about […]
Policy
Intention to Initiate Federal Rulemaking Announced
Published by: Lindsey Downs | 5/27/2021
This week we saw the start of what we have been expecting from the new administration – new rulemaking. Experts have shared for months that the Biden Administration and the Department of Education have prioritized several issues to address including: […]
Policy
Federal Distance/Digital Actions of the Outgoing Administration and Congress
Published by: Lindsey Rae Downs | 1/28/2021
Since the inauguration, we have been very focused on what Jed Bartlett would say is “what’s next?” WCET Frontiers will be publishing a great deal in the weeks to come about the priorities of the new Biden Administration. However, today […]
Practice
Financial Aid Basics
Published by: Lindsey Rae Downs | 11/19/2020
The following special topic paper originally appeared in the publication Pursuing Regulatory Compliance for Digital Instruction in Response to Covid-19: Policy Playbook, which was published by the Every Learner Everywhere Network and develop and edited by WCET. The Playbook gives […]
Practice
Did Your Course Go Digital Due to COVID-19? Playbook Advises on Regulations When Making the Switch
Published by: Lindsey Rae Downs | 11/4/2020
The spring 2020 term saw an unprecedented response to an unprecedented challenge as virtually every U.S. higher education institution offering face-to-face instruction rapidly switched to remote instruction, many in as little as one to two weeks and some in a […]
Practice
Another Magical July 1 – Federal Regulations Now in Effect
Published by: Lindsey Rae Downs | 7/16/2020
July 1 is that magical day when Federal Regulations affecting institutions that participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs become effective for regulations that were released by the U.S. Department of Education by November 1 of last year. The […]
Practice
Professional Licensure Student Disclosures – It’s the One Month Warning, with No Time-outs Remaining
Published by: Lindsey Rae Downs | 5/29/2020
Winning Isn’t Everything, but Wanting to Win is! – Vince Lombardi Excitement is in the air! There’s two minutes left in the game! You have the ball with no time outs left! What are you going to do? It is […]
Practice
Update on Federal Regulations Impacting Distance Education During the Pandemic
Published by: Lindsey Rae Downs | 5/22/2020
In Harold Ramis’ 1993 classic, Groundhog Day, Bill Murray portrays a television weatherman sent to cover Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day who ends up repeating the day over and over again. At first, Murray’s character, Phil Connors, uses the time […]
Practice
New Regulations Review #2: Credit Hour, Title IV Eligibility, & What Exactly is a Week?
Published by: Lindsey Rae Downs | 4/6/2020
On April 1st, the Department of Education finally released the last set of regulations from its epic 2019 negotiated rulemaking process. On April 3rd WCET posted an analysis of proposed changes to the definition of distance education including (finally) a […]
Practice
Accreditation, Continuity of Operations, and COVID-19
Published by: Lindsey Rae Downs | 3/12/2020
On March 5, 2020, the Department of Education issued guidance to institutions facing possible interruptions of study because of COVID-19. WCET’s Cheryl Dowd, Director of the WCET State Authorization Network, provided an overview of the guidance for WCET Frontiers. As […]