US Education Department Proposes Earnings-Based Accountability for Higher Ed, Threatening Arts Programs

The Department of Education has rolled out a new system called the Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) along with the Earnings Accountability rule. This initiative will assess higher education programs based on the salaries of their graduates. If a program fails to meet the earnings benchmarks for two out of three years, it could lose access to federal student loans, including Pell Grants and Direct Loans. The criteria will now compare graduates' incomes to the median earnings of those aged 25 to 35 with bachelor’s degrees, rather than those with just high school diplomas, and it eliminates the debt-to-earnings ratio. Critics argue this could adversely affect arts and humanities programs. Notably, elite programs like Yale's visual arts and Juilliard’s music might struggle. The Association of American Universities, representing schools like Harvard and Columbia, has voiced strong concerns about the impact on fields that benefit society but may not be reflected in salaries. The Education Department has gathered nearly 8,800 public comments, with a deadline set for July to finalize the rules.