News & Publications

The Department of Education has withdrawn its directive to deny federal financial aid eligibility to California students enrolled in online courses offered by out-of-state public and nonprofit universities. Putting an end to a crisis that jeopardized access to Title IV to 80,000 California students, on Friday, Acting Under Secretary of Education Diane Auer-Jones wrote to the head of the California Department of Consumer Affairs informing him that ED is withdrawing its directive to deny federal [...]

For nearly a decade, the U.S Department of Education (ED) has worked to formulate a rule addressing when institutions with distance education programs must be authorized by the states in which they enroll online students. Though simple in concept, crafting the "State Authorization Rule" has proven complex and controversial, as evidenced by a series of rulemakings, multiple lawsuits, and abundant, public criticism. Most recently, an interpretation of the rule threatened to render online students in [...]

Contrary to its name, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act resulted in a tax increase for certain entities. For example, certain well-endowed private universities and colleges are now subject to a 1.4% excise tax on their net investment income. This tax increase is set forth in Section 4968 of the Internal Revenue Code, and it generally applies to private universities that at the end of their prior taxable year (a) had at least 500 full-time, [...]