Boot Camp for Education Legal Leadership

January 24, 2024 | Duane Morris LLP | The Regulatory Landscape - A Dynamic and Disruptive 12 Months
February 28, 2024 | Duane Morris LLP | Compliance and Best Practices for Catalogs, Publications and Student-Facing Materials
March 20, 2024 | Duane Morris LLP | Plan for Change: Regulations and Guidance with Significant Operational Impact

Webinar Replay

Session 3

March 20, 2024 | Plan for Change: Regulations and Guidance with Significant Operational Impact

About the Program

In this session, we will focus on new guidance and regulations that present risk for institutions, partners and owners, and service providers.

Topics include:

• The status of third-party servicer guidance and potential changes to the incentive compensation bundled services exemption, including their impacts on institutions and service providers.
• The Department’s guidance on entity and individual signature requirements for the institution’s Program Participation Agreement and the implications of those requirements on the entities and individuals required to sign.
• How the revised definition of “nonprofit institution” in the new requirements on changes of ownership may impact many of the novel structures institutions have employed in the past five years.
• Review of the Department’s new regulations governing closed school discharges, including changes regarding automatic discharges, cessation of “most” programs and the impact of approved teach out agreement plans with students.

Presenters

Session 2

February 28, 2024 | Compliance and Best Practices for Catalogs, Publications and Student-Facing Materials

About the Program

The start of the year is an excellent time for institutions to review their policies and establish a review cycle for all of their student-facing publications. In this session, Duane Morris Education attorneys will discuss strategies and best practices for institutions conducting policy, catalog and handbook reviews for the 2023-24 academic year with a focus on the value these materials have in mitigating institutional risk in the current active regulatory climate.

Topics include:

• Catalog compliance and best practices in policy creation, distribution and review cycles, including identifying all of the contributors and stakeholders.
• Understanding the regulatory view of a catalog’s purpose and function versus the role it plays in marketing and admissions.
• Survey of required polices and disclosures and the recommended ones that mitigate risk.
• Common issues in policy development, application and retention.

Presenters

Session 1

January 24, 2024 | The Regulatory Landscape - A Dynamic and Disruptive 12 Months

The slide deck for this event is also available to view (PDF)

About the Program

The past 12 months have been one of the most active in recent memory for the U.S. Department of Education in publishing new regulations and issuing new policy guidance in the area of Title IV, Higher Education Act compliance. Join the Education Industry Group at Duane Morris for review and analysis of these developments and how they impact your institution, both now and in the near future.

Topics include:

• Outcomes of the Department of Education’s negotiated rulemaking sessions that started in 2021 and concluded with Final Rules in 2022 and 2023.
• A dive into the most impactful of the new regulations in the areas of: borrower defense to repayment, financial responsibility, gainful employment, financial value transparency, administrative capability, and certification procedures, as well as how each of these rules affect all institutions, public, private, and nonprofit and proprietary.
• The Biden administration’s progress to date on new 2023-2024 rulemaking topics and guidance, including: accreditation, state authorization, distance education, cash management, and Return to Title IV, plus an update on third party servicer guidance re-issuance expectations.
• The Department of Education’s increasingly aggressive enforcement, fine, investigation and other tactics, and how to avoid – or mitigate damage of – being in the regulatory cross hairs.

Presenters

About the Series

Being part of legal leadership at a college or university requires diverse skills and a broad knowledge of the law. The heavily regulated higher education landscape further requires counsel to stay ahead of complex and changing federal and state rules that affect everything from student life to financial aid and beyond. Join Duane Morris for the first session of our webinar series for legal leadership and general counsel on effective legal strategies to meet the critical challenges that institutions of higher education – public, private, large and small – all face in an increasingly strict regulatory environment. The pressure has never been greater than now as, in addition to regulatory concerns, educational institutions have to address the needs of different constituents: students, administrators, instructors and faculty, boards of trustees and alumni – all while under intense scrutiny to demonstrate value to the public.

Our seminar series is designed to help current and future legal leadership and general counsel in higher education understand the business and regulatory challenges in the industry – including an analysis of the Department of Education’s agenda – develop strategic plans that advance your institution’s goals.

About Duane Morris LLP

Duane Morris LLP, a law firm with more than 900 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally, is asked by a broad array of clients to provide innovative solutions to today’s legal and business challenges.

For years, Duane Morris has served all sectors of education, along with the various businesses that support them. Our attorneys provide these organizations with deep experience and trusted guidance regarding complex issues that impact school decision-making on operations, finances and strategic planning for the future.