Gainful Employment Information and Reports

The Department of Education (ED) published final regulations on October 29, 2010 related to requirements for institutions to report information about their Gainful Employment (GE) Programs. Under the Higher Education Act, to be eligible to participate in the Title IV student assistance programs, an educational program that does not lead to a degree awarded by a public or non-profit post-secondary institution must lead to gainful employment in a recognized occupation.

All educational programs are GE Programs except for:

  • Programs that lead to a degree – associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s,doctoral, professional;

  • Programs of at least two years in length that are designed to be fully transferable to a bachelor’s degree;

  • Teacher certification course work that does not lead to a certificate awarded by the institution; and

  • Preparatory course work necessary for enrollment in an eligible program.

Thus, any non-degree program for which an institution awards a certificate is a GE Program. We are required to report specific outcomes for these programs on an annual basis when 10 or more graduates complete the program.