Your Opportunity to Inform the Department of ED: New Rulemaking Impact on Digital Learning

Another year, another round of U.S. Department of Education Negotiated Rulemaking, and once again, the results could have a big impact on students and the institutions serving them through distance education.

On July 25, 2025, the Department released Public Hearing; Negotiated Rulemaking Committees. Two committees will be formed to develop future regulations affecting Title IV Student Aid programs:

• The Reimagining and Improving Student Education (RISE) Committee will address changes to the Federal student loan programs.
• The Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee will address changes to institutional programmatic accountability, the Pell Grant Program, and other changes to the Title IV, HEA programs.

For our digital learning community, the AHEAD Committee is the one to watch. In this post, we’ll break down the Department’s goals, explain why this matters for you, and highlight how you can get involved.

While the Biden Administration’s higher education focus leaned heavily toward student consumer protection, the current Trump Administration is signaling priorities of accountability and efficiency.

We encourage everyone in our digital learning community to offer their voice through two different opportunities:

1. Submit a written public comment via the Federal eRulemaking portal through August 28, 2025.
   1. Corrected Docket ID: ED-2025-OPE-0151
2. Nominate a negotiator from a designated constituency group listed in the announcement through August 25, 2025.
   1. RISE Committee – email nominations to: nominationsfederalstudentloans@ed.gov
   2. AHEAD Committee – email nominations to: negregnominations@ed.gov [...]