The Department of Education (DOE) Financial Value Transparency (FVT) and Gainful Employment (GE) regulations went into effect July 1, 2024.  

The goal is to enhance transparency by collecting and providing information about financial costs, student aid, and earnings at nearly all academic programs. Title IV-eligible institutions are required to submit extensive program data and student-level data by October 1, 2024.

Survey Purpose

Acknowledging that this is a huge undertaking for our member institutions, WAICU has initiated a partnership with CampusWorks, a provider of technology solutions and consulting services tailored specifically for higher education institutions. Together, we launched a survey in June on institutions’ readiness for FVT/GE federal reporting regulations to better understand the challenges and come up with appropriate supporting services.  

Overall, we received 54 responses from 21 WAICU-member institutions. Survey respondents work at various departments on campus, including the Financial Aid Office, Registrar, Institutional Research, and Information Technology (IT).  

Survey Outcomes

Three quarters of survey respondents said they are Moderately Familiar (rating 3 out of 5) and Very Familiar (rating 4 out of 5) with the reporting, which indicates staff at WAICU institutions have actively made attempts to educate themselves with this very new yet complex reporting requirement.  

However, the level of preparedness is starkly low across most departments. One reason is that the amount of data required is enormous, tracing back two to eight cohorts. In addition, the lack of clarity and guidance from DOE, coupled with a very short turnaround time less than a year from the official passing date of this requirement to the deadline to submit data, made it extremely difficult for institutions to navigate and plan forward.  

Respondents indicated several resources that could be helpful:

• Printed materials and guidelines
• Workshops and seminars
• Online training courses
• Consultant support

The survey summary report will be sent out to participating WAICU presidents soon. WAICU is collaborating with CampusWorks in organizing a September webinar to present services that can support WAICU members who will meet this year’s and future reporting deadlines.