Updated: November 2016

APSCU v. Arne Duncan and US Department of Education

Consumer Action joined a wide range of groups in two amicus briefs, in New York and the District of Columbia, urging the courts to uphold the U.S. Department of Education’s gainful employment regulation, which would prevent for-profit colleges from accessing federal student aid if they can’t prove they provide students with adequate tools to find employment. The Association of Proprietary Colleges brought the New York case, and the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities (APSCU) brought the one in DC. In both cases, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was the defendant. In May, U.S. District Court of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan upheld the rules, and in June, Judge John D. Bates of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the DC one. (In June, 2015, the court ruled against the APSCU attempt to block implementation of the rule.)