US judge invalidates federal rule governing college vocational programs

Our take: Judge Rudolph Contreras found that the department had failed to justify only one of its three standards for judging vocational programs a day before the federal government's controversial new rules governing vocational programs were set to take effect.

A day before the federal government's controversial new rules governing vocational programs were set to take effect, a federal judge on Saturday invalidated one of its key elements, blocking enforcement of much of the regulatory framework.

The ruling by Judge Rudolph Contreras, which came just days after the Education Department released its first set of data produced by the new regulations, largely upheld the Education Department's legal right to craft new regulations aimed at ensuring that vocational programs prepare students for "gainful employment," saying that the agency had "set out to address a serious policy problem, regulating pursuant to a reasonable interpretation of its statutory authority."

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/07/02/us-judge-invalidates-federal-rule-governing-college-vocational-programs#ixzz1zVNhOZYn

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