A federal appeals court has upheld an Obama administration rule that would make for-profit colleges more accountable for the amount of debt their students take on, according to news site Inside Higher Ed.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. struck a blow to the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities by upholding a lower court ruling rejecting the association's lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education's "gainful employment" rule, which ties federal student aid to the ability of students to find employment after they graduate from college.

The rule is largely aimed at for-profit colleges, which critics allege charge exorbitant tuitions while overselling the value of the degrees they award. APSCU had previously challenged a similar rule and convinced a federal judge in 2012 to strike down key provisions in the regulation.

Federal officials went back to the drawing board and in 2014 released a revised gainful employment rule based on input from the court decision. APSCU once again sued. However, this time the appeals court ruled that the association's case was "unconvincing" given the federal government had addressed the earlier concerns of the courts. http://bit.ly/1XcQANg

In a statement, APSCU CEO Steve Gunderson said his group has hoped that "the era of overregulation and litigation would give way to a public-private partnership focused on giving Americans the occupational skills they need to succeed in the workforce."

"Judging an academic program by a debt-to-income ratio does not define academic quality," he said. "If it did, many programs all across higher education would fail. This sector is very different today than it was when the Department published its first gainful employment regulation years ago." http://bit.ly/1RRs3ff

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