11. Department of Education · Notable
Clarify 'regular and substantive interaction' by regulation
Printed page 356 11. Department of Education
“New regulations should clarify the definition and requirements of regular and substantive interaction for competency-based education, as well as for online programs.”
What has happened
- Not started
No rulemaking in the window defines or clarifies "regular and substantive interaction" for competency-based or online education. A Federal Register full-text search of the phrase since 2025-01-20 returns one document, and it is a Department of Veterans Affairs proposed rule on state approving agency jurisdiction. The Department's own higher-education rulemakings in the window are about loans, repayment, Workforce Pell, earnings accountability and accreditation: the RISE final rule cited here is the largest of them and does not touch the definition, and no distance-education entry appears on the Department's active Unified Agenda.
Research log
What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence
Research notes
- Federal Register searches, published 2025-01-20 or later, all types: “regular and substantive interaction” — 1 document (VA, FR 2025-16836, 2025-09-03). “competency-based education” — 3 documents, all Secretary’s supplemental grant priorities. “distance education”, limited to the Education Department — 28 documents, all accreditation notices, grant competitions or Workforce Pell rules.
- Unified Agenda (reginfo.gov, the Education Department’s 19 active entries on 2026-08-28): no distance education or competency-based education entry.
- Action
- issue
- Object
- Regular and substantive interaction regulation for competency-based education
- ID
- 898