THE BRIEF
▪ In July 2025 and March 2026, the Department of Education issued new guidance on the 90/10 Rule — both times without a press release. Many operators missed it.
▪ The July 2025 interpretive rule expanded what counts as non-federal revenue:
distance-education programs and off-campus programs now qualify, reversing a 2022 restriction.
▪ The March 2026 Q&A; update lets schools cap enrollment by funding source and simplifies how mixed federal/non-federal grants are treated.
▪ The underlying rule — GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance count as federal funds — has been in force since January 2023 and is not changing.
The Department of Education updated its 90/10 Rule guidance twice in the past year — once in July 2025, once in March 2026 — and neither time issued a press release or Electronic Announcement. Both updates carry real compliance implications. Many operators never saw either one.
The July 2025 interpretive rule (90 FR 29734) reversed a position the Department had held since 2022: revenue from non-Title IV programs delivered through distance education or at unapproved locations can now count toward the non-federal 10%. The statutory text, the Department concluded, contains no distinction based on modality or location. Schools that had been excluding that revenue — and struggling to hit the 10% threshold as a result — may revise prior-year calculations and count it going forward.
ED interpretive rule: distance-education and off-campus non-Title IV program revenue can now count toward the non-federal 10% — reversing a 2022 restriction.
Retroactive revisions to prior-year calculations are allowed.
"Both updates provide real relief on the margins. Neither changes the fundamental shift: GI Bill and DoD benefits are federal funds, and that is not reversing."
The backdrop matters. The American Rescue Plan Act (2021) closed a two-decade loophole under which GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance were treated as non-federal revenue. Starting with fiscal years beginning January 1, 2023, all federal education assistance — from any agency — counts on the 90 side.
A 2014 analysis found 133+ career schools would have failed 90/10 under those rules. Those are now the rules in force, and schools are two full fiscal years into operating under them.
The compliance path is real. Non-Title IV training programs — short credentials, employer-sponsored courses, continuing education — count toward the 10% if the program is state-approved, accredited, or leads to an industry-recognized credential. The 2025 rule makes online delivery of those programs eligible. Genuine private-pay revenue counts. Institutional scholarships from unrelated donors count. What doesn't exist is a passive fix — operators who haven't modeled their current revenue composition by
source, program, and student funding type are making enrollment decisions without knowing their compliance position.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The 90/10 rule change is not coming — it arrived. Every career school has been calculating under the new rules since January 2023. The schools most exposed are those that built their veteran enrollment as a compliance strategy rather than a mission. Strategy takes time. Operators who haven't modeled their revenue gap are making enrollment decisions without knowing their Title IV exposure. That's the risk that turns a fiscal year issue into an eligibility issue.
