Distance-education rule should be eased, Education Department says

A report released by the department says a project called the Distance Education Demonstration Program has shown that waiving financial-aid restrictions on distance-education providers did not lead to any problems. The rules were designed to prevent fraudulent correspondence programs from gaining access to federal student-aid money. But the report leaves out details about one instance in which an institution closed down after it took advantage of a rule waiver and was then found to be riddled with fraud.