Sen. Alexander Vows to Block New Obama Education Regulations - SOPHIE QUINTON, National Journal

The head of the Senate committee in charge of education legislation said Tuesday that he'd like to block two of the Obama administration's key efforts to ensure colleges serve students well. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, said at a National Journal event that he doubts the Education Department will ever figure out how to design a college-ratings system. The Education Department is supposed to release the ratings this fall. "I don't think they have the capacity to do it," Alexander said, reminding the standing-room-only crowd that he used to run the agency. If the Education Department does create such a system, Alexander said he'd try to stop it through legislation. Information about colleges and universities is already widely available, he said. Alexander also said he'd like to block the Obama administration's gainful-employment rule. The regulation, which goes into effect next month, sanctions career colleges when their graduates carry more student loan debt than they can repay. "The reason I object to it is it's horrendously complicated," Alexander said of the gainful-employment rule. http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-america/education/sen-alexander-vows-to-block-new-obama-education-regulations-20150609