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Industry study 19 of 23 · Education Technology Research Companion

Regulation, Privacy & Education Policy

~8,000 words · 3 technical exhibits

Education is one of the most regulated markets a technology company can enter. The customers are often public bodies, the users are often children, the money often comes from government, and the product affects a public good. For an EdTech company, regulation decides who can buy, what data can be collected, how a product can be marketed, whether federal student aid can flow through it, and in some countries whether the business may exist at all. This section covers US student-privacy law (FERPA, COPPA and its 2025 amendments, state laws such as SOPIPA), federal higher-education finance rules (Title IV, 90/10, gainful employment and the 2025 earnings test, incentive compensation and OPMs), accessibility law, European and UK children's data rules, China's 2021 "double reduction", India's coaching rules, and the fast-changing policy on AI in schools.

What the study covers

  1. 1Overview: four kinds of regulation
  2. 2US student privacy
  3. 3US higher-education finance rules
  4. 4Accessibility law
  5. 5Europe and the UK
  6. 6China and India
  7. 7AI policy in education
  8. 8Key numbers
  9. 9Landmark cases
  10. 10Pitfalls
  11. 11How an expert thinks about it
  12. 12Related sections

Technical exhibits

Worked examples, checklists and case studies included with this study.

Student Data Privacy Compliance Checklist

A step-by-step privacy and security checklist for a vendor selling to US schools, including the amended COPPA Rule

Title Iv Accountability Worked Examples

Computed examples of the 90/10 rule before and after the 2021 change, the 2023 gainful-employment debt-to-earnings test and the 2025 earnings-premium test

Global Edtech Regulation Cheat Sheet

One-page tables by jurisdiction: US federal and state, EU, UK, China, India and others, plus AI-in-education policy