Additionally, agencies must meet one of the following criteria:. Agencies that meet the first or third criterion listed above must also be administratively and financially separate and independent of any related trade association or membership organization.
All types of accrediting agencies must show that they consistently apply and enforce standards that ensure that the education programs, training, or courses of study offered by an IHE are of sufficient quality to meet the stated objectives for which the programs, training, or courses are offered. The standards used by the accrediting agencies must assess student achievement in relation to the institution's mission; this may include course completion, job placement rates, and passage rates of state licensing exams.
Agencies must also consider curricula, faculty, facilities, fiscal and administrative capacity, student support services, and admissions practices. Accrediting agencies must also meet requirements that focus on the review of an institution's operating procedures, including reviewing an institution's policies and procedures for determining credit hours, the application of those policies and procedures to programs and coursework, and reviewing any newly established branch campuses.
The final component of the program integrity triad is eligibility and certification by ED. Here, ED is responsible for verifying an institution's legal authority to operate within a state and its accreditation status. ED also evaluates an institution's financial responsibility and administrative capability to administer Title IV student aid programs. An institution can be certified to participate in Title IV for up to six years before applying for recertification.
ED determines an IHE's financial responsibility based on its ability to provide the services described in its official publications, to administer the Title IV programs in which it participates, and to meet all of its financial obligations. Even if an institution meets the above requirements, ED does not consider it financially responsible if the IHE does not meet third-party financial audit requirements or if the IHE violated past performance requirements, such as failing to satisfactorily resolve any compliance issues identified in program reviews or audits.
Alternatively, if an institution does not meet the above standards of financial responsibility, ED may still consider it financially responsible or give it provisional certification, under which it may operate for a time, if it qualifies under an alternative standard. Along with demonstrating financial responsibility, an institution must demonstrate its ability to properly administer the Title IV programs in which it participates and to provide the education it describes in public documents e.
Administrative capability focuses on the processes, procedures, and personnel used in administering Title IV funds and indicators of student success.
Administrative capability standards address numerous aspects of Title IV administration. For example, to administer Title IV programs an institution must use ED's electronic processes 80 and develop a system to identify and resolve discrepancies in Title IV information received by various institutional offices.
The IHE must also refer cases of Title IV student fraud or criminal misconduct to ED's Office of Inspector General for resolution, and it must provide all enrolled and prospective students financial aid counseling.
Finally, the IHE must have an adequate internal system of checks and balances that includes dividing the functions of authorizing payments and disbursing funds between two separate offices. Institutions are required to have a capable staff member to administer Title IV programs and coordinate those programs with other aid received by students. Before receiving Title IV funds, an IHE must certify that neither it nor its employees have been debarred or suspended by a federal agency; similar limitations apply to lenders, loan servicers, and third-party servicers.
Relating to indicators of student success, an institution must have satisfactory academic progress SAP standards for students receiving Title IV funds. In general, IHEs must develop SAP standards that establish a minimum grade point average or its equivalent for students and a maximum time frame in which students must complete their educational programs.
An institution may be deemed administratively incapable if it has a high cohort default rate CDR. In general, the CDR is the number of an IHE's federal loan recipients who enter repayment in a given fiscal year the cohort fiscal year and who default within a certain period of time after entering repayment cohort default period; CDP , divided by the total number of borrowers who entered repayment in the cohort fiscal year. ED may grant provisional certification for up to three years to an institution that would be deemed administratively capable except for its high cohort default rates.
If an institution is seeking initial certification, ED can grant it up to one year of provisional certification. ED can also grant an institution provisional certification for up to three years if ED is determining the IHE's administrative capacity and financial responsibility for the first time, if the IHE has experienced a partial or total change in ownership, or if ED determines that the administrative or financial condition of the IHE may hinder its ability to meet its financial responsibilities.
Additionally, if an accrediting agency loses its ED recognition, any institution that was accredited by that agency may continue to participate in Title IV programs for up to 18 months after ED's withdrawal of recognition. To ensure that an institution is conforming to eligibility requirements, ED can conduct program reviews. During a program review, ED evaluates an institution's compliance with Title IV requirements and identifies actions the IHE must take to correct any problem s.
Review priority is given to those institutions with high cohort default rates; IHEs with significant fluctuations in Pell Grant awards or Direct Loan volume that are not accounted for by changes in programs offered; IHEs that are reported to have deficiencies or financial aid problems by their state or accrediting agency; IHEs with high annual dropout rates; 91 and IHEs determined by ED to pose a significant risk of failing to comply with the administrative capability or financial responsibility requirements.
ED has the authority to impose a variety of sanctions and corrective actions on an institution that violates Title IV program rules, a Program Participation Agreement discussed later in this report or any other agreement made under the laws or regulations, or if it substantially misrepresents the nature of its educational programs, financial charges, or graduates' employability.
Sanctions include fines, limitations, suspensions, emergency actions, and terminations. ED can also sanction third-party servicers performing tasks related to the institution's Title IV programs.
ED may impose several types of sanctions on institutions for statutory and regulatory violations, including fines, limitations, and suspensions.
Under a limitation, ED imposes specific conditions or restrictions on an institution related to its administration of Title IV funds. A limitation lasts for at least 12 months, and if an institution fails to abide by the limitation, ED may initiate a termination proceeding. Finally, under a suspension, an institution is not allowed to participate in Title IV programs for up to 60 days. Each of these sanctions may require an institution to take corrective actions as well, which may include repaying illegally used funds or making payments to eligible students from the IHE's own funds.
ED can take emergency action to withhold Title IV funds from an institution if it receives reliable information that an IHE is violating applicable laws or regulations, agreements, or limitations. ED must determine that the institution is misusing federal funds, that immediate action is necessary to stop misuses, and that the potential losses outweigh the importance of using established procedures for limitation, suspension, or termination.
An emergency action suspends an institution's participation in Title IV programs and prohibits it from disbursing such funds.
Typically, the emergency action may not last more than 30 days. The final action ED can take is the termination of an institution's participation in Title IV programs.
Generally, an institution that has had its participation terminated cannot reapply to be reinstated for at least 18 months. To request reinstatement, an institution must submit a fully completed application to ED and demonstrate that it has corrected the violation s for which its participation was terminated. ED may then approve, approve subject to limitations, or deny the institution's request. Several other requirements affect institutional eligibility for Title IV programs. Some of these requirements include institution Program Participation Agreements, which include provisions related to incentive compensation and campus crime reporting requirements; return of Title IV funds; and distance education.
The failure to meet the requirements for any of these may result in the loss of Title IV eligibility or other sanctions. A PPA is a document in which the institution agrees to comply with the laws, regulations, and policies applicable to the Title IV programs; it applies to an IHE's branch campuses and locations that meet Title IV requirements, as well as its main campus.
By signing a PPA, an institution agrees that it will act as a fiduciary responsible for properly administering Title IV funds, will not charge students a processing fee to determine a student's eligibility for such funds, and will establish and maintain administrative and fiscal procedures to ensure the proper administration of Title IV programs.
The PPA reiterates many provisions required for institutional eligibility and ED certification discussed earlier in this report and contains several additional notable requirements that may affect an IHE's Title IV eligibility, which are described below. Along with the general participation requirements with which an institution must comply, a PPA may also contain institution-specific requirements.
Rather, it is placed on a provisional eligibility status for two years. In a PPA, an IHE must agree it will not provide any commission or incentive compensation to individuals based directly or indirectly on their success in enrolling students or the enrolled students' obtaining financial aid; however, some exceptions apply to this general rule.
For instance, IHEs can provide incentive compensation to individuals for the recruitment of foreign students who are ineligible to receive Title IV funds or they can provide incentive compensation through a profit-sharing plan. The ban on incentive compensation only applies to the activities of securing enrollment recruitment and securing financial aid. Other activities are not banned, and ED draws a distinction between activities that involve directly working with individual students and policy-level determinations that affect recruitment and financial aid awards.
For instance, an individual who is responsible for contacting potential student applicants or assisting students in filling out an enrollment application cannot receive incentive compensation, but an individual who conducts marketing activities, such as the broad dissemination of informational brochures or the collection of contact information, can receive incentive compensation.
Both the campus crime statistics and campus safety and security policies must be compiled and disseminated to current and prospective students and employees in an IHE's annual security report ASR. Campus crime statistics required to be reported to ED and included in an ASR include data on the occurrence on campus of a range of offenses specified in statute, including murder, burglary, robbery, domestic violence, rape, and other forms of sexual violence.
In addition to campus crime statistics, ASRs must include statements of campus safety and security policies regarding, for example,. An ASR must also include statements of policies specifically relating to incidence of domestic and sexual violence. For example, an ASR must include statements of policy regarding. The Clery Act prohibits the Secretary of Education from requiring IHEs to adopt particular policies, procedures, or practices; and prohibits retaliation against anyone exercising his or her rights or responsibilities under the act.
In general, when a student withdraws from an IHE, an IHE first determines the portion of Title IV aid considered to be "earned" by the student while enrolled and the portion considered to be "unearned.
Generally, distance education and correspondence education refers to educational instruction with a separation in time, place, or both between the student and instructor. It is a way in which institutions can increase student access to postsecondary education by offering alternatives to traditional on-campus instruction. Recently, due to the greater availability of new technologies, there has been substantial growth in the amount and types of courses institutions offer.
Section 7 A and B of the HEA and the accompanying regulations define distance education as instruction that uses " 1 the internet; 2 one-way and two-way transmissions through open broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber optics, satellite, or wireless communications devices; [or] A course taught through a video cassette, DVD, or CD-ROM is considered a distance education course if one of the above-mentioned technologies is used to support student-instructor interaction.
Regardless of the technology used, "regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor" must be ensured. Have demonstrated financial need.
Not have been convicted for any illegal drug offense while receiving federal financial aid funds. Financial aid must not exceed Cost of Attendance. Citizen or eligible non resident. Net Price Calculator. The Guide to Federal Student Aid. Financial aid professionals can use this information center to answer questions such as: Who is eligible for federal direct consolidated loans?
What are the consolidation requirements? What is my school's role in consolidation? What are the benefits to borrowers? How does consolidation affect a borrower's loan limits and my school's default ratio?
How do I demo the exit counseling session? Direct Loan Origination Online System. Report Fraud. Printable view. How Do I Find Information About
0コメント