Office of Postsecondary Education - U.S. Department of Education

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2010 / Rules and Regulations66935WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with RULES2Section 668.8(k)(1)(ii) will modify aprovision in current regulations toprovide that a program is not subject tothe conversion formula in § 668.8(l)where each course within the programis acceptable for full credit toward adegree that is offered by the institutionand that this degree requires at least twoacademic years of study. Additionally,under § 668.8(k)(1)(ii), the institutionwill be required to demonstrate thatstudents enroll in, and graduate from,the degree program.Section 668.8(k)(2)(i) will provide thata program is considered to be a clockhourprogram if the program must bemeasured in clock hours to receiveFederal or State approval or licensure,or if completing clock hours is arequirement for graduates to apply forlicensure or the authorization topractice the occupation that the studentis intending to pursue. Under§ 668.8(k)(2)(ii) and (iii), the programwill also be considered to be offered inclock hours if the credit hours awardedfor the program are not in compliancewith the definition of a credit hour in§ 600.2, or if the institution does notprovide the clock hours that are thebasis for the credit hours awarded forthe program or each course in theprogram and, except as provided incurrent § 668.4(e), requires attendancein the clock hours that are the basis forthe credit hours awarded. The finalregulations on which tentativeagreement was reached will not includethe provision in § 668.8(k)(2)(iii) that,except as provided in current § 668.4(e),an institution must require attendancein the clock hours that are the basis forthe credit hours awarded.Section 668.8(k)(3) will provide that§ 668.8(k)(2)(i) will not apply if alimited portion of the program includesa practicum, internship, or clinicalexperience component that mustinclude a minimum number of clockhours due to a State or Federal approvalor licensure requirement.We estimate that on average, for eachaffected program it will take .5 hours (30minutes) for an institution to make thedetermination of whether the program isan affected program, to evaluate theamount of outside student work thatshould be included as final and toperform the clock hour to credit hourconversion. We further estimate that ofthe 4,587 institutions of highereducation with less than 2-yearprograms, that on average, eachinstitution has approximately 8 nondegreeprograms of study for a total of36,696 affected programs. We estimatethat there are 16,513 affected programsat proprietary institutions times .5 hours(30 minutes) which will increase burdenby 8,257 hours. We estimate that thereare 1,835 affected programs at privatenon-profit institutions times .5 hours(30 minutes) which will increase burdenby 918 hours. We estimate that there are18,348 affected programs at publicinstitutions times .5 hours (30 minutes)which will increase burden by 9,174hours.Collectively, the final regulatorychanges reflected in § 668.8 willincrease burden by 18,349 hours inOMB Control Number 1845–0022.Section 668.16—Standards ofAdministrative CapabilityUnder the final regulations, theelements of the institution’s satisfactoryacademic progress plan have beenmoved from current § 668.16(e) to§ 668.34. We also have updated theseprovisions. As a result, the estimatedburden upon institutions associatedwith measuring academic progresscurrently in OMB Control Number1845–0022 of 21,000 hours will beadministratively removed from thiscollection and transferred to OMBControl Number 1845–NEW2.Under § 668.16(p), an institution willbe required to develop and followprocedures to evaluate the validity of astudent’s high school completion if theinstitution or the Secretary has reason tobelieve that the high school diploma isnot valid or was not obtained from anentity that provides secondary schooleducation. The burden associated withthis requirement will be mitigated bythe fact that many institutions alreadyhave processes in place to collect highschool diplomas and makedeterminations about their validity.We estimate that burden will increasefor each institution by 3.5 hours for thedevelopment of a high school diplomavalidity process. We estimate that 2,086proprietary institutions will on averagetake 3.5 hours to develop the finalprocedures to evaluate the validity ofhigh school completions, which willincrease burden by 7,301 hours. Weestimate that 1,731 private non-profitinstitutions will on average take 3.5hours to develop the final procedures toevaluate the validity of high schoolcompletion, which will increase burdenby 6,059 hours. We estimate that 1,892public institutions will on average take3.5 hours to develop the finalprocedures to evaluate the validity ofhigh school completion, which willincrease burden by 6,622 hours.Additionally, we estimate that thevalidity of approximately 4,000 highschool diplomas per year will bequestioned and that these diplomas willrequire additional verification, whichwe estimate will take .5 hours (30VerDate Mar2010 14:10 Oct 28, 2010 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00105 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\29OCR2.SGM 29OCR2minutes) per questionable diploma. Weestimate that proprietary institutionswill have 2,000 questionable diplomas,which will result in an estimated 1,000hours of increased burden (2000diplomas multiplied by .5 hours). Weestimate that private non-profitinstitutions will have 600 questionablediplomas, which will result in anestimated 300 hours of increased burden(600 diplomas multiplied by .5 hours).We estimate that public institutions willhave 1,400 questionable, which willresult in an estimated 700 hours ofincreased burden (1400 diplomasmultiplied by .5 hours).Collectively, the final regulatorychanges reflected in § 668.16 willincrease burden by 21,982 hours inOMB Control Number 1845–0022.Section 668.22—Treatment of Title IV,HEA Program Funds When a StudentWithdrawsThe changes to § 668.22(a)(2) clarifywhen a student is considered to havewithdrawn from a payment period orperiod of enrollment. In the case of aprogram that is measured in credithours, the student will be considered tohave withdrawn if he or she does notcomplete all the days in the paymentperiod or period of enrollment that thestudent was scheduled to completeprior to withdrawing. In the case of aprogram that is measured in clockhours, the student will be considered tohave withdrawn if he or she does notcomplete all of the clock hours in thepayment period or period of enrollmentthat the student was scheduled tocomplete prior to withdrawing.Section 668.22(f)(2)(i) clarifies that,for credit hour programs, in calculatingthe percentage of the payment period orperiod of enrollment completed, it isnecessary to take into account the totalnumber of calendar days that thestudent was scheduled to completeprior to withdrawing without regard toany course completed by the studentthat is less than the length of the term.These final regulations will affect allprograms with courses that are less thanthe length of a term, including, forexample, a semester-based program thathas a summer nonstandard term withtwo consecutive six-week sessionswithin the term.We estimate that approximately425,075 students in term-basedprograms with modules or compressedcourses will withdraw prior tocompleting more than 60 percent oftheir program of study. We estimate thaton average, the burden per individualstudent who withdraws prior to the 60percent point of their term-basedprogram to be .75 hours (45 minutes)