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

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2010 / Rules and Regulations66971CHART A—STATE AUTHORIZATION REQUIREMENTS[Meets state authorization requirements*]Legal entity Entity description Approval or licensure processEducational institution ..................Business .......................................Charitable organization ................A public, private nonprofit, or for-profit institution establishedby name by a State through a charter,statute, or other action issued by an appropriateState agency or State entity as an educational institutionauthorized to operate educational programsbeyond secondary education, including programsleading to a degree or certificate.A for-profit entity established by the State on thebasis of an authorization or license to conductcommerce or provide services.A nonprofit entity established by the State on thebasis of an authorization or license for the publicinterest or common good.The institution must comply with any applicable Stateapproval or licensure process and be approved orlicensed by name, and may be exempted fromsuch requirement based on its accreditation, orbeing in operation at least 20 years, or use bothcriteria.The State must have a State approval or licensureprocess, and the institution must comply with theState approval or licensure process and be approvedor licensed by name.An institution in this category may not be exemptedfrom State approval or licensure based on accreditation,years in operation, or a comparable exemption.*Notes:• Federal, tribal, and religious institutions are exempt from these requirements.• A State must have a process, applicable to all institutions except tribal and Federal institutions, to review and address complaints directly orthrough referrals.• The chart does not take into requirements related to State reciprocity.WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with RULES2To maintain the State’s role in studentconsumer protection and handling studentcomplaints related to State laws, we haverevised § 668.43(b) to provide that aninstitution must make available to studentsor prospective students contact informationfor not only the State approval or licensingentities but also any other relevant Stateofficial or agency that would appropriatelyhandle a student’s complaint.Finally, we have clarified the meaning ofa religious institution for the applicability ofthe religious exemption. We also haveexpanded § 600.9(b) to provide that aninstitution is considered to be legallyauthorized by the State if it is exempt fromState authorization as a religious institutionby State law, in addition to the provision ofthe proposed regulations that an institutionbe exempt from State authorization as areligious institution under the State’sconstitution. We also have included adefinition of a religious institution providingthat an institution is considered a religiousinstitution if it is owned, controlled,operated, and maintained by a religiousorganization lawfully operating as anonprofit religious corporation and awardsonly religious degrees or religious certificatesincluding, but not limited to, a certificate ofTalmudic studies, an associate of biblicalstudies, a bachelor of religious studies, amaster of divinity, or a doctor of divinity.In response to comments, we confirmedthat tribal institutions are not subject to Stateoversight or subject to the State process forhandling complaints and revised § 600.9 toclarify the status of tribal institutions. Asnoted in the preamble discussion of StateAuthorization, we have removed proposed§ 600.9(b)(2) regarding adverse actions.Further, we are providing that, in§ 600.9(a)(2)(ii) of the final regulations, thetribal government must have a process toreview and appropriately act on complaintsconcerning a tribal institution and enforceapplicable tribal requirements or laws.Finally, while the Secretary has designatedamended § 600.9(a) and (b) as being effectiveJuly 1, 2011, we recognize that a State maybe unable to provide appropriate Stateauthorizations to its institutions by that date.We are providing that the institutions unableto obtain State authorization in that Statemay request a one-year extension of theeffective date of these final regulations to July1, 2012, and if necessary, an additional oneyearextension of the effective date to July 1,2013. To receive an extension of the effectivedate of amended § 600.9(a) and (b) forinstitutions in a State, an institution mustobtain from the State an explanation of howa one-year extension will permit the State tomodify its procedures to comply withamended § 600.9.As discussed in the preamble to theseregulations, we made a number of clarifyingchanges to the regulations regarding theadministration of ability to benefit tests. Werevised the definition of the termindependent test administrator to clarify thatan independent test administrator must haveno current or prior financial or ownershipinterest in the institution, its affiliates, or itsparent corporation, other than the fees earnedthrough the agreement to administer the test.In § 668.142, we have defined an ATB testirregularity as an irregularity that resultsfrom an ATB test being administered in amanner that does not conform to theestablished regulations for testadministration consistent with the provisionof subpart J and the test administrator’smanual. We also added a provision to specifythat a test publisher may include with itsapplication a description of the manner inwhich test-taking time was determined inrelation to the other requirements in§ 668.146(b). We have revised§ 668.150(b)(7)(i) to indicate that the periodof review of all test results of the testsadministered by a decertified testadministrator is five years preceding the dateof decertification.In response to a comment regarding testingof non-native speakers of English, we haverevised § 668.153 to provide that if a nonnativespeaker of English who is enrolled orVerDate Mar2010 14:10 Oct 28, 2010 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00141 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\29OCR2.SGM 29OCR2plans to enroll in a program that will betaught in his or her native language with acomponent or portion in English, theindividual must take a test approved under§§ 668.146 and 668.148(a)(1) in the student’snative language. New § 668.153(a)(5)provides that prior to the beginning of theEnglish portion of the program, theindividual must take an English proficiencytest approved under § 668.148(b). Finally, wehave modified § 668.144(c)(11)(vii) to requirethat the test manual include, in addition toguidance on the interpretation of scoresresulting from modification of the test forindividuals with disabilities, guidance on thetypes of accommodations that are allowable.This responds to concerns that testadministrators may not have extensivetraining or experience to determine if arequested accommodation is appropriate.The effect of these changes on the costestimates prepared for and discussed in theRegulatory Impact Analysis of the NPRM isdiscussed in the Costs section of thisRegulatory Impact Analysis.BenefitsAs discussed in the NPRM, benefitsprovided in these regulations includeupdated administrative procedures for theFederal student aid programs; a definitionand process to determine the validity of astudent’s high school diploma; enhancedreliability and security of ATB tests; anadditional option for students to prove abilityto benefit by successfully completing collegecoursework; increased clarity about incentivecompensation for employees at institutions ofhigher education; reporting of information onprogram completers for programs leading togainful employment, including costs, debtlevels, graduation rates, and placement rates;the establishment of minimum standards forcredit hours; greater transparency forborrowers participating in the programsoffered under written agreements betweeninstitutions; greater detail aboutmisrepresentation in marketing andrecruitment materials; a more structured and