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

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with RULES266846 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2010 / Rules and Regulationsmeasure, for determining credit hoursfor Federal purposes. This position isconsistent with the application of otherFederal program requirements. Forexample, an institution may choose todefine full-time enrollment status in asemester for academic purposes as 15semester hours while it defines full-timefor title IV, HEA program purposes as 12semester hours under the minimumrequirements of the definition of fulltimein § 668.2.We do not agree that the proposeddefinition is too restrictive or isinapplicable in a diverse educationalsystem. Nor do we believe that thedefinition would prevent institutionsfrom taking into consideration eventssuch as Federal and religious holidaysor campus safety issues. In the event ofnatural disasters, the Department hasconsistently provided guidance on howthe regulations may be applied in suchexceptional circumstances. The credithourdefinition allows an institution toestablish an academic calendar thatmeets its needs and its students’ needs,while ensuring a consistent measure ofstudents’ academic engagement forFederal purposes.We do not agree with the commentersthat paragraph (1) of the proposedcredit-hour definition needs morespecificity of the term ‘‘one hour.’’ Webelieve that it is unnecessary to defineone hour as either 50 minutes or oneclock hour because the primary purposeof paragraph (1) of the proposed credithourdefinition is to provide institutionswith a baseline, not an absolute value,for determining reasonableequivalencies or approximations for theamount of academic activity defined inthe paragraph.We do not agree that the proposeddefinition should be more generalizedor that differing standards should beadopted. A credit hour is a basic unit fordetermining the eligibility of recipientsfor, and the amount of, Federalassistance that may be provided toparties participating in Federalprograms. We believe the proposeddefinition provides a consistent basis forthe equitable treatment of participantsand recipients.Changes: We have revised thedefinition of credit hour to clarify thebasic principles applied in the proposeddefinition of a credit hour to delineatefurther that it is an institution’sresponsibility to determine theappropriate credit hours orequivalencies. The revision requiresthat, except as provided in § 668.8(k)and (l), an institution determines thecredit hours applicable to an amount ofwork represented in intended learningoutcomes and verified by evidence ofstudent achievement that reasonablyapproximates not less than the amountof work described in paragraph (1) or (2)of the definition of credit hour in§ 600.2 of the final regulations. The finalregulations also continue to provide thatinstitutions may establish othermeasures that approximate theminimum standards in paragraph (1) or(2) of the definition in § 600.2, thuspermitting each institution to considerthe unique characteristics of its courseand program offerings, as well as, itsdistinctive student populations.Comment: Many commenters believedthat credit hours do not represent areasonable assessment of studentlearning. Many commenters believedthat the Secretary’s proposed definitionof a credit hour dictates that theoutdated concept of ‘‘seat time’’ is themain metric by which programsubstance should be judged rather thanthe appropriate focus on studentlearning outcomes.A few commenters believed that acredit hour, and in particular, theCarnegie Unit, does not account foracademic rigor. These commentersbelieved that a student’s completion ofa specified number of hours of directinstruction and out-of-class work doesnot provide assurance that the studenthas acquired a certain level ofcompetency.Two commenters believed that theproposed credit-hour definition doesnot consider the actual behavior ofstudents in American higher education.One commenter believed that thetypical student does not spend twohours on out-of-class work for everyhour of instruction. The othercommenter believed that there has notbeen enough research into the amountof time that students are engaged inacademic activities.One commenter believed that theSecretary’s proposed credit-hourdefinition put too much emphasis onwork outside of class instead of studentlearning outcomes.A few commenters believed thatcredit hours are measurements ofeducational inputs. One commenterstated that credit hours, when used todetermine eligibility for financial aid,are only proximate preconditions forstudent learning and are equivalent toother input measures such as scores onstandardized tests, high school GPAs, orfaculty degrees.One commenter believed that thecredit-hour definition would forceinstitutions to treat all students thesame, regardless of ability, as long asthey are in class for the specifiednumber of hours.VerDate Mar2010 14:10 Oct 28, 2010 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\29OCR2.SGM 29OCR2One commenter expressed concernthat the Secretary’s proposed credithourdefinition does not considercurrent efforts in higher education toincrease institutional accountability.This commenter believed that theproposed credit-hour definition wouldundermine institutional efforts to assessstudent learning outcomes.Discussion: We do not agree with thecommenters that the credit-hourdefinition emphasizes the concept of‘‘seat-time’’ as the primary metric fordetermining student work. We believethat the definition of a credit hour in§ 600.2 in these final regulationsemphasizes that institutions may awardcredit to courses for an amount of workrepresented by verifiable studentachievement of institutionallyestablished learning outcomes.Eligibility for Federal programsrequires that institutions are able todemonstrate that the amount of work ina course assigned credit for Federalpurposes will constitute a reasonableapproximation of the amount ofacademic activity defined in paragraph(1) of the definition of credit hour in§ 600.2. Institutions are responsible andaccountable for demonstrating that eachcourse has the appropriate amount ofeducational content to receive credit forFederal program purposes and forstudents to achieve the level ofcompetency defined by institutionallyestablished course objectives.Changes: None.Comment: Many commenters believedthat a Federal credit-hour definition willstifle institutions’ ability to develop newand innovative education models,especially with regard to deliverymethods. Several commenters believedthat institutions’ ability to respondcreatively to changing pedagogies,circumstances, and student needswould be limited under the proposedcredit-hour definition.A few commenters believed that theproposed credit-hour definition wouldlimit innovation in education at acritical time. One of these commentersbelieved that because of the economicrecession, institutions need to be moreinnovative in developing alternativedelivery methods. One commenterbelieved that institutions must be ableto respond to the rapidly changingeducation sector. Another commenterbelieved that other nations are currentlydeveloping new educational models andthe United States will fall behind thesenations in education.Many commenters believed that theSecretary’s proposed credit-hourdefinition would have a negative impacton alternative delivery methods such ascompressed and accelerated programs,