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

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with RULES266868 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2010 / Rules and Regulationsauthorization as a religious institutionby State law in addition to the provisionof the proposed regulations that theexemption by law, or exempt under theState’s constitution. We have alsoincluded a definition of a religiousinstitution, which provides that aninstitution is considered a religiousinstitution if it is owned, controlled,operated, and maintained by a religiousorganization lawfully operating as anonprofit religious corporation andawards only religious degrees orreligious certificates including, but notlimited to, a certificate of Talmudicstudies, an associate of biblical studies,a bachelor of religious studies, a masterof divinity, or a doctor of divinity. Wenote, however, that a religiousinstitution is still subject to therequirement in § 600.9(a)(1) of thesefinal regulations that, for the institutionto be considered to be legally authorizedin the State, the State must have aprocess to review and appropriately acton complaints concerning theinstitution.Tribal InstitutionsComment: One commenter suggestedthe Department should exempt fromState authorization any institutionestablished and operated by tribalgovernments. Three commenters statedthat the Department should recognizethat tribal institutions would not besubject to State oversight but instead thetribe would exercise oversight. One ofthose commenters suggested amendingthe regulations to add ‘‘tribal authority’’wherever State authority is mentionedin the proposed regulations.Discussion: We agree that tribalinstitutions are not subject to Stateoversight for institutions operatingwithin tribal lands. Proposed§ 600.9(a)(2) provided that a tribalcollege would be considered to meet thebasic provisions of proposed§ 600.9(a)(1) if it was authorized to offereducational programs beyond secondaryeducation by an Indian tribe as definedin 25 U.S.C. 1802(2). However,proposed § 600.9(b), could be read asinappropriately making a tribalinstitution subject to adverse actions bythe State and a State process forhandling student complaints. We didnot intend to make a tribal institutionsubject to any State process for handlingcomplaints and have clarified thelanguage in § 600.9. If a tribal college islocated outside tribal lands within aState, or has a physical presence oroffers programs to students that arelocated outside tribal lands in a State,the tribal college must demonstrate thatit has the applicable State approvalsneeded in those circumstances.Changes: Section 600.9 has beenrevised to clarify the status of tribalinstitutions. As noted elsewhere in thispreamble, 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,the tribal government must have aprocess to review and appropriately acton complaints concerning a tribalinstitution and enforce applicable tribalrequirements or laws.Part 668 Student Assistance GeneralProvisions Retaking Coursework(§ 668.2)Comment: Many commenters agreedwith the Secretary’s proposal to amendthe definition of full-time student in§ 668.2(b) to allow repeated courseworkto count towards a student’s enrollmentstatus in term-based programs. Thecommenters believed the change wouldalleviate the administrative burdenrelated to tracking student courseworkto prevent payment based on repeatedcoursework, as is currently required.Discussion: The Department agreeswith the commenters that amending thedefinition of full-time student in§ 668.2(b) will be beneficial for studentswho retake coursework.Changes: None.Comment: Several commenters askedthe Department to clarify whetheramending the definition of full-timestudent will apply to all students,regardless of their enrollment status,including less-than-half-time, half-time,and three-quarter-time enrollmentstatuses.Discussion: Less-than-half-time, halftime,and three-quarter-time statuses aregenerally defined in relation to thedefinition of a full-time student. In§ 668.2 half-time and three-quarter-timestatuses generally are defined as at leastone-half and three quarters of theacademic workload of a full-timestudent, respectively. Less-than-halftimestatus is not defined, as the termis self-explanatory in its relationship tohalf-time and full-time statuses. Thus,including this provision in thedefinition of full-time student will applyto less-than-full-time students who areenrolled in term-based programs.Changes: None.Comment: Some commenters askedthe Department to allow earlyimplementation of this retakingcoursework provision, because theDepartment’s current guidance in theFederal Student Aid Handbook does notprovide for this benefit.Discussion: We have determined, as ageneral policy, that no provisions ofthese final regulations should bedesignated for early implementation.VerDate Mar2010 14:10 Oct 28, 2010 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\29OCR2.SGM 29OCR2We will update the Handbook for the2011–2012 award year to reflect theamended definition of full-time studentin these final regulations.Changes: None.Comment: Some commentersquestioned whether institutions maycontinue to set their own policy inregards to retaking coursework andawarding credits for repeatedcoursework. One commenter asked theDepartment to clarify if the proposedregulation on retaking courseworkwould allow a student to repeat coursesalready passed to achieve a highergrade. Another commenter asked theDepartment to clarify whether a studentwho has already earned the maximumnumber of remedial courses allowedcould be paid to retake coursework ifthe student repeats more remedialcourses.Discussion: In general, the regulationsdo not affect an institution’s policiesgoverning whether a student may retakecoursework in term-based programs,including repeating courses to achieve ahigher grade, as these regulations applyonly to determining enrollment statusfor title IV, HEA program purposes.Moreover, the regulations do not limitan institution’s ability to establishpolicies for title IV, HEA programpurposes to the extent those policies arenot in conflict with title IV, HEAprogram requirements. However, withrespect to repeating courseworkpreviously passed by a student in aterm-based program, the student’senrollment status for title IV, HEApurposes may include any courseworkpreviously taken in the program, but weare limiting the provision so that it maynot include more than one repetition ofa previously passed course or anyrepetition of previously passedcoursework that would be taken due toa student’s failure of other coursework.In other words, an institution may paya student one time for retakingpreviously passed coursework if, forexample, the student needed to meet anacademic standard for that particularcourse, such as a minimum grade.Conversely, an institution may not paya student for retaking previously passedcourses if the student is required toretake those courses because the studentfailed a different course in a prior term.For example, if a student enrolls in fourclasses in the fall semester and passesthree of them, the institution couldrequire the student to retake the failedclass and also require the student toretake the other three classes because offailing the one class. If the studentretakes the four classes in the springsemester, the failed class would beincluded in the student’s enrollment