34 C.F.R. § 600.5 Proprietary institution of higher education.
Title 34 - Education
(a) A proprietary institution of higher education is an educational institution that— (1) Is not a public or private nonprofit educational institution; (2) Is in a State; (3) Admits as regular students only persons who— (i) Have a high school diploma; (ii) Have the recognized equivalent of a high school diploma; or (iii) Are beyond the age of compulsory school attendance in the State in which the institution is physically located; (4) Is legally authorized to provide an educational program beyond secondary education in the State in which the institution is physically located; (5) Provides an eligible program of training, as defined in 34 CFR 668.8, to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation; (6) Is accredited; (7) Has been in existence for at least two years; and (8) Has no more than 90 percent of its revenues derived from title IV, HEA program funds, as determined under paragraph (d) of this section. (b)(1) The Secretary considers an institution to have been in existence for two years only if— (i) The institution has been legally authorized to provide, and has provided, a continuous educational program to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation during the 24 months preceding the date of its eligibility application; and (ii) The educational program that the institution provides on the date of its eligibility application is substantially the same in length and subject matter as the program that the institution provided during the 24 months preceding the date of its eligibility application. (2)(i) The Secretary considers an institution to have provided a continuous educational program during the 24 months preceding the date of its eligibility application even if the institution did not provide that program during normal vacation periods, or periods when the institution temporarily closed due to a natural disaster that directly affected the institution or the institution's students. (ii) The Secretary considers an institution to have satisfied the provisions of paragraph (b)(1)(ii) of this section if the institution substantially changed the subject matter of the educational program it provided during that 24-month period because of new technology or the requirements of other Federal agencies. (3) In determining whether an applicant institution satisfies the requirement contained in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, the Secretary— (i) Counts any period during which the applicant institution has been certified as a branch campus; and (ii) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section, does not count any period during which the applicant institution was a part of another eligible proprietary institution of higher education, postsecondary vocational institution, or vocational school. (c) An institution is physically located in a State if it has a campus or other instructional site in that State. (d)(1) An institution satisfies the requirement contained in paragraph (a)(8) of this section by examining its revenues under the following formula for its latest complete fiscal year:
Title IV, HEA program funds the institution used to satisfy its students' tuition, fees, and other institutional charges to students The sum of revenues including title IV, HEA program funds generated by the institution from: tuition, fees, and other institutional charges for students enrolled in eligible programs as defined in 34 CFR 668.8; and activities conducted by the institution, to the extent not included in tuition, fees, and other institutional charges, that are necessary for the education or training of its students who are enrolled in those eligible programs. (2) An institution must use the cash basis of accounting when calculating the amount of title IV, HEA program funds in the numerator and the total amount of revenue generated by the institution in the denominator of the fraction contained in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. (3) Under the cash basis of accounting— (i) In calculating the amount of revenue generated by the institution from institutional loans, the institution must include only the amount of loan repayments received by the institution during the fiscal year; and (ii) In calculating the amount of revenue generated by the institution from institutional scholarships, the institution must include only the amount of funds it disbursed during the fiscal year from an established restricted account and only to the extent that the funds in that account represent designated funds from an outside source or income earned on those funds. (e) With regard to the formula contained in paragraph(d)(1) of this section— (1) The institution may not include as title IV, HEA program funds in the numerator nor as revenue generated by the institution in the denominator— (i) The amount of funds it received under the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program, unless the institution used those funds to pay a student's institutional charges in which case the FWS program funds used to pay those charges would be included in the numerator and denominator. (ii) The amount of funds it received under the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Program. (The LEAP Program was formerly called the State Student Incentive Grant or SSIG Program.); (iii) The amount of institutional funds it used to match title IV, HEA program funds; (iv) The amount of title IV, HEA program funds that must be refunded or returned under §668.22; or (v) The amount charged for books, supplies, and equipment unless the institution includes that amount as tuition, fees, or other institutional charges. (2) In determining the amount of title IV, HEA program funds received by the institution under the cash basis of accounting, except as provided in paragraph (e)(3) of this section, the institution must presume that any title IV, HEA program funds disbursed or delivered to or on behalf of a student will be used to pay the student's tuition, fees, or other institutional charges, regardless of whether the institution credits those funds to the student's account or pays those funds directly to the student, and therefore must include those funds in the numerator and denominator. (3) In paragraph (e)(2) of this section, the institution may not presume that title IV, HEA program funds were used to pay tuition, fees, and other institutional charges to the extent that those charges were satisfied by— (i) Grant funds provided by non-Federal public agencies, or private sources independent of the institution; (ii) Funds provided under a contractual arrangement described in §600.7(d), or (iii) Funds provided by State prepaid tuition plans. (4) With regard to the denominator, revenue generated by the institution from activities it conducts, that are necessary for its students' education or training, includes only revenue from those activities that— (i) Are conducted on campus or at a facility under the control of the institution; (ii) Are performed under the supervision of a member of the institution's faculty; and (iii) Are required to be performed by all students in a specific educational program at the institution. (f) An institution must notify the Secretary within 90 days following the end of the fiscal year used in paragraph (d)(1) of this section if it fails to satisfy the requirement contained in paragraph (a)(8) of this section. (g) If an institution loses its eligibility because it failed to satisfy the requirement contained in paragraph (a)(8) of this section, to regain its eligibility it must demonstrate compliance with all eligibility requirements for at least the fiscal year following the fiscal year used in paragraph (d)(1) of this section. (h) The Secretary does not recognize the accreditation of an institution unless the institution agrees to submit any dispute involving the final denial, withdrawal, or termination of accreditation to initial arbitration before initiating any other legal action. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1088) [59 FR 22336, Apr. 29, 1994; 59 FR 32082, June 22, 1994, as amended at 59 FR 47801, Sept. 19, 1994; 59 FR 61177, Nov. 29, 1994; 61 FR 29901, June 12, 1996; 61 FR 60569, Nov. 29, 1996; 64 FR 58615, Oct. 29, 1999]
Title 34: Education
PART 600—INSTITUTIONAL ELIGIBILITY UNDER THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED
Subpart A—General
§ 600.5 Proprietary institution of higher education.
