§ 668.412 - Disclosure requirements for GE programs.

§ 668.412 Disclosure requirements for GE programs.

(a) Disclosure template. An institution must use the disclosure template provided by the Secretary to disclose information about each of its GE programs to enrolled and prospective students. The Secretary will conduct consumer testing to determine how to make the disclosure template as meaningful as possible. The Secretary identifies the information that must be included in the template in a notice published in the Federal Register. That information may include, but is not limited to:

(1) The primary occupations (by name and SOC code) that the program prepares students to enter, along with links to occupational profiles on O*NET (www.onetonline.org) or its successor site.

(2) As calculated by the Secretary under § 668.413, the program's completion rates for full-time and less-than-full-time students and the program's withdrawal rates.

(3) The length of the program in calendar time (i.e., weeks, months, years).

(4) The number of clock or credit hours or equivalent, as applicable, in the program.

(5) The total number of individuals enrolled in the program during the most recently completed award year.

(6) As calculated by the Secretary under § 668.413, the loan repayment rate for any one or all of the following groups of students who entered repayment on title IV loans during the two-year cohort period:

(i) All students who enrolled in the program.

(ii) Students who completed the program.

(iii) Students who withdrew from the program.

(7) The total cost of tuition and fees, and the total cost of books, supplies, and equipment, that a student would incur for completing the program within the length of the program.

(8) The placement rate for the program, if the institution is required by its accrediting agency or State to calculate a placement rate either for the program or the institution, or both, using the required methodology of that accrediting agency or State.

(9) Of the individuals enrolled in the program during the most recently completed award year, the percentage who received a title IV loan or a private loan for enrollment in the program.

(10) As calculated by the Secretary, the median loan debt as determined under § 668.413 of any one or all of the following groups:

(i) Those students who completed the program during the most recently completed award year.

(ii) Those students who withdrew from the program during the most recently completed award year.

(iii) All of the students described in paragraphs (a)(10)(i) and (ii) of this section.

(11) As provided by the Secretary, the mean or median earnings of any one or all of the following groups of students:

(i) Students who completed the program during the cohort period used by the Secretary to calculate the most recent D/E rates for the program under this subpart.

(ii) Students who were in withdrawn status at the end of the cohort period used by the Secretary to calculate the most recent D/E rates for the program under this subpart.

(iii) All of the students described in paragraph (a)(11)(i) and (ii) of this section.

(12) As calculated by the Secretary under § 668.413, the most recent program cohort default rate.

(13) As calculated by the Secretary under § 668.404, the most recent annual earnings rate.

(14)

(i) Whether the program does or does not satisfy -

(A) The applicable educational prerequisites for professional licensure or certification in each State within the institution's MSA; and

(B) The applicable educational prerequisites for professional licensure or certification in any other State for which the institution has made a determination regarding such requirements.

(ii) For any States not described in paragraph (a)(14)(i) of this section, a statement that the institution has not made a determination with respect to the licensure or certification requirements of those States.

(15) Whether the program is programmatically accredited and the name of the accrediting agency.

(16) A link to the U.S. Department of Education's College Navigator Web site, or its successor site, or other similar Federal resource.

(b) Disclosure updates.

(1) In accordance with procedures and timelines established by the Secretary, the institution must update at least annually the information contained in the disclosure template with the most recent data available for each of its GE programs.

(2) The institution must update the disclosure template to include any student warning as required under § 668.410(a)(7).

(c) Program Web pages.

(1) On any Web page containing academic, cost, financial aid, or admissions information about a GE program maintained by or on behalf of an institution, the institution must provide the disclosure template for that program or a prominent, readily accessible, clear, conspicuous, and direct link to the disclosure template for that program.

(2) The Secretary may require the institution to modify a Web page if it provides a link to the disclosure template and the link is not prominent, readily accessible, clear, conspicuous, and direct.

(d) Promotional materials.

(1) All promotional materials made available by or on behalf of an institution to prospective students that identify a GE program by name or otherwise promote the program must include -

(i) The disclosure template in a prominent manner; or

(ii) Where space or airtime constraints would preclude the inclusion of the disclosure template, the Web address (URL) of, or the direct link to, the disclosure template, provided that the URL or link is prominent, readily accessible, clear, conspicuous, and direct and the institution identifies the URL or link as “Important Information about the educational debt, earnings, and completion rates of students who attended this program” or as otherwise specified by the Secretary in a notice published in the Federal Register.

(2) Promotional materials include, but are not limited to, an institution's catalogs, invitations, flyers, billboards, and advertising on or through radio, television, print media, the Internet, and social media.

(3) The institution must ensure that all promotional materials, including printed materials, about a GE program are accurate and current at the time they are published, approved by a State agency, or broadcast.

(e) Direct distribution to prospective students.

(1) Before a prospective student signs an enrollment agreement, completes registration, or makes a financial commitment to the institution, the institution must provide the prospective student or a third party acting on behalf of the prospective student, as a separate document, a copy of the disclosure template.

(2) The disclosure template may be provided to the prospective student or third party by -

(i) Hand-delivering the disclosure template to the prospective student or third party individually or as part of a group presentation; or

(ii) Sending the disclosure template to the primary email address used by the institution for communicating with the prospective student or third party about the program.

(3) If the institution hand-delivers the disclosure template to the prospective student or third party, it must obtain written confirmation from the prospective student or third party that the prospective student or third party received a copy of the disclosure template.

(4) If the institution sends the disclosure template to the prospective student or third party by email, the institution must -

(i) Ensure that the disclosure template is the only substantive content in the email;

(ii) Receive electronic or other written acknowledgement from the prospective student or third party that the prospective student or third party received the email;

(iii) Send the disclosure template using a different address or method of delivery if the institution receives a response that the email could not be delivered; and

(iv) Maintain records of its efforts to provide the disclosure template required under this section.

(f) Disclosure templates by program length, location, or format.

(1) An institution that offers a GE program in more than one program length must publish a separate disclosure template for each length of the program. The institution must ensure that each disclosure template clearly identifies the applicable length of the program.

(2) An institution that offers a GE program in more than one location or format (e.g., full-time, part-time, accelerated) may publish a separate disclosure template for each location or format if doing so would result in clearer disclosures under paragraph (a) of this section. An institution that chooses to publish separate disclosure templates for each location or format must ensure that each disclosure template clearly identifies the applicable location or format.

(3) If an institution publishes a separate disclosure template for each length, or for each location or format, of the program, the institution must disaggregate, by length of the program, location, or format, those disclosures set forth in paragraphs (a)(4) and (5), (a)(7) through (9), and (a)(14) and as otherwise provided by the Secretary in a notice published in the Federal Register.

(g) Privacy considerations. An institution may not include on the disclosure template any of the disclosures described in paragraphs (a)(2), (a)(5), and (a)(6) or paragraphs (a)(8) through (13) of this section if they are based on fewer than 10 students.

(h) Implementation date. Institutions must comply with the requirements of this section beginning January 1, 2017.

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1001, 1002, 1088)

[79 FR 65007, Oct. 31, 2014, as amended at 79 FR 71958, Dec. 4, 2014]