§ 668.6 - Reporting and disclosure requirements for programs that prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.

§ 668.6 Reporting and disclosure requirements for programs that prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 84 FR 31453, July 1, 2019.

(a) [Reserved]

(b) Disclosures.

(1) For each program offered by an institution under this section, the institution must provide prospective students with -

(i) The occupations (by names and SOC codes) that the program prepares students to enter, along with links to occupational profiles on O*NET or its successor site. If the number of occupations related to the program, as identified by entering the program's full six digit CIP code on the O*NET crosswalk at http://online.onetcenter.org/crosswalk/ is more than ten, the institution may provide Web links to a representative sample of the identified occupations (by name and SOC code) for which its graduates typically find employment within a few years after completing the program;

(ii) The on-time graduation rate for students completing the program, as provided under paragraph (c) of this section;

(iii) The tuition and fees it charges a student for completing the program within normal time as defined in § 668.41(a), the typical costs for books and supplies (unless those costs are included as part of tuition and fees), and the cost of room and board, if applicable. The institution may include information on other costs, such as transportation and living expenses, but it must provide a Web link, or access, to the program cost information the institutions makes available under § 668.43(a);

(iv) The placement rate for students completing the program, as determined under a methodology developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) when that rate is available. In the meantime, beginning on July 1, 2011, if the institution is required by its accrediting agency or State to calculate a placement rate on a program basis, it must disclose the rate under this section and identify the accrediting agency or State agency under whose requirements the rate was calculated. If the accrediting agency or State requires an institution to calculate a placement rate at the institutional level or other than a program basis, the institution must use the accrediting agency or State methodology to calculate a placement rate for the program and disclose that rate; and

(v) The median loan debt incurred by students who completed the program as provided by the Secretary, as well as any other information the Secretary provided to the institution about that program. The institution must identify separately the median loan debt from title IV, HEA program loans, and the median loan debt from private educational loans and institutional financing plans.

(2) For each program, the institution must -

(i) Include the information required under paragraph (b)(1) of this section in promotional materials it makes available to prospective students and post this information on its Web site;

(ii) Prominently provide the information required under paragraph (b)(1) of this section in a simple and meaningful manner on the home page of its program Web site, and provide a prominent and direct link on any other Web page containing general, academic, or admissions information about the program, to the single Web page that contains all the required information;

(iii) Display the information required under paragraph (b)(1) of this section on the institution's Web site in an open format that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched by commonly used Web search applications. An open format is one that is platform-independent, is machine-readable, and is made available to the public without restrictions that would impede the reuse of that information; and

(iv) Use the disclosure form issued by the Secretary to provide the information in paragraph (b)(1), and other information, when that form is available.

(c) On-time completion rate. An institution calculates an on-time completion rate for each program subject to this section by -

(1) Determining the number of students who completed the program during the most recently completed award year;

(2) Determining the number of students in paragraph (c)(1) of this section who completed the program within normal time, as defined under § 668.41(a), regardless of whether the students transferred into the program or changed programs at the institution. For example, the normal time to complete an associate degree is two years and this timeframe applies to all students in the program. If a student transfers into the program, regardless of the number of credits the institution accepts from the student's attendance at the prior institution, those transfer credits have no bearing on the two-year timeframe. The student would still have two years to complete from the date he or she began attending the two-year program. To be counted as completing on time, a student who changes programs at the institution and begins attending the two-year program must complete within the two-year timeframe beginning from the date the student began attending the prior program; and

(3) Dividing the number of students who completed the program within normal time, as determined under paragraph (c)(2) of this section, by the total number of students who completed the program, as determined under paragraph (c)(1) of this section, and multiplying the result by 100.

(d) Sunset provisions. Institutions must comply with the requirements of this section through December 31, 2016.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 1845-NEW1)

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

[75 FR 66948, Oct. 29, 2010, as amended at 79 FR 65006, Oct. 31, 2014]