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Relax Distance Education Rules, Department Says
Congress should relax financial aid rules that were designed to bar fraudulent institutions from access to federal aid money, the Department of Education recommended in July. The recommendation is made in a report based on findings of the department's Distance Education Demonstration Program. The program granted selected institutions waivers to two financial aid rules: the "50-percent rule," which requires institutions to offer fewer than half their courses at a distance in order to remain eligible for federal financial aid, and the "twelve-hour rule," which for purposes of student financial-aid eligibility defined "full-time" study as that entailing twelve hours of course work a week. The waivers didn't lead to negative consequences, the department says.
The twelve-hour rule was eliminated by the Department of Education in 2002, but changes to the 50-percent rule must come from Congress; the department recommends that it be revised or eliminated.
The Chronicle of Higher Education notes that the education department's report omits discussion of one institution, the Masters Institute, which was an early participant in the demonstration program. The Masters Institute was granted an exemption from the 50-percent rule, but was dropped from the program after the department said that the institution had committed fraud. The institution closed in 2001. The Chronicle also notes that although other institutions participating in the project did not run into such problems, they were hand picked and most did not exceed the 50-percent limit on distance education students, even though they were permitted to do so.
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