HEA Professional and Graduate Placement Disclosure Rules

PURPOSE

The purpose of job placement disclosure requirements in the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) and the corresponding Department of Education (ED) regulations is to ensure that universities participating in federal student financial aid programs properly inform enrolled and prospective students about employment prospects, state licensure requirements, and graduate and professional education opportunities.

HISTORY

Under the HEA, the federal government disburses federal student aid to qualifying institutions of higher education. These funds include loans and grants, including direct loans, federal Perkins loans, and Pell grants. To be eligible to receive funds, the university must enter into an agreement to abide by certain federal regulations, including the accurate disclosure of job placement and graduate placement data.

In recent years, ED increased efforts to protect consumers from predatory colleges, including enforcement of the job placement disclosure requirements. For example, ED fined the California-based Heald College $30 million for misrepresenting 947 placement rates, finding that the overstated employment prospects “were misleading to students.” As a result, Heald College’s parent organization, Corinthian Colleges, was forced to immediately close its twenty-eight remaining campuses. In 2016, ED cut off all federal student financial aid to three Medtech College campuses for misrepresentation of job placement rates. These incidents and many other recent ED investigations highlight the importance of compliance with accurate placement disclosure requirements for institutions of higher education.

APPLICABILITY TO BYU–Hawaii

Universities that receive funds under the HEA must disclose information about the university’s graduates’ employment and graduate placement. Also, to begin or continue participating in federal student aid programs, a university that seeks to receive federal funds must enter into a Program Participation Agreement (PPA) in which the institution agrees to comply with all laws, regulations, and policies regulating federal student aid programs. Because BYU–Hawaii receives funds under Title IV of the Higher Education Act, BYU–Hawaii must enter (and in fact has entered) into a PPA with ED and must renew this agreement by the specified reapplication date. As a result, BYU–Hawaii must ensure that all job placement rate advertisements and disclosures are in compliance with ED regulations.

REQUIREMENTS

1. Job Placement Advertisements to Attract Students
   
   1. Under ED regulations for Title IV eligible institutions, schools that advertise job placement rates as a means of attracting students must make the following information available to prospective students: (1) the most recent available data concerning employment statistics, graduation statistics, and any other information necessary to substantiate the truthfulness of the advertisements; and (2) relevant state licensing requirements for any job for which an educational program offered by the institution is designed to prepare those prospective students. Such information must be made available at or before the time that such prospective students apply for enrollment. Advertisements include any marketing material used by the school. Interpreted narrowly, placement data reported on fliers and websites designed specifically for prospective students must follow ED requirements. Interpreted broadly, any material that a prospective student may access with job placement figures must follow ED requirements, even if the material is not initially intended as a marketing tool. This could include materials published on department websites. In addition to recent and accurate job placement data, advertisements to prospective students must be accompanied by any relevant state licensing requirements for any job which the program is designed to prepare the student.18 Hawaii’s state licensure requirements are found in title 25 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.
2. General Job Placement Disclosures
   
   1. Content of Disclosure
      Institutions receiving federal student aid must produce and make readily available upon request to any enrolled student and to any prospective student, and on an annual basis must provide to all enrolled students, the following information: (1) the placement of, and types of employment obtained by, graduates of the institution’s degree or certificate programs; and (2) the types of graduate and professional education in which graduates of the institution’s four-year degree programs enrolled. This data must be gathered from the institution’s own calculation of placement rates (if such a calculation is made), state data systems, alumni and student satisfaction surveys, and any other relevant sources. The institution also must identify the information’s source, the time frame of when the information was collected, and the methodology used to collect the data. If the institution calculates a placement rate for any of its programs (not required), the institution must disclose that rate.
   2. Method of Disclosure
      Information on job placement and graduate placement must be compiled and made readily available upon request to all enrolled and prospective students. Also, an institution must annually distribute an annual notice of the availability of this information (among other information) to all enrolled students. If the information is provided to enrolled students by posting it on a website, then the notice must include the exact electronic address at which the information is posted and a statement that the institution will provide a paper copy upon request.Unlike security and fire safety reports, placement information is not required to be disclosed to ED,
      but must be made through appropriate publications, mailings, or electronic media.
      
3. Job Placement Disclosure Requirements for Gainful Employment Programs
   
   1. Under the HEA, institutions that provide gainful employment (GE) programs29 also must disclose to prospective students, among other information, the job placement rate for students completing the program. Such placement rates must be calculated under a methodology developed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), if that rate is available, and if not, as required by the state or accrediting agency, including on a program basis, if required. Such information must be made
      available through a GE Disclosure Template provided by ED, which must be provided directly to prospective students, published on the program website, and referenced in any promotional materials.
4. Job Placement Disclosures of Accrediting Agency
   The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, which is responsible for accrediting BYU–Hawaii, does not have any additional requirements regarding disclosure of graduate job placement rates.

PENALTIES

Failure to comply with the job placement and graduate placement disclosure requirements may result in an enforcement action by ED, which could involve an emergency action, a fine (up to $27,500), and/or suspension, limitation, or termination of the institution’s participation in federal student aid programs. If ED determines that an eligible institution has engaged in a “substantial misrepresentation,” ED may impose additional penalties such as revocation of the institution’s PPA and denying future participation applications made on behalf of the institution.

STAYING UP-TO-DATE

The following websites provide valuable information regarding this law and its applicability, as well as examples of how other schools have disclosed job placement and graduate placement data: