Happy December and end of the semester!

I don't know how many people on this list are on the WCET‐MIX listserv but there have been some great/frustrating information pieces coming in from the Department of Education regarding the most recent round of regs that had been released back at the end of October. Cheryl Dowd, the Sr. Director for SAN relayed back some of the conversation she had with Vanessa Gomez form the ED.

As I'm sure you remember from my emails or from conversations on your campus or colleagues at other institutions, there were a few places where the language wasn't really clear (shocker) regarding professional licensure programs, the timing of disclosures, and then how the modality of the program may or may not factor into this (hint: it really doesn't, but we'll get to that).

One of the issues that came up back in October at SAN and Cheryl was about the confusing/conflicting language in 668.43(c)(1) regarding the direct disclosures for prospective students.

Specifically, one of the burning questions a lot of us have had is what is required of us regarding prospective students who are applying to a face‐to‐face program and will come to the (main/home) campus for the program? Is the institution required under this regulation to make a direct disclosure to the prospective student if the curriculum does not meet state education requirements or has not made a determination about meeting state educational requirements in the state where the student comes from IF the student will at "initial time of enrollment" be in the state where the institution is located for the face‐to‐face program. For example – if a prospective student is in Nebraska and wants to come to Boulder for the teacher education program which is ONLY offered on campus, is Boulder required under this revised regulation to send them the disclosure that in fact we do not meet NE's requirements for licensure.

The ED's response was.... well, it was something. (I'm going to swap out the states in her example to match mine above)

The regulations state that the institution makes the determination at the time of initial enrollment. In the example provided, the State of initial enrollment would be Colorado. The program in your example is fully face to face (no course in the program is offered through distance education) so this scenario would not apply.

What Ms. Gomez is saying is, the ED is focused on a specific point in time ‐ the initial time of enrollment. That is, according to the ED, Therefore, the Department's contact on this issue is saying, the institution does not owe an incoming face to face prospective student a direct notification about the state where they are coming from, as long as the state where they will be located for that specific point in time of initial time of enrollment will be the state where the institution is located and the student is NOT enrolled in a distance education course while located in a different state at initial time of enrollment.

So technically speaking we do not, after 7/1/24, have to notify students who will be coming to CO to enroll in a professional licensure program that is offered face‐to‐face. If you recall from my emails back in October/November when these regulations were released, I personally find that to be disingenuous. Boulder has opted to continue notifying prospective students who apply or intend to enroll in face‐to‐face programs that lead to professional licensure if our education does not meet the requirements of the state where they are located prior to enrollment. Why? Because this is the ED and it's never ever that simple. There was a caveat to Ms. Gomez's response, and it has to do with the modality of courses within the program.

SON OF A NUTCRACKER

So, let's say in our example, the student is in NE, they plan to come to Boulder for the Teacher licensure program, but they're going to take an online class and it starts before they come to CO. What happens here? Again, Boulder doesn't meet NE's requirement for teacher education and in theory, the initial enrollment for this student would be when they log in to their class so.... technically speaking that student would be 1) owed a notification that we cannot provide them the education for NE licensure, 2) would be required to acknowledge that they understand and are taking the class regardless and do not intend to seek licensure in that state; 3) if the student does not acknowledge this, they will not be able to access federal aid for the program.

For right now – don't worry about the acknowledgement/intention part – I'm working on developing a way to automate these (including the document management side). I'll also be joining the CU Registrar's meeting on 1/12 to discuss some of the recent federal changes and ask them to make a firm definition of "initial enrollment" that we can all use and hang our hats on. More on both of those topics in 2024.

Instead let's dig into that deep fear you're starting to experience that is stemming from the inevitable question of "but it's only one course... the program isn't online...is it?"

Yup. It is. According to MS. Gomez (and a DCL from 5/23) For a program to be considered strictly face‐to‐face, it should not have any distance education component to it‐‐namely, no course in the program should be offered through distance [or correspondence] education.

But Erika, what if the program is hybrid or hyflex? Hybrid, hyflex, whatever you want to call it, those aren't modalities according to the ED. They only recognize on‐ground/face‐to‐face, correspondence, and distance. Anything else was made up by institutions for marketing purposes. Yeah, I said it. If you have a program that is designed to be both in person and via distance ed, in terms of this regulation (and really any other federal regulation but that’s another conversation) you would be treating those students as distance education students.

Ms. Gomez offered some additional information regarding the new requirements in 668.14(b)(32) and how they only apply to a student at the time of initial enrollment, but still, this would contradict the disclosure requirements in 668.43(c) so I won't repeat it here. Remember: to serve the student (i.e., deliver the education in the state where the student is located) you MUST be able to meet the state requirement.

Things to think about & work on:

• LOCATION MATTERS. Refine and document your process for determining a student's location. This needs to be a campus decision – involve the registrar, financial aid (b/c 668.14 is in their house), and admissions.
• MODALITY MATTERS. Who decides the modality of a course being offered? Do faculty know they cannot decide mid‐semester to change the modality? For professional licensure programs that are listed as face‐to‐face or on ground ONLY, what % of the students take an online course in their first semester? What about the rest of the program?

To reiterate: For a prospective student located in a different state than the institution but will be participating face‐to‐ face in the state the institution is domiciled, the institution must notify the future face‐to‐face student about not meeting or no determination for the state where the institution is coming from prior to enrollment in the program and intending to attend the face‐to‐face program where the institution is domiciled. 34 CFR 668.43(c)(1).

Additional insight from Ms. Gomez's response (added emphasis in bold)

• In response to your question on 34 CFR 668.43(c)(1), the disclosures are not limited to distance education students. The applicable regulation states that if an educational program is designed to meet educational requirements for a specific professional license or certification that is required for employment in an occupation, or is advertised as meeting such requirements, the institution must provide a list of all States where the institution has determined, including as part of the institution's obligation under § 668.14(b)(32), that the program does and does not meet such requirements. This is a general requirement and applies irrespective of whether the program is taught using distance education.
• If the institution has made a determination under paragraph 668.43(a)(5)(v) that the program's curriculum does not meet the State educational requirements for licensure or certification in the State in which a prospective student is located, or if the institution has not made a determination regarding whether the program's curriculum meets the State educational requirements for licensure or certification, the institution must provide notice to that effect to the student prior to the student's enrollment in the institution in accordance with 34 CFR 668.14(b (32). This would probably mostly apply where distance education was involved but not exclusively. As previously mentioned, we are concerned that some schools have advertised to students from different States without providing them with information on whether or not their program meets those students' State(s) licensure and certification requirements.
• So, if there are students that live in different States at the time of initial enrollment, they should receive information on whether or not the program meets their State's licensure/certification requirements. Although the student may move to the State where the face‐to‐face program takes place in the scenario you provided, it's not guaranteed so we want schools to notify students on whether or not their program meets licensure/certification requirements at the State(s) students are being told meet such requirements in order for the student to be well informed prior to enrolling. In other words, if the school is advertising to students who are located in different States from where the institution is located, we expect schools to inform students on whether or not their program meets the professional license or certification requirements in the State(s) students are located.

If you’ve made it to the end – HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAVE A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR! I’ll be out of the office until 1/8/24 but never hesitate to reach out f you have questions!

Erika