EDU-09-08-00011-RP Educational Requirements Relating to Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) Awards

5/7/08 N.Y. St. Reg. EDU-09-08-00011-RP

NEW YORK STATE REGISTER

VOLUME XXX, ISSUE 19

May 07, 2008

RULE MAKING ACTIVITIES

EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

REVISED RULE MAKING

NO HEARING(S) SCHEDULED

 

I.D No. EDU-09-08-00011-RP

Educational Requirements Relating to Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) Awards

PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following revised rule:

Revised action:

Amendment of sections 145-2.2 and 145-2.9 of Title 8 NYCRR.

Statutory authority:

Education Law, sections 207 (not subdivided), 602(1) and (2), 661(2), and 665(2) and (6)

Subject:

Educational requirements relating to Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) awards including those awards for accelerated study.

Purpose:

To update the academic achievement requirements (minimum credits and minimum cumulative grade point average) a student must meet before being certified for a payment on his or her Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) award including such an award for accelerated study.

Text of revised rule:

1. Section 145-2.2 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective July 17, 2008, as follows:

§ 145-2.2 Academic requirements; program pursuit and academic progress.

(a) State awards first received prior to September 1, 1981. For the purposes of articles 13 and 14 of the Education Law, students who have received a State award prior to September 1, 1981 shall meet the following academic requirements:

(1) Attendance. Failure of the student to pursue the program of study will result in the loss of eligibility to receive an award. The institution, in recording and reporting student academic progress, shall take cognizance of attendance as it relates to progress.

(2) Good academic standing. Good academic standing, where required by law, means that: (i) the institution maintains a formal, published statement of its requirements for the maintenance of good academic standing; (ii) the student is matriculated at the institution; and (iii) the institution has determined that the student meets its standard for good academic standing.

(b)State awards first received during academic year 1981–1982, and thereafter.

(1) Part-time study, academic requirements. For the purposes of articles 13 and 14 of the Education Law, part-time students who receive their first State award during the [1981-82 school] 1981-1982 academic year and thereafter shall maintain good academic standing by complying with the requirements prescribed in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.

[(1)] (i) Loss of good academic standing for [full-time study or] part-time study [, whichever is applicable,] shall be determined at the end of each term of the academic year, and shall mean that a student has either:

[(i)] (a) failed to pursue the program of study in which he or she is enrolled, as determined pursuant to [paragraph (3)] subparagraph (iii) of this [subdivision] paragraph; or

[(ii)] (b) failed to make satisfactory progress toward the completion of his or her program's academic requirements, as determined by [paragraph (4)] subparagraph (iv) of this [subdivision] paragraph.

[(2)] (ii) Following a determination that the recipient of an award has lost good academic standing, further payments of any award under article 13 or 14 of the Education Law shall be suspended until the student is restored to good academic standing by either:

[(i)] (a) pursuing the program of study in which he or she is enrolled and making satisfactory progress toward the completion of his or her program's academic requirements; or

[(ii)] (b) establishing in some other way, to the satisfaction of the commissioner, evidence of his or her ability to successfully complete an approved program.

[(3)] (iii) Except as provided for in [paragraph (5)] subparagraph (v) of this [subdivision] paragraph, a student shall be deemed to be pursuing the approved program of study in which [he] the student is enrolled if:

[(i)] (a) during each term of study in the first year for which an award is being received, [he] the student receives a passing or failing grade in at least one half of the minimum amount of study required to constitute [full-time study or] part-time study, [whichever is applicable,] pursuant to section 145-2.1 of this Subpart; or

[(ii)] (b) during each term of study in the second year for which an award is being received, [he] the student receives a passing or failing grade in at least three fourths of the minimum amount of study required to constitute [full-time study or] part-time study, [whichever is applicable,] pursuant to section 145-2.1 of this Subpart; or

[(iii)] (c) during each subsequent term of study for which an award is being received, [he] the student receives a passing or failing grade in no less than the minimum amount of study required to constitute [full-time study or] part-time study, [whichever is applicable,] pursuant to section 145-2.1 of this Subpart.

[(4)] (iv) Except as provided for in [paragraph (5)] subparagraph (v) of this [subdivision] paragraph, to determine whether a student receiving an award is making satisfactory progress toward the successful completion of his or her program's academic requirements, each institution shall establish and apply a standard of satisfactory academic progress which includes required levels of achievement to be measured at stated intervals. Criteria for achievement shall include, but need not be limited to:

[(i)] (a) the minimum number of credits earned, or courses successfully completed, at each interval; and

[(ii)] (b) the minimum cumulative grade point average or similar measure at each interval.

Each institution shall obtain the approval of the commissioner prior to the implementation of its standard of satisfactory academic progress and prior to any changes in such standard.

[(5)] (v) The provisions of [paragraphs (3)] subparagraphs (iii) and [(4)] (iv) of this [subdivision] paragraph may be waived once for an undergraduate student and once for a graduate student if an institution certifies, and maintains documentation, that such waiver is in the best interests of the student. Prior approval by the commissioner of the criteria and procedures used by an institution to consider and grant waivers shall not be required. The commissioner may review such criteria and procedures in use, and require an institution to revise those found to be not acceptable.

(2) Full-time study, academic requirements. For the purposes of articles 13 and 14 of the Education Law, full-time students who receive their first State award during the 1981–1982 academic year and thereafter shall maintain good academic standing by complying with the requirements prescribed in subparagraph (i) of this paragraph.

(i) Loss of good academic standing shall be determined at the end of each term of the academic year, and shall mean that a student has:

(a) failed to pursue the program of study in which he or she is enrolled, as determined pursuant to subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph; and/or

(b) failed to make satisfactory progress toward the completion of his or her program's academic requirements, as determined by subparagraph (iv) of this paragraph.

(ii) If a student is determined to have lost good academic standing by failing to meet the conditions established in clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph (i) of this paragraph, further payments of any award under article 13 or 14 of the Education Law shall be suspended until the student is restored to good academic standing by either:

(a) pursuing the program of study in which he or she is enrolled and making satisfactory progress toward the completion of his or her program's academic requirements; or

(b) establishing in some other way, to the satisfaction of the commissioner, evidence of his or her ability to successfully complete an approved program.

(iii) Except as provided for in subparagraph (v) of this paragraph, a student shall be deemed to be pursuing the approved program of study in which the student is enrolled if:

(a) during each term of study in the first year for which an award is being received, the student receives a passing or failing grade in at least one half of the minimum amount of study required to constitute full-time study pursuant to section 145-2.1 of this Subpart; or

(b) during each term of study in the second year for which an award is being received, the student receives a passing or failing grade in at least three fourths of the minimum amount of study required to constitute full-time study pursuant to section 145-2.1 of this Subpart; or

(c) during each subsequent term of study for which an award is being received, the student receives a passing or failing grade in no less than the minimum amount of study required to constitute full-time study pursuant to section 145-2.1 of this Subpart.

(iv) Except as provided for in subparagraph (v) of this paragraph, to determine whether a student receiving an award is making satisfactory progress toward the successful completion of his or her program's academic requirements, each institution shall establish and apply a standard of satisfactory academic progress which includes required levels of achievement to be measured at stated intervals. Each institution shall obtain the approval of the commissioner prior to the implementation of its standard of satisfactory academic progress and prior to any changes in such standard. Such standard or revised standard shall include the criteria for achievement established by the institution pursuant to the provisions in this subparagraph and shall be submitted in a format prescribed by the commissioner. Criteria for achievement shall include, but need not be limited to:

(a) for students who receive their first State award during the 1981–1982 academic year through and including the 2005–2006 academic year, the minimum number of credits earned, or courses successfully completed, at each interval and the minimum cumulative grade point average or similar measure at each interval; or

(b) for students who receive their first State award during the 2006–2007 academic year and thereafter, and who are enrolled full-time in a two-year, four-year, or five-year undergraduate program on a semester or trimester basis, or their equivalent, the applicable required minimum number of credits accrued and minimum grade point average earned at the time of the institution's certification for each payment made on the student's award, as specified in subparagraphs (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) of paragraph (c) of subdivision (6) of section 665 of the Education Law; provided that institutions operating on a trimester basis during the 2006–2007 academic year shall apply the satisfactory academic progress standard pursuant to the provisions in section 665 of the Education Law, and shall apply the particular requirements prescribed in the satisfactory academic progress charts in such section of law for the 2007–2008 academic year and thereafter.

(v) The provisions of subparagraphs (iii) and (iv) of this paragraph may be waived once for an undergraduate student and once for a graduate student if an institution certifies, and maintains documentation, that such waiver is in the best interests of the student. Prior approval by the commissioner of the criteria and procedures used by an institution to consider and grant waivers shall not be required. The commissioner may review such criteria and procedures in use, and require an institution to revise those found to be not acceptable.

2. Section 145-2.9 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective July 17, 2008, as follows:

§ 145-2.9 Accelerated study.

(a) To be eligible to receive payment for accelerated study beyond the regular program of study for the academic year, except for part-time awards pursuant to Education Law, section 666, or for Vietnam veterans tuition awards pursuant to Education Law, section 669-a, a student shall [,]:

(1) during the regular academic year, be a full-time student matriculated in an approved program in a school or degree-granting institution in this State, unless out-of-state study is approved during the regular academic year ; and

(2) prior to the term of the application, have earned twenty-four semester hours, or its equivalent, from such school or institution in the two immediately preceding, consecutive semesters, or their equivalent, provided that for students pursuing a program of study at a degree-granting institution, the twenty-four semester hours may include the equivalent of three semester hours of remedial course work per semester.

(b) For the purposes of this section, all attendance during a single summer period [, including intersessions,] shall be considered to constitute a single term of attendance. To be eligible for an award for half-time accelerated study, a student shall be a full-time student during the preceding [or succeeding] term and shall have earned twenty-four semester hours, or its equivalent, from such school or institution in the two immediately preceding consecutive semesters, or their equivalent, provided that for students pursuing a program of study at a degree-granting institution, the twenty-four semester hours may include the equivalent of three semester hours of remedial course work per semester.

[(b)] (c) Accelerated study shall denote study which meets the following criteria:

(1) The term of study shall be a separately organized term in addition to the regular [school] academic year, with separate registration and separate charge for tuition and fees.

(2) Accelerated study shall be accompanied by accelerated tuition charges, so that the total tuition charge upon completion of the accelerated program is comparable to the total tuition charge for the [nonaccelerated] non-accelerated program.

Revised rule compared with proposed rule:

Substantial revisions were made in section 145-2.9(a) and (b).

Text of revised proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:

Anne Marie Koschnick, Legal Assistant, Office of Counsel, Education Department, State Education Bldg., Rm. 148, Albany, NY 12234, [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]

Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:

Johanna Duncan-Poitier, Senior Deputy Commissioner of Education — P16, Education Department, 2M West Wing, Education Bldg., 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, [phone], e-mail: [e-mail]

Public comment will be received until:

30 days after publication of this notice.

Regulatory Impact Statement

Since publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the State Register on February 27, 2008, the following substantial revisions were made to the proposed rule:

Section 145-2.9 was revised to expressly provide for the award of TAP for accelerated study to students enrolled at both degree-granting institutions and non-degree granting schools and to clarify that students pursuing a program of study at a degree-granting institution may include three remedial course credits per semester in satisfaction of the eligibility requirement for such TAP award that students must complete twenty-four credit hours, or their equivalent, in the preceding two semesters at such school or institution.

The revisions do not require any further changes to the previously published Regulatory Impact Statement.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Since publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the State Register on February 27, 2008, the proposed rule was revised as set forth in the Statement Concerning the Regulatory Impact Statement filed herewith.

The revisions to the proposed rule do not require any further changes to the previously published Regulatory Flexibility Analysis.

Rural Area Flexibility Analysis

Since publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the State Register on February 27, 2008, the proposed rule was revised as set forth in the Statement concerning the Regulatory Impact Statement filed herewith.

The above revisions to the proposed rule do not require any changes to the previously published Rural Area Flexibility Analysis.

Job Impact Statement

Since publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the State Register on February 27, 2008, the proposed rule was revised as set forth in the Statement Concerning the Regulatory Impact Statement.

The proposed amendment, as revised, is necessary to conform sections 145-2.2 and 145-2.9 of the Commissioner's Regulations to subdivisions 2 and 6 of section 665 of the Education Law, as amended by Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2007, respectively, relating to the academic achievement requirements a student mush meet before being certified for a payment on his or her TAP award including such an award for accelerated study, and will not have an adverse impact on jobs or employment activities. Because it is evident from the nature of the revised amendment that it will have no impact on jobs or employment opportunities, no further steps were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a job impact statement is not required and one has not been prepared.

Assessment of Public Comment

Since publication of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the State Register on February 27, 2008, the State Education Department received the following comment on the proposed amendment.

COMMENT:

The State Education Department received a letter in support of the proposed amendment to sections 145-2.2 and 145-2.9 of the Commissioner's Regulations.

DEPARTMENT RESPONSE:

No response is necessary.