What is the For-Profit School Disclosures Policy?
Under Iowa Code Section 714.25, certain for-profit schools are required to provide student consumer information disclosures.
What schools must provide disclosures?
A for-profit school that offers at least one program leading to a recognized postsecondary credential, which may include but is not limited to:
- An academic or professional degree, diploma, license, or other certification or designation, regardless of whether the school awards the credential.
- A certificate, badge, or other type of professional credential awarded by a corporation or employer (e.g., “microcredentials” issued by software companies like Microsoft, Adobe, etc).
Which for-profit schools do not have to adopt the 714.25 disclosure policy?
- For-profit schools that are eligible for federal financial student aid
- Personal vehicle driving education schools
- Postsecondary vocational schools that offer solely discrete continuing education courses
- A for-profit school that offers solely programs for which the sum of tuition, fees, instructional materials, technology, and other items required for program completion is less than three thousand dollars
- A newly authorized for-profit school is exempt from data reporting until the school’s first biennial financial responsibility renewal application.
What information must be disclosed?
A for-profit school offering a recognized educational credential shall, prior to the time a student is obligated for payment of any funds, inform the student, and the college student aid commission of all of the following data.
- The current total cost of the postsecondary educational program as charged by the for-profit school.
- An estimate of fees that may be charged to the student by others in order to obtain a recognized educational credential, including but not limited to fees for examination or licensure.
- The percentage of students who successfully complete the postsecondary educational program, and the percentage who terminate prior to completing the postsecondary educational program*.
- If claims are made by the for-profit school as to successful placement of students in jobs upon completion of the for-profit school’s postsecondary educational programs, the for-profit school shall provide the student with all of the following*:
- The percentage of graduating students who were placed in jobs in fields related to the postsecondary educational programs.
- The percentage of graduating students who went on to further education immediately upon graduation. The percentage of students who, ninety days after graduation, were without a job and had not gone on to further education.
- The method by which the for-profit school collected and verified the validity of data.
- If claims are made by the for-profit school as to income levels of students who have graduated and are working in fields related to the for-profit school’s postsecondary educational programs, the for-profit school shall inform the student of the method used to derive such information.
*Schools should include the following information: 1) the applicable program name and the normal length of time required to complete the program; 2) the total number of students in the cohort for which data is reported and the year in which the students began the program; and 3) the percentage of students that met the conditions and the most recent ending date for program completion in each of the school’s programs.
Who receives the disclosures?
- Current and Prospective Students
- Iowa College Student Aid Commission
How does a school demonstrate compliance?
A school demonstrates compliance as part of the school’s application for authorization to operate under Registration, Exemption from Registration, or Financial Responsibility.
Questions?
Contact the Postsecondary Authorization Team.