Office of Postsecondary Education - U.S. Department of Education

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2010 / Rules and Regulations66889WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with RULES2responsible for submitting the names ofsecondary schools.Changes: None.Comment: A couple of commentersdistinguished between a high schooldiploma and a transcript, and suggestedthat a transcript is more valuable forinstitutions to use to determine thevalidity of the student’s high schoolcompletion. Another commenter notedthat transcripts and diplomas are notinterchangeable and that theDepartment should clarify this.Discussion: We agree that a highschool transcript is not the same as adiploma. It is the latter that is requiredunder the student eligibility regulationsand the statute, not the former. Atranscript may be a valuable tool indetermining whether a high schooldiploma is valid because by listing thecourses the student completed, itdemonstrates the extent of his or hersecondary school education.Changes: None.Comment: One commenter seemed tothink that an institution would submitdocumentation to the Department forreview if a student was chosen forverification due to not answering theFAFSA questions about his or her highschool diploma.Discussion: The Department does notplan to require institutions to submitindividuals’ high school documentationfor validation. Moreover, theDepartment does not intend to selectapplicants for verification just becausethey did not complete the high schooldiploma questions on the FAFSA.Changes: None.Comment: A few commenterssuggested that institutions should not beconsidered to have reason to believethat an applicant’s high school diplomais not valid or was not obtained from anentity that provides secondary schooleducation, unless the information fromFAFSA processing suggests that. Thesecommenters argued that institutionsshould not be obligated to investigatewhether every applicant’s high schooldiploma is valid, nor should theinstitution be required, if it is aninstitution that collects diplomainformation as part of the admissionsprocess, to cross-check that informationagainst the information from the FAFSAbecause that would be too burdensome.Discussion: For the 2011–2012 awardyear, we will not provide any additionalhigh school diploma information on theInstitutional Student InformationRecord (ISIR) beyond what the studentsubmitted on the FAFSA. We will notexpect institutions to check the ISIRhigh school data for every studentagainst other information obtained bythe institution during the admissionsprocess. However, if an institution hasreason to believe (or the Secretaryindicates) that a high school diploma isnot valid, the institution must follow itsprocedures to evaluate the validity ofthe diploma.Changes: None.Comment: One commenter requestedthat the Department declare that§ 668.16(p) will not be retroactive.Discussion: This requirement willapply to institutions beginning on July1, 2011, the effective date for theseregulations. This means that institutionswill be required to follow theprocedures developed under § 668.16(p)for any applicant who completes aFAFSA beginning with the 2011–2012award year.Changes: None.Comment: Several commentersrequested that we allow FAAs to foregodiploma validation for students whohave completed six credits of collegecoursework that applies to a program ofstudy at the institution or if thestudent’s ability to be admitted to theinstitution or eligibility for title IV, HEAaid is otherwise not affected.Discussion: It is correct that a studentwithout a high school diploma would beeligible for title IV, HEA aid if he or shemeets one of the other academic criteria,such as successfully completing sixcredits or 225 clock hours of collegelevelcoursework that apply to aprogram at the current institution.However, because students have thatflexibility does not obviate therequirement that for an institution to beeligible, it must admit as regularstudents only those with a high schooldiploma, or the recognized equivalent,or who are beyond the age ofcompulsory school attendance.Changes: None.Comment: One commenter asked thatif the Department permits waivers to therequirement in § 668.16(p) to followprocedures to check the validity of ahigh school diploma, that institutions,in particular those that do not admitstudents without a diploma or theequivalent, be permitted to evaluate thevalidity of a diploma if they choose.Discussion: There will be no waiversof the requirement that an institutionmust evaluate the validity of a highschool diploma when it or the Secretaryhas reason to believe that the diplomais not valid or was not obtained from aschool that provides secondary schooleducation.Changes: None.Comment: One commenter asked thatwe interpret section 123 of the HEA (20U.S.C. 1011l) to apply to high schooldiploma mills as well as collegediploma mills.VerDate Mar2010 14:10 Oct 28, 2010 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00059 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\29OCR2.SGM 29OCR2Discussion: This section of the HEAprovides that the Department will,among other things, maintaininformation on its Web site to educatestudents, families, and employers aboutdiploma mills and that it willcollaborate with other Federal agenciesto broadly disseminate to the publicinformation on how to identify diplomamills. While section 105 of the HEA (20U.S.C. 1003) defines diploma mill onlyin terms of postsecondary education, weintend to examine the issue of highschool diploma mills further.Changes: None.Comment: One commenter urged theDepartment’s Office of InspectorGeneral to be actively engaged withother agencies in detecting fraud,especially given that high schooldiploma mills may adopt names oflegitimate schools.Discussion: The Department’s Officeof Inspector General will continue towork with other agencies as appropriateto detect fraud in this area.Changes: None.Comment: One institution commentedthat it finds it difficult to explain tostudents who present questionable highschool credentials why those credentialsare not sufficient for receiving title IV,HEA aid.Discussion: In a situation such as this,we believe that it would be appropriatefor the institution to explain to studentsthe concept of a high school diplomamill, i.e., an entity that offers acredential, typically for a fee, andrequires little or no academic work onthe part of the purchaser of thecredential. We believe that studentswith a credential from a diploma millwould not have a sufficient educationalfoundation for success at thepostsecondary level and should notreceive title IV, HEA aid.Changes: None.Comment: One commenter urged theDepartment to clarify that the diplomasof high schools that are not accreditedare not necessarily invalid under§ 668.16(p). Several commenters askedwhether a new high school that wasoperating but had not yet receivedaccreditation would be acceptable underthis regulation. A small private highschool expressed concern that the newprovision would hinder its studentsfrom going to college because it is notaccredited and this provision may bemisinterpreted to mean that nonaccreditedhigh schools are notacceptable. The school asked that wedisabuse the public of the mistakennotion that for students to receive titleIV, HEA aid, their high school diplomasmust be from accredited schools.