November 15, 2002

12-Hour Rule, Viewed as Limiting Distance Education, Expires

By DAN CARNEVALE

The 12-hour rule is dead. The U.S. Department of Education this month issued a final regulation in the Federal Register to kill a once-obscure financial-aid restriction that had become a source of repeated complaints. Distance-education providers have been calling loudly for the rule's demise for several years, arguing that it prevented them from developing innovative online programs.

The regulation, which affected many distance programs, required higher-education programs that did not

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