Thursday, October 11, 2001

House Votes to Ease Rules on Distance Education, but Senators May Not Agree By DAN CARNEVALE Washington The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday to curtail regulations that many critics say inhibit distance education. But political observers predict that the bill will stall in the Senate. The bill, H.R. 1992, has been praised by many distance-education administrators who see federal regulations as an impediment to nontraditional education, such as online courses. But some faculty groups have criticized the measure, saying that the regulations ensure quality in education and that if the rules are rescinded, students could be defrauded by illegitimate operations. Political observers and Senate sources say the bill won't become law this year. Even before September 11, they say, Senators were more interested in other issues that will occupy whatever time the Senate has for discussing education. The legislation passed Wednesday in the House would, for some institutions, effectively eliminate the 50-percent rule, which forbids an institution from providing federal financial aid if it teaches more than half of its students at a distance, or if more than half of its courses are distance courses. The bill would also change the 12-hour rule, which requires a student to spend at least 12 hours a week in a physical classroom to be eligible for federal financial aid. If the bill were to pass the Senate and be signed into law by President Bush, any institution that is currently providing federal financial aid could ignore the 50-percent rule, provided that its loan-default rate had been below 10 percent during the previous three years. Institutions currently providing federal financial aid could also ignore the 12-hour rule. Instead, students would have to spend at least one day a week interacting with the professor, either face to face or at a distance. But the bill does not define what constitutes one day of instruction. The bill also authorizes the secretary of education to review any institutions about which questions are raised. If necessary, the secretary can prevent them from bypassing the existing regulations. Language in the bill limits its provisions to colleges that now provide federal aid, meaning that it would affect two groups of institutions. One group comprises traditional colleges that now offer distance courses. The other includes a variety of nontraditional institutions that have been admitted to federal aid programs under experimental waivers authorized by Congress. Distance-education institutions that are not included in either group would continue to be bound by the current rules. Rep. Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, said while the House was debating the bill that the existing regulations seemed like a good idea in 1992, when they were passed -- and when distance education was not a growing industry. But he said federal regulations need to reflect the fact that major colleges and universities are now embracing online education. "Seat time was the only method of measuring in the old days," he said. "Why should we not trust the delivery of instruction by those same institutions with distance learning?" But Rep. Patsy Mink, a Hawaii Democrat, responded that the bill goes too far in eliminating regulations that are meant to protect students against fraud. "There's no way of saying a one-day log-in constitutes a full-time student," she said. "Twelve hours is the very barest minimum to require a student to receive full financial aid." The bill had broad support from both political parties, passing by a vote of 354 to 70. Sen. Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, has sponsored the Senate companion bill, S. 1445. Mr. Isakson remains optimistic that the bill will become law this year. "That's my hope," he said in an interview after the House vote. "If we can't, we'll pass it early next year." Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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