Monday, April 29, 2002

After Panel Deadlocks, Education Department Vows to Relax 12-Hour Rule Itself By DAN CARNEVALE Washington An Education Department panel failed to reach consensus Friday on whether to get rid of a financial-aid regulation that some say stunts the growth of distance education. But department officials said they would move forward on their own to relax the rule. Some people on the 14-member rule-making panel had strong reservations about ALSO SEE: Negotiations Collapse Over Federal Rules on Compensation for Admissions Recruiters changing the regulation, which is known as the 12-hour rule. It requires college programs that don't operate in a semester, trimester, or quarter system -- including many distance-education programs -- to deliver at least 12 hours of course work a week in order to distribute federal financial aid. The rule's backers maintain that it helps prevent fraud. But department officials said that because a 10-member majority of the panel members supported relaxing the 12-hour rule, the department would propose that the requirement be changed to "one day" of course work a week, which is already the rule for college programs that schedule courses according to traditional academic calendars. Easing the rule will allow colleges to develop innovative teaching methods, say the proponents, who add that "seat time" is a poor measure of a program's quality. Jeffrey Andrade, a higher-education adviser to the secretary of education, said that because most people who work in higher education want to see the 12-hour rule removed, the department will go ahead and make the change. "I think we owe it to them to move forward," he said after the committee's meeting. The department plans to announce a proposed rule in The Federal Register in late May or early June. The department had convened the panel to decide this and other issues in a process called negotiated rule making. Panel members included representatives of two- and four-year public and private colleges, proprietary schools, students, lenders, accreditors, and others. But some observers say the department stacked the panel with members who favored changing the rule. (See an article from The Chronicle, March 8.) The panel held three separate three-day meetings over the course of three months. But members were never able to reach the unanimous agreement necessary to change rules during negotiated rule making. Those who sought to keep the 12-hour rule -- including representatives of students, historically-black colleges, and legal-aid organizations -- said that changing it would give institutions too much flexibility, possibly leading to fraud. Elena Ackel, senior lawyer for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, said during the meeting that regulations meant to prevent fraud should not be weakened. The 12-hour rule acts as a safeguard against illegitimate institutions, which are often proprietary schools, she said. "Proprietary schools would enroll twice as many students if they only had to hold class for six hours," Ms. Ackel said. Although the 12-hour rule is imperfect, she said, the department has not presented an acceptable substitute. "I don't believe the one-day rule is the solution, and that's the only solution we've been presented with," Ms. Ackel said. But Stephen M. Kraut, a lawyer in the Education Department's office of general counsel, said institutions that want to defraud students can simply convert their programs to standard term-based courses to bypass the 12-hour rule. "The people who really want to cheat, all they have to do is convert to terms and they're set," he said. Dawn Mosisa, an assistant vice president for financial aid at University of Maryland University College, said many colleges are creating accelerated programs that aren't tied to traditional academic calendars. The problem, she said, is that the administrators creating the programs don't always consult beforehand with financial-aid counselors, who understand the 12-hour rule. "It's the traditional-based that are getting into trouble," Ms. Mosisa said. "You have schools that are beginning to offer programs that are non-term, and they don't know it." Mr. Andrade said during the meeting that the fate of the 12-hour rule has been debated for years, and that the Education Department shouldn't put off making the change any longer. "I think we were wrong in putting this in in the first place," he said. "And now we can correct that mistake." The 12-hour rule could also be changed in Congress through a bill, HR 1992, that has already passed the House of Representatives. However, a companion version in the Senate has stalled. Background articles from The Chronicle: Education Department Panel Weighs Changes to Controversial Aid Rules (3/22/2002) U.S. Education Dept. Accused of Stacking the Deck on a Controversial Rule (3/8/2002) House Votes to Ease Regulations on Distance Education (10/26/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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