Friday, November 1, 2002

12-Hour Rule Expires Today; Distance-Education Providers Had Long Sought Its Demise By DAN CARNEVALE Washington The 12-hour rule is dead. The U.S. Department of Education is issuing a final regulation in today's 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 operate in a standard semester, trimester, or quarter system to offer a minimum of 12 hours of course work a week if their students were to be eligible for federal financial aid. The rule is being replaced with a regulation that says institutions must offer at least one day of instruction a week to qualify for aid. Although the meaning of "one day" has never been defined, the one-day rule has long been the requirement for college programs that operate in a traditional calendar format. The Education Department's action today simply extends the requirement to nonstandard programs. The move, which comes after years of heated debates, was widely anticipated. (See an article from The Chronicle, September 6.) But few institutions have indicated that they will make changes with their newfound freedom. Distance-education providers argued that the 12-hour rule needed to be abolished so they could offer courses that working adults, the primary customers for distance education, could take according to their own schedules. But critics argued that getting rid of the 12-hour rule would lead to a resurgence of the fraud and abuse that the regulation was intended to prevent. "Most of the comments we received supported the proposed change that would eliminate the so-called '12-hour' rule," reads the department's notice in the Federal Register. "Most commenters were very supportive of the proposal to use a single standard for all educational programs by extending the current 'one-day' rule." None of the people who said they disagreed with the proposed change suggested any other alternatives, the notice says. Background articles from The Chronicle: A Hard-Fought Win for Distance Education May Lead to Few Real Changes (9/6/2002) Education Department Seeks to Ease Rules on Student Aid (8/16/2002) Federal Report on Key Aid Rule Avoids Making Recommendations (8/10/2001) Education Dept. Told That Aid Rules Impede Distance Education (1/19/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

10 states ask U.S. Supreme Court to take up Michigan affirmative-action case Increase in political spending by student-loan industry could pose a "danger," group says NCAA approves new academic standards for athletes Faculty members care more about students, less about prestige, study finds President of Macalester College will leave to become head of research foundation 12-hour rule expires today; distance-education providers had long sought its demise