No proprietary institution shall qualify for receipt of tuition equalization grant funds unless such institution submits evidence to the NPEC that it meets all the following criteria:

  1. The institution is a baccalaureate degree granting institution of higher learning.
  2. The institution is domiciled and incorporated in the State of Georgia.
  3. The institution has met all the requirements of O.C.G.A. Section 20-3-411(2)(B)(i) by January 1, 2011.
  4. The institution is accredited by SACSCOC.
  5. The institution is not a Bible school or college (or, at the graduate level, a school or college of theology or divinity). Institutions holding an exemption under O.C.G.A. Section 20-3-250.3(a)(6) cannot qualify for Tuition Equalization Grant Funds.
  6. The institution admits as regular students only persons who have a high school diploma, a general education development (GED) certificate, or a degree from an accredited postsecondary institution.
  7. The students of the institution are eligible to participate in the federal Pell Grant program.
  8. The institution has been in existence in the State of Georgia for at least ten years.
  9. Criteria for graduation rates, job placement rates and developmental studies placement rates will correspond to criteria for University System of Georgia institutions as established for the HOPE Scholarship program.
  10. The institution meets requirements for faculty and all other Minimum Standards Criteria employed by the commission in reviewing an institution for authorization to operate as provided by O.C.G.A. Section 20-3-250.5 and in GNPEC Policy 4: Minimum Standards for Educational Institutions.
  11. The institution is eligible to participate in all federal education programs as set forth in Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. If an institution is subsequently removed from participation in any Title IV program, it will no longer be eligible for tuition equalization grant funds.
  12. The institution has an articulation agreement with at least one other regionally accredited baccalaureate degree granting institution to ensure that a majority of a student's credits may transfer to a regionally accredited baccalaureate degree granting institution or has the generally accepted designation in the Transfer of Credit Practices published by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
  13. The only students who will receive tuition equalization grants are students attending classes at one of the following:
    1. a bona fide campus,
    2. a satellite campus regularly operated for educational purposes by the institution, or
    3. a distance learning center which had been approved by NPEC.
  14. Neither the institution nor any of its agents will refer to tuition equalization grant funds in a false, deceptive, misleading, or unfair manner in any advertising brochure, catalog, or other promotional material.

 

 

 

Approved by Commission Vote on October 28, 2019