Sec. 13b.01.01.09. Instructional Programs

A. Hours.

(1) A school may measure instructional time of programs and courses in either clock hours or credit hours with the approval of the Secretary of Higher Education.

(2) Clock Hours. Schools that are authorized to measure instructional time in clock hours shall report the total number of clock hours and the number of weeks for each program and the component courses. A school shall adopt a consistent measurement of clock hours for which 1 clock hour equates to a minimum of 50 minutes of actual instructional time per each 60-minute hour.

(3) Credit Hours.

(a) Each school using credit hours shall use either semester hours or quarter hours.

(b) Schools that are authorized to measure instructional time in credit hours are required to convert clock hours to credit hours using a consistent formula.

(c) In converting clock hours to credit hours, the school may use either the following formula or a formula required by the U.S. Department of Education:

(i) One semester credit hour is the equivalent of 15 hours of classroom contact when the lecture instruction method is employed. Each hour of classroom instruction shall be at least 50 minutes in length.

(ii) One semester credit hour is the equivalent of 30 hours of laboratory contact when the supervised laboratory method of instruction is employed. Each hour of laboratory instruction shall be at least 50 minutes in length.

(iii) One semester credit hour is the equivalent of 45 hours of instructional situations such as shop, practica, and internships. Each hour of these instructional situations shall be at least 50 minutes in length.

(iv) One quarter hour of credit is the equivalent of 2/3 of the contact hours required for 1 semester hour of credit. Therefore, one quarter hour of credit is equivalent to 10 contact hours of classroom instruction, 20 contact hours of laboratory instruction, and 30 contact hours in instructional situations such as shop, practica, and internships. A school shall have 3 academic terms in each calendar year in order to measure instructional time in quarter hours.

(v) In converting clock hours to credit hours a school shall adopt a consistent measurement of clock hours for all programs and their component courses.

(vi) A school shall adopt a consistent measurement of credit hours using either semester or quarter hour credits for all programs and their component courses.

B. Program length and content shall be appropriate to provide the training necessary to achieve the stated occupational objectives of the program as approved. The length of the training period may not be longer than professional good practice requires to provide a student with the required skills, and arrange for the acquiring of job knowledge, technical information, and other facts which the student will need to learn in order to become competent in the occupation for which the student is being trained.

C. Each school shall state in its catalog that credits earned are for determining progress toward program completion only, and that credits are not necessarily transferable to another private career school or to a collegiate institution.

D. Time for laboratory instruction shall be stated in terms of clock hours. Laboratory instruction shall be integrated with theory in accordance with sound educational practice and as approved by the Secretary.

E. Each program shall be structured and coherent and have clearly delineated objectives as well as stated student learning outcomes.

F. In order to be graduated from a program, a student shall have a minimum attendance rate of 80 percent of the total program.

G. Each program shall contain a residency requirement sufficient to assure competence in the area in which the student is being trained.

H. A school shall strictly enforce written policies of attendance and academic progress that are reviewed and approved by the Secretary before implementation. The attendance and academic progress policies shall specify the actions the school shall take if a student fails to achieve the school's minimum standards of attendance and academic progress.

I. A school shall maintain documentation in each student's file to demonstrate compliance with the school's approved policies of attendance and academic progress.

J. Training shall be conducted in conformity with generally accepted educational, professional, and ethical standards.

K. A school shall demonstrate that each of its approved programs provides quality training and leads to the training-related employment of program graduates. The Secretary shall identify indicators, including minimum program performance standards, to be used by a school to demonstrate whether each of its programs is in compliance with this regulation.

L. Externships.

(1) A school shall maintain, for each program which includes an externship component, agreements which provide a sufficient number of externship sites to accommodate the maximum number of students approved to be enrolled in all sessions of the program that are scheduled for externship at the same time.

(2) Each externship agreement shall clearly delineate the roles and responsibilities of both the school and the externship training site regarding insurance coverage for students as well as the monitoring and evaluation of students during their externship.

(3) Students assigned to externship sites shall be under the direct supervision of a fully qualified practitioner and under the direction of school faculty. The externship shall provide an educationally sound practicum experience which complements and augments the classroom component of the approved program.

M. Leaves of Absence.

(1) Official leaves of absence may be granted by a school only under a written leave policy that is published in the school's catalog. The policy shall require a student to provide a written, signed, and dated request for a leave of absence. The school shall document the leave of absence in the student's file, report the student's last date of attendance as the start of the leave, record the reason for the leave, and specify, with the consent of the student, an end date for the leave of absence.

(2) The school shall grant a leave of absence in accordance with sound educational practice. There shall be space and resources available for the student to resume instruction upon the conclusion of the leave of absence. There shall also be a reasonable expectation that the student will return to the school and complete the program successfully. If a student does not resume attendance at the school on or before the end of the leave of absence, the school shall treat the student as a withdrawal in accordance with Regulation .12M(3) of this chapter.

(3) Additional charges may not be imposed upon the student related to an official leave of absence. Any effects on student loan repayment terms, including possible exhaustion of available grace periods, shall be explained to the student before a leave of absence is granted. Evidence of compliance shall be maintained by the school as part of the student's permanent record.

(4) In total, a student may not be granted cumulative leave from the school for more than 180 days.