Inclusion	of	Clinical	Work	in	a	Standard	Term
Periods	of	medical	and	education	program	clinical	work	which	is	conducted	outside	the	classroom	may	not	be	included	in
a	standard	term,	unless	all	of	the	following	apply:
All	students	in	the	program	must	participate	in	the	practicum	or	clinical	experience,	and	they	must	be	required	to
complete	the	practicum	or	clinical	experience	as	a	condition	for	applying	for	licensure	or	authorization	to	practice	the
occupation	they	intend	to	pursue;
The	school	has	little	or	no	control	over	the	length	or	starting	and	ending	dates	of	the	practicum	or	clinical
experience.	This	may	be	due	to	constraints	imposed	by	outside	licensing	bodies	or	the	need	to	accommodate
schedules	of	entities	with	which	students	are	being	placed	(e.g.,	school	districts	or	hospitals);	and
Credit	hours	associated	with	the	practicum	or	clinical	experience	must	be	associated	with	the	term	in	which	most	of
the	training	occurs,	even	if	the	starting	and	ending	dates	do	not	exactly	align	with	the	term	dates	and/or	overlap	with
another	term.
If	the	clinical	work	meets	all	the	above	criteria,	terms	which	include	such	clinical	work	are	not	required	to	be	considered
nonstandard,	nor	are	such	programs	required	to	be	considered	non-term,	even	if	the	clinical	work	overlaps	another	term.
This	flexibility	is	limited	to	required	clinical	periods	associated	with	standard	term	programs	in	medicine	(including,	but
not	limited	to,	allopathic,	osteopathic,	nursing,	veterinary,	dentistry,	pharmacy,	and	physical	therapy),	and	student
teaching	required	to	obtain	a	state	teaching	certificate.
See	Volume	8,	Chapter	3	for	additional	guidance	on	certain	exceptions	to	the	normal	loan	period	and	disbursement	timing
rules	for	Direct	Loans	when	clinical	work	that	meets	the	criteria	described	above	is	included	in	a	standard	term.
Nonstandard	Terms
Generally,	nonstandard	terms	are	terms	that	are	not	semesters,	trimesters,	or	quarters.	For	example,	a	5-week	term	or	a
23-week	term	would	be	considered	a	nonstandard	term	because	no	standard	term	can	be	fewer	than	nine	weeks	or
greater	than	21	weeks	in	length.	Like	standard	terms,	nonstandard	terms	may	be	equal	in	length	or	may	be	of	different
lengths.	If	a	program	is	offered	in	a	combination	of	standard	terms	and	nonstandard	terms,	the	program	is	considered	to
be	offered	in	nonstandard	terms.	Also,	like	standard	terms,	nonstandard	terms	may	not	overlap	within	a	program.
Even	if	a	school	calls	its	terms	semesters,	trimesters,	or	quarters,	they	are	considered	to	be	nonstandard	terms	if	they	do
not	comply	with	the	policy	on	standard	term	length,	as	described	earlier.	For	instance,	a	22-week	semester	or	an	8-week
quarter	must	be	treated	as	a	nonstandard	term,	because	a	semester	cannot	contain	more	than	21	weeks	and	a	quarter
must	include	a	minimum	of	nine	weeks.
Semesters,	trimesters,	or	quarters	are	also	considered	to	be	nonstandard	terms	if	academic	progress	is	not	measured	in
the	manner	normally	associated	with	the	type	of	term.	For	example,	if	a	program	is	offered	in	15-week	semesters	but
measures	academic	progress	in	quarter	credit	hours,	the	semesters	would	be	considered	nonstandard	terms.
Non-Term	Characteristics
A	program	that	measures	progress	in	clock	hours	is	always	treated	as	a	non-term	program.
Except	for	subscription-based	programs,	a	program	that	measures	progress	in	credit-hours	is	considered	to	have	a	non-
term	calendar	if	it	has:
Courses	that	do	not	begin	and	end	within	a	set	period	of	time	such	as	a	term;
Courses	that	overlap	terms;
Self-paced	and	independent	study	courses	that	overlap	terms;	or
Sequential	courses	that	do	not	begin	and	end	within	a	term.
Payment	Periods
The	payment	period	is	applicable	to	all	Title	IV	programs	except	the	Federal	Work-Study	(FWS)	Program.	For	example,
Title	IV	program	disbursements	(except	FWS	payments)	must	be	made	on	a	payment	period	basis,	as	discussed	in	detail