Alaska Administrative Code › Title 20 - Miscellaneous Boards and Commissions › Chapter 17 - Regulation of Postsecondary Educational Institutions › Article 1 - Authorization to Operate and Agent's Permits › 20 AAC 17.070 - Advertisement and solicitation

Current through May 31, 2024
(a) Institutions and
				agents may not engage in solicitation of students by making claims concerning the
				training, instruction, course content, facilities, instructor qualifications, or
				placement that are not truthful and demonstrable and based on actual services
				rendered.
(b) Institutions and agents
				must clearly disclose full charges and fees to a prospective student and, if the
				student is not emancipated, to the student's parent or guardian. Claims as to the
				availability of scholarships or fee reductions may not be made unless they are,
				in fact, scholarships or fee reductions and are clearly stated and
				described.
(c) An institution may not
				falsely represent, directly or indirectly, by use of a name or in any other
				manner, that it is a part of or connected with an agency of the federal or state
				government, that it is an employment agency or authorized training facility for
				an industry, or otherwise attempt to conceal the fact that it is a
				school.
(d) A postsecondary
				educational institution that conducts its instruction or otherwise offers a
				program substantially by distance education must make a clear and conspicuous
				disclosure in immediate conjunction with its trade, business, or program name
				that it is a distance education school or program. For purposes of this
				subsection, a program is offered substantially by distance education if greater
				than 20 percent of the clock or credit hours are delivered by distance education.
(e) An institution may not represent
				that it is accredited unless it is accredited as that term is defined in
				20 AAC 17.900(a) (8).
(f) An institution which represents that
				students completing a course or program of instruction may transfer credit to an
				accredited institution of higher education must be able to factually document the
				transferability.
(g) In recruiting
				students, a postsecondary educational institution may not use advertisements or
				promotional material that is classified, designated, or captioned "Wanted to
				train for...," "Help Wanted," "Employment," "Business Opportunities," or by words
				or terms of similar import, so as to represent directly or by implication that
				employment is being offered. Postsecondary educational institution advertisements
				must clearly state that the service being advertised is instruction for which the
				student must pay tuition or a fee, if a fee is charged.
(h) If a postsecondary educational institution
				represents that it offers a placement service to its graduates or will otherwise
				secure or assist them to find employment, a detailed and explicit description of
				the extent and nature of this service or assistance must be contained in its
				catalog, including the most recently completed placement rate calculated under
				(j) of this section.
(i) A
				postsecondary educational institution may not, except as authorized by federal or
				state regulations, offer material gifts or services of a retail value greater
				than $50 as incentives or inducements for enrollment or retention in a program of
				training. Tools or equipment customarily owned by practitioners in the field of
				training and necessarily used during the training course and subsequent
				employment are exempt from this prohibition so long as their value does not
				exceed 10 percent of the price of instruction.
(j) If an institution uses placement
				information or statistics in advertising or recruitment of potential students or
				offers placement services, the institution must calculate placement rates using a
				standard methodology approved by the commission for both program and institution
				placement. The institution shall keep placement records for all programs except
				if a program is primarily a review or refresher program or short skill
				enhancement program. Placement records and statistics must be readily available
				to prospective students upon request.
(k) An institution may not advertise that it
				will provide or offer collegiate instruction or degree programs unless the
				institution is accredited as a collegiate level institution and the degree
				advertised is within the scope of the institution's accreditation. An institution
				whose degree programs were specifically exempted under
				20 AAC 17.015(a) (6) before March 1, 2002
				may continue to offer the exempted degrees only.
(l) An institution may not advertise that it
				will open, offer a new or continuing program, accept deposits, or solicit
				applications unless the institution maintains documentation of access to
				financial, academic, and administrative resources sufficient to offer the program
				at the time of advertisement or solicitation.
(m) An institution may not indicate by use of
				an appellation, abbreviation, or similar designation that the institution's
				administrators or instructors have academic degrees unless those degrees were
				earned through successful completion of a required curriculum from an accredited
				institution.
Authority:
AS
					 14.42.030
AS 14.48.050
AS
					 14.48.060