Michigan Administrative Code › Department - Treasury › Student Financial Services Bureau › Michigan Education Trust › Section R. 390.1801 - Definitions

Current through Vol. 24-12, July 15, 2024
Rule 1.
(1) As used
				in these rules:
(a) "Academic year" means the
				undergraduate school year consisting of 2 semesters or 3 terms or quarters
				beginning the first semester, term, or quarter after July 15 of any
				year.
(b) "Act" means 1986 PA 316,
				MCL 390.1421 et seq.
(c) "Annual
				undergraduate tuition cost" means a figure determined by dividing the total
				in-state, undergraduate tuition collected by a particular state institution of
				higher education for a year by the total number of in-state, undergraduate,
				fiscal year equated students at that particular school for that year.
(d) "Application" means a request for
				acceptance into the trust made on a form, or a duplicate of a form, approved by
				the trust.
(e) "Application fee"
				means a fee paid to the trust upon application.
(f) "Average tuition cost" means a figure
				determined by adding the annual undergraduate tuition cost at each state
				institution of higher education and dividing that result by the total number of
				state institutions of higher education.
(g) "Beneficiary" means an individual who is
				designated as a beneficiary in a contract with the trust. The beneficiary shall
				be a resident as defined in this rule when the contract is submitted to the
				trust.
(h) "Community or junior
				college" means an educational institution described in 1963 Mich. Const., Art.
				VIII, section 7.
(i) "Contract"
				means any 1 of the following Michigan education trust contracts:
(i) Full benefits plan contract offered in
				1988.
(ii) Limited benefits plan
				contract offered in 1988.
(iii)
				Community college plan contract offered in 1988.
(iv) Any other contract to provide
				educational benefits approved by the board.
(j) "Contract processing fee" means a fee
				paid for the processing of a contract.
(k) "Disabled" or "disability" means a
				limitation of an individual's learning ability that results from an injury or
				disease which renders the individual incapable of participating in higher
				education.
(l) "Escrow account"
				means an account called an escrow account in any contract.
(m) "Higher education institution" means a
				public educational institution, an independent, degree-granting college or
				university, or an out-of-state institution of higher education.
(n) "Immediate family" has 1 of the following
				meanings:
(i) For contracts issued in the
				years 1988 to 1996, the term means any of the following:
(A) The purchaser or any of the following
				relations of the purchaser:
(1) A
				spouse.
(2) A child.
(3) A stepchild.
(4) An adopted child.
(5) A grandchild.
(6) A niece or nephew.
(7) A ward.
(B) Any of the following relations of the
				beneficiary:
(1) A brother or
				sister.
(2) A stepbrother or
				stepsister.
(3) A cousin of the
				first degree.
(4) A mother or
				father.
(C) Another
				person designated by the board to be a member of the immediate
				family.
(ii) For
				contracts issued after the year 1996, the term means any of the following
				relations of the beneficiary:
(A) A
				spouse.
(B) A mother or
				father.
(C) A brother or
				sister.
(D) A legally adopted
				brother or sister.
(E) A
				child.
(F) A legally adopted
				child.
(G) A spouse's
				child.
(H) A niece or
				nephew.
(I) A cousin of the first
				degree.
(o)
				"Independent, degree-granting college or university" means either of the
				following:
(i) For contracts issued in the
				years 1988 to 1996, the term means a nonpublic, associate or baccalaureate
				degree-granting institution of higher education approved by the state board of
				education and located in this state.
(ii) For contracts issued after the year
				1996, the term means a nonprofit, nonpublic, associate or baccalaureate
				degree-granting institution of higher education approved by the state board of
				education and located in this state.
(p) "In-district tuition rate" means the
				tuition rate charged a student who meets the in-district residency requirements
				established by a particular community or junior college.
(q) "In-state tuition rate" means the tuition
				rate charged a student who meets the in-state residency requirements of a
				particular state institution of higher education.
(r) "Item" means any of the categories listed
				and numbered on the signature page of a contract.
(s) "Lowest tuition cost" means the lowest
				annual tuition rate charged freshmen, sophomores, juniors, or seniors among all
				annual tuition rates at any state institution of higher education.
(t) "Mandatory fee" means any fee, other than
				charges for credit hours, room, and board, which an educational institution
				requires all students to pay.
(u)
				"New beneficiary" means an individual who is an immediate family member to whom
				contract rights have been transferred.
(v) "Out-of-state institution of higher
				education" means 1 of the following:
(i) A
				nonprofit, baccalaureate degree-granting college or university located outside
				this state.
(ii) A proprietary
				baccalaureate degree-granting college or university located outside this state
				that is eligible to participate in United States department of education
				student aid programs.
(iii) A
				community or junior college located outside this state that is eligible to
				participate in United States department of education student aid
				programs.
(w) "Person"
				means an individual who is a resident of the United States or a partnership,
				trust, association, corporation, or governmental subdivision organized or
				existing under the laws of the United States or any state of the United
				States.
(x) "Plan" means any group
				of contracts so identified by the trust as a plan.
(y) "Prepaid tuition amount" means the dollar
				amount paid for a contract, but does not include an application fee and any
				contract processing fee set forth in the contract.
(z) "Public educational institution" means a
				state institution of higher education or a community or junior
				college.
(aa) "Purchaser" means the
				person designated in a contract who makes, or is obligated to make, advance
				tuition payments pursuant to a contract. The purchaser, if a natural person,
				shall be 18 years of age or older or a trustee or a designated custodian under
				the provisions of 1959 PA 172, MCL 554.451 et seq., or be represented by a
				court-appointed or approved conservator or guardian.
(bb) "Resident" means an individual who is
				domiciled in, or whose state of legal residence is, this state.
(cc) "Secured loan" means a single-purpose
				installment payment loan made by a third-party lender to a purchaser for the
				purpose of making the total contract price.
(dd) "Termination" means a discontinuance of
				the right to receive educational benefits under the contract.
(ee) "Third-party lender" means a savings
				institution, bank, credit union, or other party which is under contract with
				the trust to offer secured loans for the purchase of contracts.
(ff) "Third-party servicer" means a savings
				institution, bank, credit union, or other party under contract with the trust
				to service the receipt of contracts and contract payments.
(gg) "Total contract price" means the amount
				paid for a contract, including any contract processing fee set forth in the
				contract, but not including an application fee.
(hh) "Transfer" means moving all or a portion
				of the contract rights from the beneficiary to a new beneficiary.
(ii) "Tuition account" means an account
				established by the trust in the advance tuition payment fund to hold all monies
				to provide educational benefits or refunds for plan contracts. This account
				shall not be subject to a claim for payment by a third-party lender.
(jj) "Tuition charges" means the
				undergraduate quarter, term, semester, or trimester charges imposed to attend a
				higher education institution, including mandatory fees.
(kk) "Undergraduate fiscal year equated
				students" means a figure determined for each state institution of higher
				education by dividing 1/4 of the number of credit hours necessary to receive a
				4-year baccalaureate degree at that state institution of higher education into
				the number of credit hours for which in-state undergraduate students were
				enrolled.