Opinion ID: 2806273
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: SBC’s Program Participation Agreements

Text: We now turn to the merits. In September 2005, SBL’s campus in Fenton, Missouri, entered into a PPA with the U.S. Secretary of Education (2005 PPA). In bold lettering on the first page of the fifteen‐page agreement reads the following: The execution of this Agreement by the Institu‐ tion and the Secretary is a prerequisite to the Institution’s initial or continued participation in any Title IV, HEA Program. Appellees’ App. 92 at ¶ 1. The 2005 PPA also provides, in relevant part, that “[t]he Institution understands and agrees that it is subject to and will comply with the program statutes and implementing regulations for institutional eligibility ... .”4 4 The 2005 PPA asserts that upon entry, the signatory certifies compliance with—to name just a few—Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, and the implementing regulations, 34 C.F.R. Parts 100 and 101 (barring discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin); Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the implementing regula‐ tions, 34 C.F.R. Part 106 (barring discrimination on the basis of sex); The Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and the implementing regulations, 34 C.F.R. Part 99; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the implementing regulations, 34 C.F.R. Part 104 (barring discrimination on the basis of physical handicap); and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 and the (continued...) 18 No. 14‐2506 By our estimation, the executed 2005 PPA incorporates by reference thousands of pages of other federal laws and regulations. When the 2005 PPA was executed by John M. Larson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sanford‐Brown College, and the U.S. Department of Education’s designated representative, the signatories: (i) intended that the campuses covered by the 2005 PPA would operate in compliance with the conditions specified in the 2005 PPA, including institu‐ tional eligibility requirements; and (ii) believed that all certifications and statements of fact contained in the 2005 PPA were true and accurate. See Larson Decl. at ¶¶ 5, 6. In 2006, SBC was added to the 2005 PPA. In December 2007, Sanford‐Brown’s campus in Jacksonville, Florida, entered into a PPA with the U.S. Department of Education (2007 PPA). The identical, bolded requirement that the Agreement be executed for initial or continued participa‐ tion in any Title IV, HEA Program appears on the first page of the 2007 PPA, as does the same statement about compliance for the purpose of institutional eligibility. The panoply of federal statutes and regulations that appeared in the 2005 PPA also remained—in fact, more were added—and the same represen‐ tations about the truthfulness and accuracy of the statements of fact contained in the 2005 PPA were made with respect to the 2007 PPA. See McCullough Decl. at ¶¶ 7, 8. In May 2008, with the Education Department’s approval, SBC was removed 4 (...continued) implementing regulations, 34 C.F.R. Part 110. No. 14‐2506 19 from the 2005 PPA and added as an additional campus covered under the 2007 PPA.