§ 121.32. Approved institution in higher education grant program.
(a) To be eligible for a State higher education grant, an applicant shall enroll in a program approved under § 121.33 (relating to approved program of study in higher education grant program) and shall attend an institution of higher education approved by the Agency for enrollment of grant recipients under the State Higher Education Grant Program
(b) To be approved, an institution shall be other than a school of theology or a theological seminary as determined by the Agency, be located in the United States or any of its territories and comply with the following:
(1) If the institution is a college or university located within this Commonwealth, the institution shall be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and shall be accredited or a recognized candidate for accreditation with an accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and its successors; if the college or university is located outside this Commonwealth, the institution shall be degree-granting, shall be operated not-for-profit, shall be legally authorized to do business by the appropriate state licensing or approval authority in the state in which it is doing business and shall be fully accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education or the regional institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and its successors responsible for accreditation in the state where the college or university is conducting its educational program.
(2) If the institution is a hospital school of nursing located within this Commonwealth, the institution shall be initially, provisionally or fully approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing and shall be accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or other accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education for the accreditation of nursing schools; if located outside this Commonwealth, the institution shall be legally authorized to do business by the appropriate state licensing or approval authority in the state in which it is doing business and shall be accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or any other accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education for the accreditation of nursing schools.
(3) If the institution is a trade, technical or business school located within this Commonwealth, the institution shall be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education or shall currently be, and shall have been throughout the preceding 24 months, licensed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Private Licensed Schools and shall be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and its successors, except that this requirement for licensure and accreditation may be waived by the President and Chief Executive Officer for branch campuses of an institution that have been operating satisfactorily in this Commonwealth for 2 years or more; if the institution is located outside this Commonwealth, it shall be degree-granting, shall be operated not-for-profit and shall be fully accredited by the United States Department of Education or the regional institutional accrediting body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and its successors responsible for accreditation in the state where the institution is conducting its educational program.
(4) The institution shall have executed an Assurance of Compliance with section 602 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.A. § 2000d-1 (1974)) and filed it with the United States Secretary of Education.
(5) The institution shall have executed and filed with the Agency an agreement on a form provided by the Agency to report or advise the Agency if the institution has knowledge of the name and address of Commonwealth resident students who are recipients of Agency-administered aid who have been convicted in a court of record of a criminal offense which under the laws of the United States or of the Commonwealth would constitute a felony committed after October 29, 1969. Institutional knowledge shall be facts contained in the academic, disciplinary or financial student records of the institution or facts known to persons occupying positions of authority such as the dean of students, director of financial aid or president of the institution.
(6) When a change in ownership of an approved institution occurs, the new owner shall notify the Agency in writing of the change in ownership within 30 days of the effective date of the change. The new owner shall execute and file with the Agency an agreement on a form provided by the Agency to assume responsibility for repayment of State grant funds to the Agency or payment of State grant funds to eligible students, as designated by the Agency, made necessary by the failure of the previous owner to follow Agency procedures and requirements. An institution that fails to execute this agreement will be required to wait 24 months before being considered for approval in the State Grant Program.
(7) The institution shall comply with other administrative requirements as the Agency may legally promulgate, as shall be set forth in the State Grant Certification Procedures and the State Grant Program Policy Manual which will be made available to institutions on an annual basis.
(c) Approved institutions for an academic year shall be those on record as of the preceding August 1 for the ensuing academic year.
(d) Approval of an institution after August 1 will become effective the following August 1 with two exceptions:
(1) To be effective for the ensuing summer term, approval shall be obtained prior to May 1.
(2) In the light of the particular circumstances related to the institution’s approval and the funding and application processing conditions of the Agency, the President and Chief Executive Officer may make the approval effective on a date prior to August 1.
(e) The President and Chief Executive Officer may suspend the processing of aid request forms of State grant applicants or cease further disbursement of State grant funds to an approved institution, or both, when, in the judgment of the President and Chief Executive Officer, the institution’s compliance with the conditions required for approval or the institution’s continued eligibility or operation is in question and the action is deemed necessary to protect the interests of the student aid applicants, the Commonwealth or the Agency. This subsection may also be invoked upon a change in ownership, administration or directorship of the institution.
(f) An institution’s approved status may be terminated by the President and Chief Executive Officer when any of the conditions required for approval cease to be met.
(g) In suspending or withdrawing the approval of an institution, the President and Chief Executive Officer may authorize continuation of eligibility determination and grant disbursement for State grant renewal applicants.
Authority The provisions of this § 121.32 amended under section 4 of the act of August 7, 1963 (P. L. 549, No. 290) (24 P. S. § 5104); sections 1 and 6(e) of the act of January 25, 1966 (P. L. 1546, No. 541) (24 P. S. § § 5151 and 5156(e)); The Institutional Assistance Grants Act (24 P. S. § § 5181—5189); the Urban and Rural Teacher Loan Forgiveness Act (24 P. S. § § 5191—5197); and the Agriculture Education Loan Forgiveness Act (24 P. S. § § 5198.1—5198.7).
Source The provisions of this § 121.32 adopted November 23, 1973, effective November 24, 1973, 3 Pa.B. 2719; amended October 28, 1977, effective October 29, 1977, 7 Pa.B. 3195; amended June 2, 1978, effective June 3, 1978, 8 Pa.B. 1532; amended June 7, 1985, effective June 8, 1985, 15 Pa.B. 2102; amended November 1, 1985, effective November 2, 1985, 15 Pa.B. 3933; amended September 4, 1987, effective September 5, 1987, 17 Pa.B. 3600; amended October 16, 1987, effective October 17, 1987, 17 Pa.B. 4120; amended October 4, 1991, effective October 5, 1991, 21 Pa.B. 4637; amended July 12, 1996, effective July 13, 1996, 26 Pa.B. 3321; amended August 4, 2000, effective August 5, 2000, 30 Pa.B. 3924; amended July 31, 2015, effective August 1, 2015, 45 Pa.B. 4163. Immediately preceding text appears at serial pages (268167) to (268168) and (269161).
Cross References This section cited in 22 Pa. Code § 121.33 (relating to approved program of study in higher education grant program); and 22 Pa. Code § 121.151 (relating to application of existing Agency regulations).
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