State Authorization - Foreign Locations State Institutions

1845-0144 – Affected Public – State, Local or Tribal Governments 11/4/2016

The Secretary amends the State authorization sections of the Student Assistance General Provisions regulations issued under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), in 34 CFR Part 600. These final regulations are a result of negotiated rulemaking and will add new requirements to the current regulations.

The HEA established what is commonly known as the program integrity “triad” under which States, accrediting agencies, and the Department act jointly as gatekeepers for the Federal student aid programs. This triad has been in existence since the inception of the HEA; and as an important component of this triad, the HEA requires institutions of higher education to obtain approval from the States in which they provide postsecondary educational programs. These final regulations clarify the State authorization requirements with which an institution must comply in order to be eligible to participate in title IV programs, while recognizing the important oversight role States play in protecting students, their families, taxpayers and the general public as a whole.

These final regulations specify the requirements for State authorization of foreign additional locations and branch campuses of domestic institutions. This request is for a new information collection to include these new regulatory requirements.

This is a new information collection. Under final §600.9 (d)(1)(v) there will be burden on each domestic institution reporting the establishment or continued operation of a foreign additional location or branch campus to the State in which the main campus of the domestic institution is located. We estimate that each institution will require two hours annually to draft and submit the required notice.

The estimated burden is 2 hours for each respondent.

TOTALS

Responses 35

Respondents 35

Burden Hours 70