Interesting article in Chronicle on proposed abolition of the "12 hour" rule, which mandates that students receive 12 hours of in-class instruction a week in order to qualify for federal financial aid. Some traditionalists (reactionaries?) are upset... Some Groups Say the U.S. Education Department Has Stacked the Deck on a Controversial Regulation
From April 29 Chronicle: After Panel Deadlocks, Education Department Vows to Relax 12-Hour Rule Itself A few snippets: An Education Department panel failed to reach consensus Friday on whether to get rid of a financial-aid regulation that some say stunts the growth of distance education. But department officials said they would move forward on their own to relax the rule. ... But department officials said that because a 10-member majority of the panel members supported relaxing the 12-hour rule, the department would propose that the requirement be changed to "one day" of course work a week, which is already the rule for college programs that schedule courses according to traditional academic calendars.
From Chronicle (August 8, 2002): Bowing to Distance Educators' Complaints, Education Department Will Drop 12-Hour Rule.
I predict an increase in fees related to part time study. Imagine having to process finanancial aid requests for 500 students taking one, two or three courses a semester..... Wes
I predict an increase in fees related to part time study. Imagine having to process finanancial aid requests for 500 students taking one, two or three courses a semester..... We will either see financial aid offices flooded with requests, which will cause a backlash from full time students waiting for their aid or a more simplified/automated financial aid process. I can go online and in 30 minutes get a bank loan for twice what financial aid will grant me – plus I don’t have to fill out all the paperwork (much of it by hand) that the university requires. The system for easier financial aid is there; private lending institutions have had it for years. Perhaps the influx of part-time students will make it finally happen for education.
