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50-Percent Rule
The 50-percent rule was created in 1992 and continues
today within the 1998
reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. This
regulation excludes Title-IV eligible institutions from
offering federal financial aid if: it offers more than
half its classes through distance education, has half or
more of its students enrolled in distance learning
courses, or offers correspondence and telecommunications
courses that amount to half or more of all courses. The
50-percent provision is a statute that can be revised or
eliminated only by Congress.
12-Hour Rule
Like the 50-percent rule, the 12-hour rule's original
intent was to ward off fraud by diploma mills and
correspondence programs. It mandated non-traditional,
higher education programs that did not operate on a
traditional academic calendar to provide at least 12 hours
of "regularly scheduled instruction, examinations, or
preparation for examination" per week of
instructional time in order for students to be eligible
for federal financial aid. Unlike the 50-percent rule,
which is written into law, the 12-hour rule was an
Education Department regulation. It was repealed in
November 2002 under the Internet Equity and Education Act
of 2001.
Distance Education Demonstration
Program (DEDP)
In 1998, the Distance
Education Demonstration Program (DEDP) was created as
a test to see if the rules regarding financial aid for
distance education needed to be changed. Congress granted
a number of distance learning colleges, universities,
systems and consortia of institutions waivers from the
50-percent rule and/or 12-hour rule in order to give
students greater access to Title IV funding. This program
is scheduled to continue through the 2004-05 academic year
when Congress is expected to consider comprehensive
changes to the Higher
Education Act.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA)
The Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, also known
as the Buckley Amendment, are federal guidelines that deal
with the privacy of student records. In particular, FERPA
addresses the confidentiality of student education
records, as well as the release and review of those
records. Students have the right to: review their
educational records; request amendments to those records
to ensure that they are not inaccurate, misleading, or
otherwise in violation of their privacy or other rights;
have consent to disclosures of personally identifiable
information contained within their records; and file a
complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning
alleged failures to comply with the requirements of FERPA.
Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act
(TEACH Act)
Copyright law gives educators a separate set of rights, in
addition to fair use, to display and perform the works of
other in the classroom. However, before the TEACH
Act was signed into law in October 2002, a virtual
classroom was held to much different standards. The TEACH
Act revises the U.S. Copyright Act and expands the scope
of educators' rights to perform and display works and to
make the copies integral to such performances and displays
for distance learning courses and programs. While the
right are closer to that of a traditional, physical
classroom, there exists a considerable gap between what
the statute authorizes for face-to-face teaching vs.
distance education.
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Important Education Laws and Regulations 
Federal Student Loans 
