Summary: This is an overview of federal requirements relating to enrollment tactics and compensation. In essence, schools are prohibited from engaging in aggressive recruitment tactics and prohibited from providing incentive compensation to employees based on number of students they recruit/enrollments they secure. We are allowed to keep minimum staff KPI's in place (aka, a penalty for failure to meet a minimum enrollment benchmark) but are not allowed to do the reverse (pay per enroll).
Our marketing material has to reasonably align with expected program outcomes. This came about because of for-profit schools that falsely advertised high salaries and job opportunities for graduates (and later when bankrupt).
Resources:
- Department of Education Regulatory Summary Website
- Example Audit Documentation 1
- Example Audit Documentation 2
Marketing material is also relevant to these regulations and was required for review with the VA Risk Assessment audit. Samples of marketing material were also required for the Department of Education audit.