HAR Chapter 255 – Post-Secondary Education Authorization Program

§16-255-1
255-1
HAWAII ADMINISTRATIVE RULES
TITLE 16
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 255
POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION AUTHORIZATION PROGRAM
Subchapter 1 	General Provisions
§16-255-1 	Objective
§16-255-2 	Definitions
§16-255-3 	Religious exemption
Subchapter 2 	Responsibilities of Institutions
§16-255-4 	Authorization
§16-255-5 	Complaints process
Subchapter 3 	Closure of Institutions
§16-255-6 	Deposit of records upon discontinuance
§16-255-7 	Procedure to close or cease operations
SUBCHAPTER 1
GENERAL PROVISIONS
§16-255-1 Objective. The objective of this chapter is to clarify and
implement the requirements of chapter 305J, HRS. [Eff 07/31/17] (Auth: HRS
§305J-5) (Imp: HRS §305J-5)

§16-255-2
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§16-255-2 Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context
otherwise requires:
"Institution" means a private college or university, seminary, or religious
training institution.
"Physical presence" shall have the same meaning in section 305J-2, HRS;
provided that "physical presence" is not triggered, solely, by any of the following:
(1) 	Courses offered at a distance, offered online, through the United
States mail or similar delivery service, and that do not require the
physical meeting of a student with instructional staff;
(2) 	Academic offerings among accredited institutions which are
participating in consortia agreements approved by each of the
participating institutions;
(3) 	Advertising to students within the State, whether through print,
billboard, direct mail, Internet, radio, television or other medium.
However, an institution that is seeking authorization to operate in
the State shall not market or advertise prospective Hawaii-based
programs in the State until and unless the institution has notified
the department and provided copies of any marketing materials or
advertisements to the department;
(4) 	Recruiting (e.g., hosting or attending recruitment fairs);
(5) 	An educational experience arranged for an individual student, such
as a clinical, practicum, residency, or internship; provided that:
(A) 	The institution has obtained, if applicable, the professional
and licensure approvals necessary to conduct the learning
opportunity;
(B) 	No more than ten students from an institution are
physically present simultaneously at a single field site; and
(C) 	There is no multiyear contract between the institution and
the field site;
(6) 	An educational field experience arranged for a group of students
who are participating in campus-based programs in another state;
(7) 	An offering in the nature of a short course or seminar that takes
place in the State, if instruction for the short course or seminar is
no more than twenty classroom hours;
(8) 	A portion of a full-term course for which no more than two
meetings, totaling less than six hours, takes place in a setting
where the instructor and students physically meet together;
(9) 	Distance course offerings by an accredited institution on a U.S.
military installation, that is limited to active and reserve military
personnel and their dependents;
(10) 	Operation of a server, router, or similar electronic service device
when such a device is not housed in a facility that otherwise would

§16-255-3
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constitute a physical presence; provided that the presence of a
server or similar pass-through switching device in the State does
not by itself constitute the offering of a course or program in the
State;
(11) 	Having faculty, adjunct faculty, mentors, tutors, recruiters, or other
personnel residing in the State; provided that the presence of
instructional faculty in the State, when those faculty offer entirely
online or other distance-education instruction and never meet their
students in person for educational purposes while in the State, does
not establish a presence of the institution in the State;
(12) 	Requiring a student to take a proctored examination at a location or
with an entity in the State prescribed by an institution; or
(13) 	Having a contractual arrangement in the State.
"Private college or university" shall have the same meaning in section
305J-2, HRS.
"Teach-out plan" means a written agreement between accredited
institutions that provides for the equitable treatment of students if one of these
institutions stops offering an educational program before all students enrolled in
that program complete the program. [Eff 07/31/17] (Auth: HRS §305J-5) (Imp:
HRS §305J-2)
§16-255-3 Religious exemption. The chapter shall not apply to schools
and educational programs conducted by religious entities that are owned,
controlled, operated, and maintained by a religious organization lawfully
operating as a nonprofit religious corporation and that award only religious
degrees or certificates. These schools shall:
(1) 	Limit the educational programs to the principles of the church or
denomination with which it is affiliated and grant degrees or
diplomas only in areas of study that contain on their face, in the
written description of the title of the degree or diploma being
conferred, a reference to the theological or religious aspect of the
degree’s subject area; and
(2) 	Not offer or award degrees in: any area of physical science or
medicine; or degrees appropriate only for academic institutions,
such as, but not limited to, Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of
Science, Master of Arts or Master of Science, Doctor of
Philosophy, or other degrees typically offered by academic
institutions, regardless of curriculum or course content, unless the
degree title includes the religious field of study (e.g., "Bachelor of
Arts in Religious Studies"); or degrees associated with specific
professional fields or endeavors not clearly and directly related to

§16-255-3
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religious studies or occupations. [Eff 07/31/17] (Auth: HRS §305J-
5) (Imp: HRS §305J-3)
SUBCHAPTER 2
RESPONSIBILITIES OF INSTITUTIONS
§16-255-4 Authorization. In addition to the requirements of chapter
305-J, HRS, an institution shall:
(1) 	Seek and maintain authorization to operate in the State;
(2) 	Provide information and respond to inquiries from the department
including, but not limited to, data that is directly related to student
enrollment and degree completion and, if applicable, student
financial aid and educator preparation programs;
(3) 	Notify the department of any material or substantive changes
within thirty calendar days including, but not limited to the
following types of changes:
(A) 	Ownership;
(B) 	Campus locations;
(C) 	Accreditation status, including reaffirmation or loss of
accreditation, approval of a request for change, a campus
evaluation visit, a focused visit, or approval of additional
locations;
(D) 	Substantive changes regarding operations and programs;
(E) 	Official contact person for authorization purposes;
(F) 	Official contact person for the public regarding complaints;
(G) 	Any disciplinary or legal decision issued against the
institution in another jurisdiction;
(H) 	U.S. Department of Education eligibility for Title IV
Student Financial Aid; or
(I) 	Approval from any other state authorization agency.
(4) 	Notify the department immediately if its accrediting body is no
longer recognized by the U.S. Department of Education;
(5) 	Provide bona fide instruction in accordance with the standards and
criteria set by the institution's accrediting body or in accordance
with the requirements set forth for seminaries and religious
training institutions;
(6) 	Timely submit all applicable fees;
(7) 	Provide information to prospective and enrolled students regarding
its authorization status; provided that an authorized institution shall

§16-255-5
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not use the department as a perceived endorsement of the
institution;
(8) 	Notify the department in writing at least one year prior to ceasing
its operations;
(9) 	If applicable, annually recalculate the amount of the surety bond
based on a reasonable estimate of the maximum prepaid, unearned
tuition, and fees received by the institution for the applicable
period or term; and
(10) 	Have an affirmative duty to cooperate with requests from the
department for information regarding any investigation or
inspection. [Eff 07/31/17] (Auth: HRS §305J-5) (Imp: HRS
§§305J-5, 305J-8)
§16-255-5 Complaints process. An institution shall:
(1) 	Establish and sustain a complaint procedure that includes clearly
understood and published processes for a student to lodge a
complaint within the institution, to the department, and to the
institution's accrediting agency, if applicable. Information on the
complaint procedure shall be reasonably accessible and at a
minimum, shall be found in each institution's official catalog and
website;
(2) 	Establish and maintain processes within the institution for
responding appropriately to complaints and for documenting their
resolution;
(3) 	Establish and maintain a process for reporting formal complaints
and their resolution to the department, including procedures that
ensure that an institution's complaint resolution process has been
exhausted before the complaint is elevated to the department; and
(4) 	Establish and maintain a process for working with the department
on resolving complaints that have been lodged and not resolved
with the institution. [Eff 07/31/17] (Auth: HRS §305J-5) (Imp:
HRS §§305J-5, 305J-17)

§16-255-6
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SUBCHAPTER 3
CLOSURE OF INSTITUTIONS
§16-255-6 Deposit of records upon discontinuance. (a) Upon
discontinuance, an institution shall deposit student transcripts and all other
requested educational records with the department in an electronic format as
prescribed by the department.
(b) 	Student transcripts shall be deposited in either pdf files, which are
the actual searchable and printable student transcripts, or tab delimited text files.
(c) 	Student transcripts include without limitation:
(1) 	Academic grades;
(2) 	Dates of attendance;
(3) 	Name of program and degree;
(4) 	Credit hours;
(5) 	Date of course completion or graduation; and
(6) 	Any other information reasonably requested by the department.
(d) 	Data provided for the issuing of transcripts shall go back twenty-
five years from the date the institution ceased operations. [Eff 07/31/17] (Auth:
HRS §305J-5) (Imp: HRS §§305J-5, 305J-13)
§16-255-7 Procedure to close or cease operations. The institution shall
provide written notification to the department in accordance with the requirements
of chapter 305J, HRS, before closing or ceasing operations. Written notification
shall include:
(1) 	Date of closure and last date of instruction;
(2) 	Reason for the closure;
(3) 	Contact person after the institution closes (name, address, phone
number, email address);
(4) 	Institution’s communications to students informing them of the
pending closure, student rights and options, and information
concerning Federal Student Financial Aid Programs when an
institution closes;
(5) 	An electronic spreadsheet containing the names, addresses, phone
numbers, and home email addresses of students who are enrolled at
the time of the closure and if refunds are due, the amount and date
when they will receive the refunds;
(6) 	The total number of students enrolled, including students on leave
of absence, whose education and training program will not be fully

§16-255-7
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completed by the date of the institution's closure and the names of
the programs in which they are enrolled;
(7) 	A copy of any teach-out or transfer plan or agreement;
(8) 	A statement from the owner or owner's designee affirming that all
recruitment efforts, program marketing, advertisement (regardless
of type, i.e., newspaper, website, television broadcast, etc.),
solicitation and enrollment of new students has ceased;
(9) 	The expected deposit date of the electronic student records to the
department or to the third party contracted by the department; and
(10) 	Documentation that the institution has completed the formal
closure process with its accrediting body, including information
regarding the new institutional custodian of records, and
information that it has been cleared to close by the accrediting
body. [Eff 07/31/17] (Auth: HRS §305J-5) (Imp: HRS §§305J-5,
305J-13, 305J-15)

255-9
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Chapter 16-255, Hawaii Administrative Rules, on the Summary Page
dated April 21, 2017, was adopted on April 21, 2017, following a public hearing
held on April 20, 2017, after public notice was given in the Star Advertiser on
March 17, 2017.
The adoption of chapter 16-255 shall take effect ten days after filing with
the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.
/s/ Catherine P. Awakuni Colón
Catherine P. Awakuni Colón, Director
Department of Commerce and
Consumer Affairs
APPROVED:
/s/ David Y. Ige
David Y. Ige
Governor
State of Hawaii
Dated: 	07/11/17
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
James C. Paige
Deputy Attorney General
07/20/17
Filed

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS
Adoption of Chapter 16-255
Hawaii Administrative Rules
April 21, 2017
SUMMARY
Chapter 16-255, Hawaii Administrative Rules, entitled "Post-Secondary
Education Authorization Program", is adopted.