§ 386.34 What assurances must be provided by a grantee that intends to provide scholarships?

A grantee under this part that intends to grant scholarships for any academic year must provide the following assurances before an award is made:

(a) Requirement for agreement. No individual will be provided a scholarship without entering into a written agreement containing the terms and conditions required by this section. An individual will sign and date the agreement prior to the initial disbursement of scholarship funds to the individual for payment of the individual's expenses. An agreement must be executed between the grantee and scholar for each subsequent year that scholarship funds are disbursed and must contain the terms and conditions required by this section.

(b) Disclosure to applicants. The terms and conditions of the agreement between the grantee and a scholar will be fully disclosed in the application for scholarship.

(c) Form and terms of agreement. Prior to granting each year of a scholarship, the grantee will require each scholar to enter into a signed written agreement in which the scholar agrees to the terms and conditions set forth in § 386.40. This agreement must be in the form and contain any additional terms and conditions that the Secretary may require.

(d) Executed agreement. The grantee will provide an original signed executed payback agreement upon request to the Secretary.

(e) Standards for satisfactory progress. The grantee will establish, publish, and apply reasonable standards for measuring whether a scholar is maintaining satisfactory progress in the scholar's course of study. The Secretary considers an institution's standards to be reasonable if the standards—

(1) Conform with the standards of satisfactory progress of the nationally recognized accrediting agency that accredits the institution's program of study, if the institution's program of study is accredited by such an agency, and if the agency has those standards;

(2) For a scholar enrolled in an eligible program who is to receive assistance under the Rehabilitation Act, are the same as or stricter than the institution's standards for a student enrolled in the same academic program who is not receiving assistance under the Rehabilitation Act; and

(3) Include the following elements:

(i) Grades, work projects completed, or comparable factors that are measurable against a norm.

(ii) A maximum timeframe in which the scholar must complete the scholar's educational objective, degree, or certificate.

(iii) Consistent application of standards to all scholars within categories of students; e.g., full-time, part-time, undergraduates, graduate students, and students attending programs established by the institution.

(iv) Specific policies defining the effect of course incompletes, withdrawals, repetitions, and noncredit remedial courses on satisfactory progress.

(v) Specific procedures for appeal of a determination that a scholar is not making satisfactory progress and for reinstatement of aid.

(f) Exit certification.

(1) At the time of exit from the program, the grantee will provide the following information to the scholar:

(i) The name of the institution and the number of the Federal grant that provided the scholarship.

(ii) the total amount of scholarship assistance received subject to § 386.40(a)(7).

(iii) The scholar's field of study and the obligation of the scholar to perform the service obligation with employment that meets the requirements in § 386.40(a)(7)(i).

(iv) The number of years the scholar needs to work to satisfy the work requirements in § 386.40(a)(7)(ii).

(v) The time period during which the scholar must satisfy the work requirements in § 386.40(a)(8).

(vi) As applicable, all other obligations of the scholar in § 386.40.

(2) Upon receipt of this information from the grantee, the scholar must provide written and signed certification to the grantee that the information is correct.

(g) Tracking system. The grantee has established policies and procedures to determine compliance of the scholar with the terms of the signed payback agreement. In order to determine whether a scholar has met the terms and conditions set forth in § 386.40, the tracking system must include for each employment position maintained by the scholar—

(1) Documentation of the employer's name, address, dates of the scholar's employment, name of supervisor, position title, a description of the duties the scholar performed, and whether the employment is full- or part-time;

(2) Documentation of how the employment meets the requirements in § 386.40(a)(7); and

(3) In the event a grantee is experiencing difficulty locating a scholar, documentation that the grantee has checked with existing tracking systems operated by alumni organizations.

(h) Reports. The grantee will make annual reports to the Secretary, unless more frequent reporting is required by the Secretary, that are necessary to carry out the Secretary's functions under this part.

(i) Repayment status. The grantee will immediately report to the Secretary whenever a scholar has entered repayment status under § 386.43(e) and provide all necessary documentation in support thereof.

(j) Records. The grantee will maintain accurate and complete records as outlined in paragraphs (g) and (h) of this section for a period of time not less than one year beyond the date that all scholars provided financial assistance under the grant—

(1) Have completed their service obligation or

(2) Have entered into repayment status pursuant to § 386.43(e).

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 1820–0018)