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Regulations & Policies

Academic Affairs - Enrollment Services

I. OBJECTIVE & PURPOSE

To establish a policy to ensure compliance with the adherence to Section 487 (a) (20) of the Higher Education Act (HEA) which prohibits the University from providing incentive compensation to employees or third-party entities for their success in securing student enrollments.

This strict ban on providing incentive compensation for performing these activities is part of a larger set of Program Integrity Rules issued by the Department of Education (DOE) in 2010 with an effective date July 1, 2011. These rules cover a broad array of issues intended to promote integrity in higher education programs by protecting students as consumers and by halting perceived abuses of Title IV program funds perpetuated by a minority of institutions. The rules apply to all Title IV eligible institutions.

II. STATEMENT OF POLICY

1. Commission, bonus, or other incentive payment is defined as the sum of money or something of value, other than a fixed salary or wages, paid to or given to a person or an entity for services rendered.
2. Covered individuals include any person or entity engaged in restricted activities.
3. Restricted activities include recruiting or admissions activities related to success in securing student enrollments. This includes the recruitment of military students, student athletes, and international students.
   1. Examples of restricted activities for which incentive compensation is prohibited include, but are not limited to:
      1. Providing recruitment information or solicitations targeted to individuals
      2. Contacting prospective students personally
      3. Making student enrollment decisions
      4. Aiding students in completing enrollment applications, and
      5. Completing financial aid applications on behalf of prospective students.
   2. Examples of activities that are exempt from the ban on incentive compensation as long as the employee is not also engaged in restricted activities include:
      1. Advertising or marking activities that provide college or program information to the public or groups of potential students
      2. Collecting contact information
      3. Providing student support services after the disbursement of financial aid such as career counseling, tutoring, online course support.
      4. Recruiting of foreign students residing in foreign countries who are not eligible to receive Title IV funds
      5. Making policy decisions related to the manner in which recruitment or enrollment will be pursued or provided such as decisions to admit only high school graduates. Generally, these rules do not apply to senior level managers and executive employees who are involved only in the development of policy and do not engage in individual student contact related to the restricted activities.
4. All requests for salary adjustments are reviewed by the Office of Human Resources for fair, equitable, and consistent application for the University's Compensation regulation 4.0110R. Permissible bases for salary adjustments are evaluated on a number of standard factors to assess the performance of covered individuals in relation to the restricted activities, including but not limited to:
   1. Additional duties (increased responsibility significantly impacting the position)
   2. Internal or External Market Equity
   3. Retention/Counter Offer
   4. Salary Compression/Inversion
   5. Superior Performance

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