A:  A proprietary school is defined by the Utah Postsecondary Proprietary School Act to mean any private institution, including business, modeling, paramedical, tax preparation, trade and technical schools, which offers post-secondary education in consideration of the payment of tuition or fees for the attainment of educational, professional or vocational objectives, other than those schools that are exempted from the Act.

A: An Accredited institution wishing to be acknowledged by the State of Utah must complete the registration process to be issued a Certificate of State Authorization. A Private or Non-Profit institution must also complete the registration process to confirm authorization.

A: According to the Utah Postsecondary Proprietary School Act, §13-34-105(1)(e), a school or institution accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education is exempt from registration with the Division.  Download the Request for Exemption Form.  This filing is a one time filing with no application fee.

However, the Utah legislature passed SB 210 in response to 34 CFR 600.9. The law became effective on May 10, 2011. This is a filing for an accredited institution to obtain and renew a Certificate of State Authorization.  Download the Application for State Authorization Form.

You may review Senate Bill 210 to determine its applicability to your institution. Please review section §13-34-107.5 which addresses state authorization. The decision depends in part on the school's status under 34 C.F.R. 600.9, and on whether the school determines the authorization will help maintain federal benefits. The certificate is an annual filing and the fee is a minimum of $1,500 each year..

A: Yes. If the institution is private and nonprofit, please review section §13-34-107.6.  The registration is a one time filing with a fee of $1,500. The application is the Private/Nonprofit Registration. In order to meet this requirement the school must be nonprofit and in continuous operation for 20 years.  Download the Private Non Profit Institution Application.

A:  Yes. File the Request for Exemption application. Schools that are exempted under the Act are those that:

1. Are government funded;
2. Offer instruction exclusively at or below the 12th grade level;
3. Offer only professional review courses;
4. Are owned and operated by a bona fide church or religious denomination;
5. Are accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (To be in compliance with 34CFR 600.9 an accredited institution must apply for a certificate of exemption);
6. Are organized by a business organization for its employees;
7. Offer workshops or seminars that last no longer than three days and offer no academic reward;
8. Offer a program in barbering, cosmetology, real estate, or insurance that is regulated and approved by another government agency;
9. Offers emergency medical services training if all of the institution's instructors, course coordinators and courses are approved by the Department of Health;
10. Is approved under Part 141, Federal Aviation Regulations, 14 C.F.R. Chapter 141; or provides aviation training under Part 61, Federal Aviation Regulations, 14 C.F.R. Chapter 61 and exclusively offer aviation training that a student fully receives within 24 hours after the student pays any tuition, fee, or other charge for the aviation training.
11. Is approved by the State office of Vocational Education and are subject to the Nurse Aide Registry.
12. Exclusively offers general education courses or instruction solely remedial, avocational, nonvoational or recreational in nature and does not advertise occupational objectives or grant educational credentials; or
13. Exclusively prepares individuals to teach courses or instruction described in item L above.

A:

• The Proprietary School's registration is effective for a period of two years after the date of issuance of a Certificate of Registration by the Division.  On the one year anniversary of the Certificate of Registration, the school will be required to file an application for registration review, at which time the Division will review the school's surety and status of programs.
• An Accredited Institution’s registration is effective for a period of two years after the date of issuance of a Certificate of State Authorization by the Division.  On the one year anniversary of the Certificate of State Authorization, the school will be required to file an application for registration review, at which time the Division will review the school's status of accreditation.
• A Private Non Profit School’s registration is a one time registration, effective as long as the school is in operation.
• An Exempt registration is a one time registration that is effective as long as the organization is operating in an exempt capacity.

A:  If any information contained in the registration application becomes incorrect or incomplete, then the proprietary school is required to correct the application or file the complete information as required by the division within thirty (30) days after the information becomes incorrect or incomplete.

A:

For Proprietary Schools:

For Private Non-Profit Schools:

For Accredited Schools:

For Exempt Organizations:  NONE

All registration fees collected by the division will be used in the administration of the Act and Rules. The institution shall provide documentation to substantiate the amount of the fee, in a form specified by the division.  The annual registration fee is due on the anniversary date of the institution's certificate of registration.

A:

A:  Yes.  A form of Surety may be required of a proprietary school in the form of a satisfactory bond, certificate of deposit, or irrevocable letter of credit. The form of surety must be provided by the institution before a certificate of registration will be issued by the division unless the institution is exempt from this surety requirement.

To be exempt from the Surety requirement the total cost per program is $500 or less. Or, the length of each program is less than one month.

A:  For Initial Applications, determine the amount of surety according to the projected number of students that are expected to enroll during the first year of operation.

Institutions that submit evidence acceptable to the Division that the school's gross tuition income from any source during the first year will be less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) may provide a surety of twelve thousand, five hundred dollars ($12,500) for the first year of operation.

For Renewal Applications, determine the amount of surety according to the worksheet below:

The minimum amount of surety to be submitted annually after the first year of operation will be based on 25% of the annual gross income from the registered programs for the previous year rounded to the nearest $1,000 with a minimum amount of $12,500 and the maximum of $300,000.

A:  Yes.  In determining the amounts that you are required to pay for registration fee and for the bond, your calculations must include the total amount of tuition received from all students who are enrolled in your Utah operations. This includes the tuition of those students who receive their education online, whether in-state or out-of-state, unless you can demonstrate that the students are enrolled in one of your other schools that you are operating in another state.

A:  No.  Acceptance of a proprietary school's registration statement and the issuing of certificate of registration to operate a school signifies that the legal requirements prescribed by statute and rules have been satisfied. It does not mean that the division endorses, supervises, recommends or accredits the institution. The division is not an accrediting agency. It cannot recommend or comment on the quality or potential benefits on instruction received from any proprietary school that is registered under the Utah Postsecondary Proprietary School Act.