Your website is your front door. Is it inviting to compliance infractions? The following suggestions are offered as general advice about how to comply with the requirements in the Higher Education Act (HEA) and the regulations set forth by the Department of Education (DOE), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and various accrediting bodies for content provided on institutional websites. As you update your website with content in the following categories, remember to keep these items in mind:

Accreditation

• Accreditation statement must be easily accessible
• The term “accredited” may only be used if the institution indicates by which agency or organization it is accredited
• Include names of associations, agencies, or governmental bodies that accredit, approve, or license the institution’s programs
• Procedures for obtaining or reviewing documents describing accreditation, approval or licensing should be present

Admissions

• Provide all required criteria expected to be completed by students prior to enrollment
• Include all educational requirements
• Ensure contact information is provided for prospective students

Career Services/Employability

• Detailed and clear explanation of offerings that the Career Services department provides
• Clearly indicate that education, not employment, is being offered
• Omission of banned terms, such as “career placement”
• Any references to employment or salary predictions must be accurate, sourced and never guaranteed

Consumer Information

• Easily accessible link, preferably on homepage, containing HEA disclosure information
• Use consumer-friendly labels and language, when possible
• Use a common set of content titles

Gainful Employment Disclosures

• Clear presence of disclosure information
• Present information  in the required Gainful Employment Disclosure Template developed by the DOE

Financial Aid

• Qualification rules
• How applicants can learn about qualifying
• Full references to financial aid availability must include the disclaimer “for those who qualify”
• All scholarship offerings must be sourced

Job Availability and Placement Claims

• May only provide information pertaining to potential salary that accurately portrays the normal range and starting salaries in the occupation for which training is provided
• Salary information must also include the source of the information, which is valid

Net Price Calculator

• Tool that students can use to estimate their “net price” to attend a particular college or university
• Must use the template provided by the DOE or an institution may develop a customized version that must include, at a minimum, the same elements as the Department’s version

Program Descriptions

• Timeframe for completion listed correctly
• Program length disclaimer

Program Listings

• Listings are accurate and approved by the DOE
• Acceptable States for admissions
• Citations provided for statistics listed on the page

Statistics

• All statistics listed in website copy must be accurately sourced with current year

TCPA Requirements

• Consent language present on lead forms
• Language must include all components within the FCC definition
• If opt-in box is present, it should not be pre-checked

Testimonials/Endorsements

• Must be actual statements
• Some accreditors do not allow institutions to use testimonials from current students on their website
• Prior consent of the author must be on file

Transferability of Credits

• Include any established criteria the institution uses regarding the transfer of credit earned at another institution
• Provide a list of institutions with which the institution has established an agreement

At the end of the day it is important to be diligent with your compliance process. We recommend auditing your content regularly to ensure it meets the industry standards and guidelines you are expected to follow.

What opportunities are you missing for them to work together?

Businesses have the opportunity to gather and analyze data at an increasing rate.  Whether it is customer conversion data, compliance or call center functions, these databases are typically housed in separate locations and the data is rarely integrated.  How do businesses tie this information together to find actionable intelligence and make sound business decisions?  Let’s take a look at some opportunities you may be missing if you are experiencing the gap left between conversion and compliance data.

Years ago when leads were flowing in and volume was king, compliance wasn’t much of an issue—or at least one we spent much time on.  Sales were up, reps could cherry pick, and most marketers didn’t have a real understanding of third party lead generation.  They liked getting thousands of cheap leads.  Skip to today, regulatory scrutiny, politicizing industries and public outcry have brought significant changes to how we market to and sell our products.  Lead flow is down in many industries, conversion from third-party marketing has dropped and compliance expenses are up.

So how do we pivot away from this storyline?  I spent nearly 10 years talking to businesses about how to improve lead volume and quality to increase sales.  Many times the first response was “just shut it off”.  As an owner or employee committed to doing what is best for the business, it’s easy to lean heavy on the compliance side, or toward what’s best for conversion.  It doesn’t have to be one or the other. Whichever way you lean, no one wants to continue a path toward extinction—so change we must.  Change the way we think about, and act on, the data we have.

1. Put compliance first to confidently work all leads you get your hands on. Check your audit process to see if it includes all aspects that would make a lead contactable and compliant upon receipt.  IntegriShield found that 9% of an advertiser’s infractions are from missing, or non-compliant, consumer consent and disclosure language.

Waiting to see if a lead is compliant until after you get doesn’t really help you.  Examine all the lead pages you own and are affiliated with to ensure they have compliant Opt-In language. Otherwise, you end up returning the leads or eating the costs.  It could also result in a good traffic source being shut off for something easily fixed.  If a lead slips by and you do work it, the fines and potential civil penalties could put you out of business.

2. Collect all the lead data you can. Some of the basics include:
   • Lead Type
   • Vendor
   • Affiliate Codes
   • Referral URL
   • Campaign
   • Date
   • Form or Call In
   • Customer Data
   • Status
   • Price
   • Consumer Consent Authorization
   • Lead Integrity Data

You’ll need objective data to make good marketing decisions. If you don’t have all of your data aggregated, this will take more time, but it can still be done.  Better yet, ask your service providers if they can integrate with other systems.

3. Scrub and remediate instead of wasting a lead or a source.By this point you’ve been proactive and tried to ensure all your vendor pages are compliant.  You may find many leads come from pages you had no idea exist.  It’s not uncommon nor is it something that has to be shut down.  You will likely never know all the affiliate, publisher, and traffic channels your lead generators enlist at any given moment in time.  Audit the URLs the leads are coming from and if they are not compliant, make them compliant.

Keep your lead channels open if at all possible.  If the site is misleading or you see any bait and switch tactics, that’s when you shut it down.  Don’t mess around with bad actors.  There is too much risk in the current regulatory environment.  We have found that 28% of total advertiser infractions are due to misleading content on URLs and 6% contained banned terminology.

Beyond marketing content, it’s also important to maintain customer files.  Scrub customer data to ensure contact compliance.  Don’t just remove it.  About a month before a lead would be scrubbed out, send a notice to see if he or she would like to stay opted in and if so, restart the clock on them.  Even if only a small percentage opts back in, sales will know who is still engaged and you maintain as many leads active as possible.

4. Make integrated marketing decisions.Direct Marketing is not a magic button.  It’s a series of decisions based on metrics using good data and then repeating each day, week, month, and year.  Combine the data to look at all channels and their outcomes—both conversions and compliance risk.

Tie conversion metrics to integrity and compliance scores to determine beginning allocations each month.  And remember, you can control your risk. Keep the lead pipeline open by being specific and eliminating offending publishers, but keeping the vendor “live” for all the quality sources they use.  If a vendor is not delivering, partner with them to adjust messaging to fit the types of channels they use to drive your traffic.  One set of posting instructions is easy, but it’s not always effective.

Businesses depend on lead volume and quality to drive sales.  The current trend of fear-based decision making needs to become strategic, educated decision making.  Implement compliance processes, follow them, and seek solutions before eliminating potential sales.  The tools, data, and ability to regulate your marketing exist.  With increased vulnerability has come increased control if you don’t shy away from integrating strategies.

Gayla Huber

President, IntegriShield

Have you ever received a “free” lead in your inbox?  Depending on your personal experience, you may initially think it’s a free lead to let you sample what a particular lead generator can do for you. Or you may not even know how you actually got the lead.  What do you do?  Do you contact this prospect?  Your decision on how to handle the inquiry will determine how much the lead could cost you in the end.

There are a few variables to consider before deciding to contact a “free” lead.

1. Do you know where the lead came from? Even if the lead source is listed, it’s important to know how it was generated to result in a consumer providing their information.  Did he or she know they were inquiring specifically for a product from your brand?  While you may not be able to track back the full path, at a minimum, check out the referring URL to ensure no bait and switch tactics were used.
2. Did the consumer consent to contact, and in what forms? If you received a consumer’s contact information, it’s important that they consented to be contacted.  Because the lead is free, let’s make the assumption you did not provide authorized consent language. You must be able to answer…
   • What language was used?
   • Did they consent to be contacted by your business or only the lead generator?
   • Did the lead get to opt-in for TCPA consent specific to your business?

It’s important to have these answers because fines can add up quickly when it comes to consumer consent violations.

3. Can you get access to the data collection of consent? You should also have access to opt-out data as it pertains to the consumer opting out on the lead generator side.  This is just as important as knowing if consent language and opt-in were available on the inquiry form.  Businesses are subject to fines and potential litigation for not observing opt-out requests.  This would also be helpful in opening up the option to email the consumer.  Email does not require prior consent, but once someone unsubscribes or opt-outs, a business can no longer email them unless he or she opts back in.  Without control of the consent language and the data being collected, emailing could be risky as well.

Businesses hold lead generators to higher standards today and justifiably so considering the regulatory environment.  Any source of a lead is subject to scrutiny and not knowing is not a defense.  Before you decide to contact that “free” lead, calculate the possible fines and don’t let it costs your brand money or its reputation.

[As published on LeadsCon.com]

On August 1, 2016, The FTC’s inflation increases for maximum civil penalty amounts go into effect. You can find the Federal Register Notice containing all of the statutes and amounts here. With penalties increasing, from $16,000 to $40,000 in some instances, it’s time again to look at your business objectively and determine what risks you are willing to take. Here are some areas, business owners and caretakers of brands need to evaluate for exposure.

Police Those Who Try to Exploit Your Brand

Your business is not responsible for what others do if you are not affiliated with them. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to keep us off the regulator radar these days. Whether you are the advertiser or the lead generator, understand the pitfalls that can occur when using third parties. Objectively ask yourself, do you know everything your affiliates or publishers are doing to market on your behalf? Take it a step further and question if you think they know everything their network is doing. No one is 100% error free online, all the time. The mere appearance of not “playing by the rules” could shine a spotlight on your business where infractions could be uncovered.

An unauthorized publisher can put you at risk for regulatory scrutiny or lead to an investigation. If a consumer can’t spot a fraudulent representation of your brand online, then regulators won’t be able to notice at first glance either. It’s critical right now to monitor and enforce standards for your brand’s presence on the Internet. Create a paper trail documenting your efforts to discover and remediate infractions.

Every business is unique, but here some things you can do internally:

1. Keep an inventory in a database or even a spreadsheet of your proprietary and authorized third party URLs.
2. Set up a monthly audit process to review all URLs for brand, regulatory, and consumer consent compliance.
3. Review the user path to ensure nothing was misleading up to the form and consumer consent was collected in the correct places.
4. Take screen shots with time/date of infractions.
5. Email the screen shots along with a request for remediation to the third party.
6. Store all emails back and forth concerning the remediation.
7. Schedule a quarterly Internet audit looking for domains and URLs not authorized by your brand and follow the same paper trail and remediation process.

Be Proactive Against Those Who Seek and Exploit Violations

From consumer disclosures and consent language online to contact strategies and database maintenance, leave no stone unturned when it comes to ensuring compliance. There are opportunistic individuals who target certain industries and put themselves in a position to file a complaint or take legal action. You need to get ahead of them.

Look for and monitor all forms of disclosures, consent, privacy policies, terms and conditions, and any other industry specific data or content required. It’s a common mistake to only search for where it exists on the web. Yes, we want to make sure what we know and see is unaltered, but don’t forget to look for instances where these forms have been omitted—which is a tougher search.

Contact maintenance strategies need to be reviewed and followed. Reactive responses to violations will result in fines and suits. It may surprise you how easy it is for individuals to create the exact scenarios that equip them to file a civil suit against a business. Do Not Call (DNC) violations under section 5 of the FTC Act have increased to $40,000 per instance. If you weren’t following DNC best practices, it’s time.

Despite your efforts to maintain industry compliance on a daily basis you may feel exposed on many fronts. The regulatory scrutiny has found its way into many business operations and expense columns with seemingly no reprieve. To help mitigate risks everyone must take an active role and reduce exposure. Lead generation as an industry is strong. Remember, you are not only equipped to be successful while being compliant, but you are in a good position to write the narrative.

Compliant digital content has become a hot topic in many financial blogger circles. We recently sat down with Phillip Taylor, CEO at FinCon, the peer conference for the financial media community, to discuss the industry’s key compliance pain points. Below are the five topics that bloggers need to manage to maintain compliance.

Ability to add URLs and Editorial Content

Financial Bloggers sometimes struggle managing their entire URL inventory because of tedious manual updates required on each link due to content or offer changes. To combat this process you may minimize the number of URL’s or those with editorial content—limiting the potential to drive additional revenue. This does not have to be the case. By using an automated compliance monitor, you can continue to develop and build on the number of URLs and content. Don’t be a slave to the process anymore. Spend time on what’s important: Increasing your presence and growing your revenue.

Credit Card or Offer Feeds

Keeping up with credit cards and their offers can be challenging. Some blogs have lender feeds incorporated directly into their site. While this makes being compliant easier, it can limit the material they want to present to their audience. Others will manually incorporate the information into their sites, which again requires continual discovery and maintenance as these offers can change on a monthly or even weekly schedule. Top industry bloggers have found compliance automation is the key to spending less time on discovery and more time adding blog content.

Content Inventory

With the vast number of contracted publishers, affiliates and free publishers in the market, many bloggers struggle with maintaining an accurate inventory of their content and where it is located. Unlike larger companies or corporations that may hire compliance teams to review and maintain content, bloggers often are on their own to manage this task. Don’t be a slave to spreadsheets anymore. Identify strategies to automate your search for URL lists containing specific brands, content, or links.

Search Phrases and Link requirements

There are many variables on how content can be presented to stay compliant. Do you include links to drive traffic to other URLs? Creating an efficient system to display content regarding links and where they point creates additional challenges to the blogging industry. Compliance automation will not only pick up the link copy as shown on the URL, but can also display where it being directed. To assist with requirements for certain language before and/or after a link, seek technology that is smart enough to search and flag instances of potential deviations to the required content.

Disclosures

Bloggers must be mindful of exact wording and phrasing mentioned with offers. Include additionally required disclosures from other regulatory bodies such as the FTC, FCC, CFPB and State Attorney Generals. A good compliance monitoring partner will have rule sets to help you navigate policy and guidance to mitigate your risk.

Considering these five areas will help bloggers maintain compliance in this growing industry. Take control of your digital content to avoid compliance infractions and protect your brand. As you develop a process to manage this content, remember: consistency is key.

For more information on compliance monitoring, contact IntegriShield at 888-547-7110.

As high school graduates look toward the future, the option of a career college or a trade school might not even be on their radar. Often times they are deciding on attending a community college, a 4-year institution or joining the military. According to the 2015 Noel Levitz Freshman Attitudes Report, nearly 1-in-4 freshmen from two-year colleges decide to enroll in the final weeks before classes begin.

This means it’s increasingly important for your institution to showcase the benefits offered that many high school graduates typically do not consider. From your admissions team to your marketing efforts, here are four benefit areas to highlight.

• Career Focused Classes: Typical 4-year schools require a certain number of general education (GE) credit hours in order to advance to major-specific courses. At a career college or trade school there are no GE classes required. When students enter their program of choice they begin career-focused classes and reduce the time and money spent on classes that are less relevant in their field.

• Smaller Class Sizes: Career colleges and trade schools often maintain a low student-teacher ratio within each program. With fewer students in the class, the instructor can provide more one-on-one attention and time to each student. This allows students to get their questions answered and be confident that they are not falling behind or struggling with any aspect of the program.

• Flexible Learning: It’s not uncommon for trade schools and career colleges to offer programs and courses in many different formats. After all, 89% of career school and private school students feel it’s important that classes are scheduled at convenient times. This variety allows students to balance work, their families and other aspects of life while still pursuing their education.

• All Inclusive: Many institutions offer programs that are “all inclusive,” meaning the cost of the program includes:  classes, books, materials, testing and in some cases starter kits with items needed upon entering the workforce. Reports show 85% of career and private school students consider financial aid a factor in decision to enroll. This option can appeal to many high school graduates who do not want to worry about paying for classes, books and supplies separately.

As you highlight the benefits of your sector and attract high school graduates, remember to use industry best practices to avoid compliance missteps. Audit your staff calls with prospective students to confirm that regulations and brand standards are being met. For more tips on how to stay compliant when speaking with prospective students, read IntegriShield’s latest blog post on how “Your Mistakes are Giving Prospects Cold Feet.”

https://integrishield.com/vlog-text-messages-and-the-fcc-2/https://integrishield.com/vlog-text-messages-and-the-fcc-2/https://integrishield.com/vlog-text-messages-and-the-fcc-2/https://integrishield.com/vlog-text-messages-and-the-fcc-2/ domain list .

Your company is liable for what others do on your behalf. When your business hires an advertising agency, you might very well be paying for a third-party marketer too—even if nobody told you.

That’s because many agencies will subcontract with third-party firms to handle Internet advertising, landing pages and the digital side of promoting your company. These marketers can help you obtain a huge number of client leads very quickly. https://integrishield.com/fraudulent-advertising-what-nobody-tells-you/ https://integrishield.com/fraudulent-advertising-what-nobody-tells-you/ https://integrishield.com/fraudulent-advertising-what-nobody-tells-you/ https://integrishield.com/fraudulent-advertising-what-nobody-tells-you/They can position your business in front of literally millions of consumers. In most cases you and the third-party are not responsible to each other because a direct contractual relationship doesn’t exist.

So what happens when this third party marketer misrepresents your brand through fraudulent advertising? Click here to continue reading the full article on demystifying third party marketers and what you can do to protect your business.

Originally Published in: Thinking Bigger Business magazine – July 2015 (Vol.24 Issue 7)

Happy New Year! Looking back, 2014 was an exciting year for IntegriShield. We more than doubled our client base, grew our team significantly, expanded our software services and developed some fantastic new products for our clients. Relationships were strengthened as we continued to listen to our clients and understand the political and regulatory climate in which they operate. As with anything, we must look back to find our lessons, take note, and MOVE FORWARD!

Access to Results-Driven Experts

We have an exceptional team of professionals that work for IntegriShield—each is dedicated to the client’s needs and finds a solution to every problem. That is true professionalism and I am very grateful for the group that continues that make this a successful company. Many of them have been with the company since its inception, and the new faces have helped drive us harder into 2015. We have a culture in our company that lets the individual choose and create his or her career path. If you can think it, you can achieve it!

Setting Goals with Integrity and Innovation

Our success thrives on producing results for clients and we are on pace for 60% growth across the board. While these 2015 goals are aggressive, I remain confident that we will hit them. We can do this in the following ways:

1. Put the client first.

We build solutions for our clients. If we continue to put them first and listen to different needs of each client, both parties will be destined for success.

2. Continue to learn.

IntegriShield is also a consulting company providing insight for clients and others in the industry. We find opportunities to collaborate with thought leaders to enrich in the industries we serve. Visit our Webinars (opens in a new window) page to find out more!

3. Go above and beyond.

Anyone can do just enough to get by, but IntegriShield has always been driven to do more. Work harder. Put in that extra hour. Do more research. Build one more product. We do not compete—we win.

IntegriShield has all of the tools necessary to put us over the top, which is an experience we are pleased to share with our clients. After careful preparation, the company is ready to absorb rapid growth. The processes are in place and the right staff dedicated to driving success is ready. I’m excited for 2015 and honored to be on board with them.

All The Best,

Jennifer Flood

In the higher education field, we all know that distance learning is the way of the future. Online learning has provided many people with the access to receive a quality education when, in the past, they have not had this opportunity. However, taking away the face-to-face aspect of education has allowed some individuals to abuse this opportunity. With the increase in the amount of people utilizing online learning, we also see a significant increase in the amount of financial aid fraud that is happening. Groups of people are starting financial aid fraud rings and making off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in Department of Education financial aid funds.

How do they do it?

These groups, which can consist of any number of individuals, submit multiple financial aid applications to schools. Typically, these schools are focused on online learning and have a low tuition cost. The individuals do the bare minimum in the courses they have elected to take to make sure they meet the participation requirements. Once they have received the excess of their financial aid funds, they disappear.

How can you detect this activity?

There are a couple different things you can look for:

• Multiple FAFSA applications submitted using the same IP address.
• Multiple FAFSA applications submitted using the same address, phone number, e-mail address etc.
• Multiple FAFSA applications submitted from the same area with similar household situations (i.e. single parent households with one or more children).
• Offenders typically pester the financial aid staff for information on when they will receive their funds. They can become aggressive and will threaten to report the person or the school to their congressman or the Department of Education.

How do you handle these situations?

• Delay the financial aid process for these individuals as much as possible. Select for verification or require participation in online orientations or other lengthy processes.
• If possible, set up a team of a few people from different departments to specifically identify and handle such cases.
• Delay the posting of financial aid funds on suspicious students.
• Report any suspicious activity to the Office of the Inspector General.

Knowing where and how your school appears is virtually a full-time job in and of itself in the vast community of online marketing. Whether or not your school contracts with a third-party vendor for the purpose of lead generation and online presence, the unauthorized use of your brand is a consistent problem.

Many schools are typically unaware of the extent of their brands’ presence on third-party websites and lead forms. Even institutions that do not buy leads still exist on the web and lead forms are readily available when paired with certain key terms. Unauthorized use of your school name allows room for the possibility of bait and switch techniques.

You might ask yourself:

• We don’t work with this website, so how heavily is it actually trafficked?

• How many potential students per month or per year are utilizing the lead form found on this page?

• Since we don’t purchase online leads, who receives this information?

• What is done with lead information after it is submitted by the prospective student?

Deceptive advertising is a growing problem in the EDU space, and it is important to stay ahead of the game. A prospective student’s information in the hands of someone else or a competitor is of no use to you and can serve as a direct cut to your company’s revenue.

In order to prevent the possibility of baiting and switching of your brand, it is important to employ routine monitoring to identify how and where your school is being advertised. If you buy leads from online vendors, confirm that sites you find are part of their affiliate networks and that they’re meeting compliance regulations.

To learn more about compliance monitoring and brand management, call 888-547-7110 or email IntegriShield today.

Recently, LinkedIn announced the launch of University Pages, providing another channel for colleges to reach perspective students. According to LinkedIn more than 200 schools have created profile pages.

The new college profiles will include a breakdown of:

–          Number of alumni on LinkedIn.

–          Main fields of employment for graduates.

–          Top employers of alumni.

–          General student body information.

In addition to University Pages, LinkedIn announced updates to their terms of service, lowering the minimum age for users in the United States from 18 to 14 years of age, allowing high school students to explore schools worldwide. This update, making LinkedIn accessible to high school students, will begin September 12th. Not only will this increase membership, but more so will provide LinkedIn a prime opportunity to reach the younger market.

As LinkedIn’s University Pages expand, so will IntegriShield’s effort to monitor higher education and gainful employment in the social media realm. IntegriShield’s Managing Director, Jennifer Flood commented, “As the internet expands, so does the possibility of non-compliant brand messaging. This is why utilizing a compliance monitoring tool is invaluable to schools.”

For more information please visit:  http://www.linkedin.com/edu/?trk=blog

Change has been a main focus for the Obama administration from the start of his 2008 campaign, and after Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address it is apparent that change is on the horizon for the for-profit education sector. As the status quo currently stands, access to federal aid is granted through individual accrediting organizations, each holding a separate set of standards and requirements for qualification. web service security . As stated in the supplemental document released by the White House following the address, “the government currently provides more than $150 billion each year in direct loan and grant aid for America’s students.” With the current economic restraints, the administration is going to tighten what some colleges already consider strict regulations to qualify for Title IV funds.

The Obama administration’s proposed changes to the status quo

The President will call on Congress to consider value, affordability, and student outcomes in making determinations about which colleges and universities receive access to federal student aid, either by incorporating measures of value and affordability into the existing accreditation system; or by establishing a new, alternative system of accreditation that would provide pathways for higher education models and colleges to receive federal student aid based on performance and results.

The administration also proposed a new College Scorecard that will require colleges to provide clear and accurate information on transparent levels that have not been reached in past years. This scorecard will in turn provide prospective students another tool as they search for higher education.

What this means for Compliance

For 2013 compliance is going to take a leading role as regulations in higher education are released throughout the remainder of the year. With the outbreak of compliance in 2012 for-profit colleges will have to once again shape up their advertising efforts to ensure Title IV funding.

For more Information and the Full Report:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/uploads/sotu_2013_blueprint_embargo.pdf

http://higheredwatch.newamerica.net/blogposts/2013/president_obama_s_bold_plan_to_reshape_american_higher_education-79153

Top 5 Compliance Mistakes Your Admissions Staff Could Unknowingly be Making

With the constant changes of brand and compliance regulations, your admissions staff could be violating numerous regulations unknowingly. Make sure your admissions staff are not making these common slip ups.

1)Failing to state that financial aid is only available to those who qualify

• Even though the majority of the Admissions Department is not trained in financial aid, each time financial aid is mentioned they must state that it is only available to those who qualify.

2)Providing the total length to complete a program

• There are many variables that factor in to how fast a student can complete a program. Many of these variables cannot be controlled by the school. Even though there is an average length, representatives must state that length pertains to the normal time it takes to graduate. The length of a program cannot be guaranteed.

3)Providing the total program cost

• Unless your school guarantees a set price for tuition no matter how long the student takes to complete the program, your staff must state that the total cost pertains to graduating in the normal time.

4)Stating that job placement is provided

• Even though many schools have Career Service Departments, admission staffs must be careful when using the phrase “Job Placement.” We suggest using the term “Career Assistance,” or simply stating that your school does not guarantee job placement.

5)Transfer Credit Discussions

• Your staff most likely encounters many credit transfer questions throughout the day, and while your admissions staff may feel comfortable discussing credit transfer we recommend they tread lightly. Even if your school has an articulation agreement with another college, we recommend that your staff simply state that credit transfer depends on the accepting school and refer all further questions to the Registrar’s Office.

While these are some of the more common mistakes made, there are numerous additional mistakes that can be made throughout the admissions process. IntegriShield can help protect your company from the disaster that can occur when your school violates regulations. Contact us today for more information.