A. Every career school and nonregionally accredited college and university operating in the state shall annually apply to the department for licensure. The career school and nonregionally accredited college or university shall apply on forms approved by the department, shall supply all information requested by the department and shall pay an annual licensure fee set by the department.

B. The department or its designee shall consider information submitted by the career school and nonregionally accredited college or university, information from independent accreditation bodies and information gathered during visits to the career school and nonregionally accredited college or university in determining eligibility for licensure.

C. The department shall promulgate and file, in accordance with the State Rules Act [Chapter 14, Article 4 NMSA 1978], rules that:

(1) require each career school and nonregionally accredited college and university to supply annually information regarding enrollment, program completion by students, employment and other educational placements of students and operating revenue budgets;

(2) provide standards and methods for the evaluation and appraisal of career schools and nonregionally accredited colleges and universities;

(3) provide for a tuition refund policy;

(4) require maintenance of adequate records by each career school and nonregionally accredited college and university and provide reasonable availability of records for inspection;

(5) regulate the use of deceptive and misleading advertising and determine what information shall be furnished each student prior to enrollment;

(6) assure that any career school or nonregionally accredited college or university licensed pursuant to the Post-Secondary Educational Institution Act has entered into a teach-out agreement with at least one other private or public institution operating in the state unless the department determines that such an agreement is not feasible;

(7) provide standards for the award of associate, baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees;

(8) require all degree-granting schools to seek appropriate external accreditation by an agency recognized by the federal department of education as a means of assuring quality instruction;

(9) name an advisory committee of education providers and consumers, including owners and operators of career schools and nonregionally accredited colleges and universities;

(10) provide for the maintenance of records for career schools and nonregionally accredited colleges and universities no longer in operation;

(11) provide standards for the evaluation of the financial stability and ability to meet the commitments of career schools and nonregionally accredited colleges and universities;

(12) require each career school and nonregionally accredited college and university to adopt a procedure for the resolution of student complaints; and

(13) establish other requirements necessary to carry out the provisions of the Post-Secondary Educational Institution Act.

D. The department may solicit information pertaining to the financial history and stability of a career school or nonregionally accredited college or university and its owners, including information pertaining to actions of bankruptcy filed within the immediately preceding five years. The department may consider such information in determining eligibility for licensure.

History: 1978 Comp., § 21-23-6.2, enacted by Laws 1994, ch. 108, § 9; 2005, ch. 223, § 6; 2013, ch. 59, § 7.

The 2013 amendment, effective June 14, 2013, changed terms to assign administration of the Post-Secondary Educational Institution Act to the higher education department; and in Subsections A through D, deleted "commission" and added "department".

The 2005 amendment, effective June 17, 2005, provided in Subsection A that every non-regionally accredited college or university operating in New Mexico shall annually apply for a license; provided in Subsection B that the commission shall consider information submitted by the non-regionally accredited college or university and information gathered during visits to the non-regionally accredited college or university in determining eligibility for licensure; provided in Subsections C (1), (2), (4), (6), (9), (10), (11) and (12) that rules promulgated by the commission shall apply to non-regionally accredited college or university; provided in Subsection C(8) that the rules promulgated by the commission shall require all degree granting schools to seek accreditation by an agency recognized by the federal department of education; and provided in Subsection D that the commission shall solicit information about the financial history and stability of non-regionally accredited college or university and their owners.