There is a newer version of the New York Consolidated Laws
2006 New York Code - Licensed Private Schools And Registered Business Schools.
§ 5001. Licensed private schools and registered business
schools/computer training facilities. 1. Schools required to be licensed
or registered. No private school or computer training facility which
charges tuition or fees for instruction and which is not exempted
hereunder shall be operated by any person or persons, firm, corporation,
or private organization for the purpose of teaching or giving
instruction in any subject or subjects, unless it is licensed or
registered by the department. As used in this article, the following
terms shall have the following meanings:
a. "Licensed private school" shall mean any entity offering to
instruct or teach any subject by any plan or method including written,
visual or audio-visual methods.
b. "Registered business school" shall mean a school in which a
curriculum primarily provides a sequence of courses that may include
accounting or bookkeeping, marketing, business arithmetic, business law,
business English, shorthand, typing, computer business
applications/programming, or substantially all said courses, for the
purpose of preparing an individual to pursue a business occupation;
provided, however, that a registered business school program may include
instruction in English as a second language at a beginning or basic
level, provided such instruction shall not constitute more than fifty
percent of such program. Such authorization shall apply to all students
who commence instruction in a registered business school program prior
to July first, nineteen hundred ninety-one. A business school registered
under this section shall employ only teachers licensed by the
department, whose qualifications are substantially equivalent to those
required of teachers of equivalent subjects in public secondary schools.
c. "Computer training facility" shall mean any entity primarily
engaged in providing training on the use, language, programs,
application, networking and technical repair of computers.
2. Exempt schools. The following schools are exempted from the
licensing requirement of this section:
a. institutions authorized to confer degrees in this state;
b. schools, other than correspondence schools, providing kindergarten,
nursery, elementary or secondary education, except schools conducted for
profit which provide instruction in English as a second language or
preparation for high school equivalency examinations to out-of-school
youth or adults;
c. schools operated by governmental agencies or authorities;
d. schools which engage exclusively in training of students with
disabilities as defined in section forty-four hundred one of this
chapter;
e. schools conducted on a not-for-profit basis by firms or
organizations for the training of their own employees only, provided
that such instruction is offered at no charge to such employees, or by a
fraternal society or benevolent order for its members or their immediate
relatives only;
f. schools which provide instruction in the following subjects only:
religion, dancing, music, painting, drawing, sculpture, poetry, dramatic
art, languages, reading comprehension, mathematics, recreation and
athletics;
g. schools in which the course of instruction is licensed, registered
or approved under any other section of this chapter or by any other
department or agency of the state;
h. schools which provide instruction designed solely for giving flight
training and/or related ground school instruction;
i. schools in which instruction designed solely to prepare applicants
for admission to professional licensing examinations administered by the
department pursuant to title eight of this chapter, and applicants for
examination for admission to the practice of law;
j. schools which offer continuing education courses exclusively for
individuals licensed by the department pursuant to title eight of this
chapter and for individuals admitted to the practice of law;
k. schools which provide instruction given exclusively to employees of
a person or organization which has contracted with another person or
organization to provide such instruction at no cost to the employees;
l. conferences, trade shows, workshops, seminars, institutes or
courses of study offered and sponsored either jointly or individually by
recognized trade, business or professional organizations for the benefit
of their membership; or those offered to the general public by
individuals, firms or organizations which neither conduct such
activities for a duration of more than five consecutive days nor more
frequently than twice in any one calendar year;
m. schools which provide instruction exclusively to persons employed
full-time or part-time in the field in which instruction is being
offered, where the instruction is provided to meet continuing education
standards required for professional licensure as defined by law in this
state;
2-a. Schools exempted pursuant to subdivision two of this section may
waive such exemption and apply for a license or registration; provided,
however, that the review of such applications shall be left to the
discretion of the commissioner.
2-b. Programs offered by licensed private schools or registered
business schools to private businesses where there is no tuition
liability to the employees shall be exempt from the requirements of this
article, provided that the following requirements are met:
a. Only employees of the private business for which the program is
being offered may enroll in classes that make up the program.
b. Certificates or diplomas awarded to students in the program may not
reference in any way the department.
c. Prior to the commencement of the program, such schools shall submit
to the department a disclosure form, prescribed by the commissioner,
copies of which shall be provided to all students in such exempt
program, which shall include but not be limited to the following
information:
(i) a description of the location and time period in which the program
will be offered;
(ii) a statement that the students enrolled in the program shall not
be subject to any tuition liability for the program, even if such
students do not complete the program;
(iii) a statement that the program being provided to the private
business has not been approved by the department and is not under the
department's jurisdiction and that the students in the program have been
advised of the fact; and
(iv) the signatures of the school director or owner of the school and
the representative of the private business for which the program is
being offered certifying the accuracy of the statements on the form.
d. Any additional student openings in a program deemed exempt by the
department may be made available to students not affiliated with the
private business on the condition that such students execute a
disclosure form as prescribed in paragraph c of this subdivision. Such
admitted students shall only constitute up to ten percent of the exempt
program's total capacity.
4. Application, renewal application and application fees. a.
Application and renewal application for a license as a private school or
registration as a business school required by the commissioner shall be
filed on forms prescribed and provided by the department. Except as
provided in subparagraph (iii) of paragraph e of this subdivision, each
renewal application for a private business school registered pursuant to
this section or for a private school licensed pursuant to this section
shall include an audited financial statement audited according to
generally accepted auditing standards by an independent certified public
accountant or an independent public accountant and statistical reports
certified by the owner or operator of the school, as required by the
commissioner; provided, however, that the commissioner shall accept a
copy of a current financial statement previously filed by a school with
any other governmental agency in compliance with the provisions of any
federal or state laws, or rules or regulations if such statement
contains all of the information required under this subdivision and
conforms to this subdivision's requirements of auditing, review and
certification. Any required audit of the financial statement shall be a
condition of licensure or registration and shall be paid for by the
school, and the results of the audit shall be forwarded to the
commissioner. Applications not accompanied by the audits and reports
required pursuant to this subdivision shall not be considered for
approval by the commissioner. Initial applications shall be accompanied
by financial reports as required by the commissioner. The commissioner
shall act on an initial application for a license or registration within
one hundred twenty days of receipt of a complete application. The
applicant shall receive a written approval or denial together with the
reasons for a denial of such application.
b. (i) An initial license or registration issued pursuant to the
provisions of this article shall be valid for a period of two years. A
renewal of license or registration issued pursuant to the provisions of
this article shall be valid for a period of four years. All license and
registration fees for a renewal shall be double the amounts listed in
paragraph g of this subdivision.
(ii) Each school shall display, near the entrance to the school and
under glass, the license or registration which has been issued to it.
Such authorization shall be displayed only during the period of its
validity.
c. An application for renewal of any license or registration shall be
submitted at least one hundred twenty days prior to the expiration date
of the current authorization to operate accompanied by the nonrefundable
application fee and such certified statistical reports and annual
financial statements required pursuant to this subdivision.
d. When complete and timely application has been made for renewal of
any license or registration, the school shall receive a written approval
or denial, together with the reasons for denial of renewal, from the
commissioner no less than thirty days prior to the date such license or
registration expires.
e. Financial statements and statistical reports. (i) Licensed private
schools and registered business schools shall submit such certified
statistical reports and annual financial statements as required by the
commissioner. The commissioner may require audited statistical reports
upon a determination that a school has provided false or inaccurate
certified statistical reports. The financial statements shall be based
on the fiscal year of the school and shall also include an itemized
account of tuition refunds due and owing to past or presently enrolled
students. Statistical reports shall include, but not be limited to,
enrollment, completion and placement data. The commissioner shall use
such financial statements and statistical reports submitted for the
purposes of licensure and registration of schools, establishing fees or
assessments pursuant to this article and determining standards pursuant
to paragraph b of subdivision five of section five thousand two of this
article. The attorney general, the comptroller and the president of the
higher education services corporation shall have access to this
information when it is necessary to perform their duties as required by
state law.
(ii) Any school which received in excess of two hundred fifty thousand
dollars in gross tuition in a school fiscal year shall be required to
submit an annual audited financial statement to the commissioner for
that fiscal year. In addition, any school which has a gross tuition of
two hundred fifty thousand dollars or less in a school fiscal year but
whose combined state and federal student financial aid in such year
exceeds one hundred thousand dollars shall also submit an annual audited
financial statement to the commissioner for that fiscal year.
(iii) Schools whose gross tuition is two hundred fifty thousand
dollars or less in a school fiscal year and which receive less than one
hundred thousand dollars in state and federal student financial aid in a
school fiscal year shall file with the commissioner an unaudited
financial statement in a format prescribed by the commissioner,
provided, however, that any such school with gross tuition in excess of
fifty thousand dollars shall have filed at least one audited financial
statement after the first year of its operation. The statement shall be
signed by the president or chief executive officer and the chief fiscal
officer of the school who shall certify that the statements are true and
accurate. Upon a determination by the commissioner that a school has
submitted false or inaccurate statements or that a significant,
unsubstantiated decline in gross tuition has occurred, the commissioner
may require any such school to file an audited financial statement
pursuant to this paragraph.
f. Alternate licensing provision. The commissioner shall issue
regulations which define alternate licensing requirements for the
following:
(1) correspondence schools in which all approved programs and courses
are under three hundred hours;
(2) schools which are eligible for exemption under this section but
which elect to be licensed;
(3) non-profit schools exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of
the internal revenue code whose programs are funded entirely through
donations from individuals or philanthropic organizations, or
endowments, and interest accrued thereon; and
(4) language schools conducted for-profit which provide instruction in
English as a second language and which accept no public funds.
g. Application fee. Every applicant and renewal applicant shall pay to
the department a nonrefundable, nontransferable fee based on gross
annual tuition income as determined by the annual financial statements
required in paragraph a of this subdivision for the most recent school
fiscal year, according to the following schedule:
GROSS ANNUAL TUITION INCOME FEE
0-$199,999 $ 250.00
$200,000-$499,999 $ 500.00
$500,000-$999,999 $ 750.00
$1,000,000-$4,999,999 $1,500.00
$5,000,000-$9,999,999 $3,000.00
$10,000,000 or above $6,000.00
Such fees shall accrue to the credit of the proprietary vocational
school supervision account. If the evaluation of a particular course or
facility requires the services of an expert not employed by the
department, the department shall retain such expert and the school shall
reimburse the department for the reasonable cost of such services.
5. Required disclosure for licensure. a. The commissioner shall
require that each applicant for a license for the operation of a private
vocational or business school disclose the following information:
(1) Whether the applicant, or any corporation, partnership,
association or organization or person holding an ownership or control
interest in such school, or any employee responsible in a supervisory
capacity for the administration of student funds or governmental funds,
has been convicted of a crime defined in this article, or any other
crime involving the operation of any educational or training program,
or, in connection with the operation of any such program, a crime
involving the unlawful acquisition, use, payment or expenditure of
educational or training program funds; and
(2) Whether the applicant, or any corporation, partnership,
association or organization or person holding an ownership or control
interest in such school, or any employee responsible in a supervisory
capacity for the administration of student funds or governmental funds
has been convicted:
(A) in this state of any of the following felonies defined in the
penal law: bribery involving public servants; commercial bribery;
perjury in the second degree; rewarding official misconduct; larceny, in
connection with the provision of services or involving the theft of
governmental funds; offering a false instrument for filing, falsifying
business records; tampering with public records; criminal usury; scheme
to defraud; or defrauding the government; or
(B) in any other jurisdiction of an offense which is substantially
similar to any of the felonies defined in clause (A) of this
subparagraph and for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment in
excess of one year was authorized and is authorized in this state
regardless of whether such sentence was imposed; and
(3) Whether the applicant, or any corporation, partnership,
association or organization or person holding an ownership or control
interest in such school, or any employee responsible in a supervisory
capacity for the administration of student funds or governmental funds,
has been finally determined in any administrative or civil proceeding to
have committed a violation of any provision of this article or any rules
and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, or any related order or
determination of the commissioner, or of any similar statute, rule,
regulation, order or determination of another jurisdiction pertaining to
the licensure and operation of any educational or training program; and
(4) Whether any school owned or operated by the applicant closed or
ceased operation and, if so, whether at the time of the closing the
applicant was subject to a pending disciplinary action, disallowance,
fine or other penalty and whether it owed refunds to any government
agency or students.
b. No application for any license pursuant to this article shall be
denied by reason of disclosure pursuant to this subdivision of the
applicant, or any corporation, partnership, association or organization
or person holding an ownership or control interest in such school, or
any employee responsible in a supervisory capacity for the
administration of student funds or governmental funds unless the
commissioner makes a written determination that there is a direct
relationship between one or more of such previous offenses and the
license sought, or that issuance of the license would create an
unreasonable risk to property or to the safety, education or welfare of
specific individuals or the general public. In making such
determination, the commissioner shall be guided by the factors set forth
in section seven hundred fifty-three of the correction law. For purposes
of this subdivision, "ownership or control interest" means: with respect
to a school that is organized as or owned by a corporation, a position
as an officer or director of such corporation; or, with respect to a
school that is organized as or owned by a partnership, a position as a
partner; or any other interest totaling ten percent or more, whether
direct or indirect, in the total equity or assets of such school.
c. The commissioner may deny, suspend, revoke or decline to renew any
license (1) if the significance of the convictions or administrative
violations warrant such action or (2) if the commissioner determines
that a school did not make any disclosure required by this subdivision.
6. If, during the two year period for which a license or registration
is granted, the commissioner determines that a school's financial
condition may result in the interruption or cessation of instruction or
jeopardize student tuition funds, the commissioner may, upon notice to
the school, place the school on probation for a period of no more than
thirty days, during which time the school and the department must make
efforts to resolve the problems at the school. If no resolution can be
attained, a hearing, pursuant to subdivisions two and three of section
five thousand three of this article will be scheduled. Such probation
may include additional monitoring, inspections, limitations on
enrollment, teaching out some or all of a school's present students or
temporary cessation of instruction.
7. No license or registration granted under this section shall be
transferable or assignable without the approval of the commissioner. Any
transfer or assignment of any interest totaling ten percent or more,
whether direct or indirect, in the total equity or assets of a school
shall be deemed a transfer of such school's license or registration. The
commissioner shall approve or deny a transfer or assignment based on the
requirements set forth in subdivisions three and four of this section.
Such approval or denial, together with the reasons for denial, shall be
transmitted in writing within ninety days of the receipt of the complete
application by the commissioner. Upon a showing of good cause as to why
the applicant could not obtain the commissioner's approval prior to a
transfer or assignment, the commissioner shall temporarily approve the
transfer or assignment for a period not to exceed forty-five days and
for such additional periods as the commissioner may deem appropriate.
8. No licensed or registered school shall discontinue operation or
surrender its license or registration unless thirty days written notice
of its intention to do so and a plan for maintenance of safe keeping of
the records of the school is provided to the commissioner. However, upon
good cause shown, the commissioner may waive the thirty days notice
requirement.
9. Annual supervision fund and tuition reimbursement fund assessment.
a. The commissioner shall annually assess each school a total percentage
of that school's gross tuition pursuant to subdivision three of section
five thousand two of this article, as determined by the annual financial
statement or annual audited financial statement required by this
article. This assessment shall be based upon each school's gross tuition
from the previous year, and shall be payable to the commissioner in
equal quarterly installments which shall be due on June first, September
first, December first and March first.
b. (i) Beginning April first, nineteen hundred ninety-one, such
annualized assessment shall be one percent.
(ii) Beginning July first, nineteen hundred ninety-four, such
annualized assessment shall be nine-tenths of one percent.
(iii) Beginning April first, nineteen hundred ninety-five, and in each
succeeding year, such annualized assessment shall be eight-tenths of one
percent.
c. (i) Of the total assessment provided for herein, three-tenths of
one percent shall accrue to the credit of the tuition reimbursement fund
pursuant to section five thousand seven of this article.
(ii) The balance of the total assessment provided for herein shall be
dedicated to fund the department's supervision and regulation of
licensed private schools and registered business schools pursuant to an
annual appropriation and an annual plan of expenditure prepared by the
commissioner and approved by the director of the budget. Following the
close of each fiscal year, the commissioner, in consultation with the
director of the budget, shall determine if the balance in the
proprietary vocational school supervision fund for such fiscal year
exceeded the amount required for the support of the department's
supervisory activities taking into account projected revenues and
expenditures for the subsequent fiscal year. To the extent that a
surplus is identified, the commissioner, with the approval of the
director of the budget, shall direct the transfer of such surplus to the
tuition reimbursement fund.
d. Payments made within thirty days following the due date shall be
subject to interest at one percent above the prevailing prime rate.
Thereafter, late payments may result in suspension of licensure by the
commissioner. Payments required by this subdivision shall be considered
a condition of licensure or registration.
Disclaimer: These codes may not be the most recent version. New York may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google
Privacy Policy and
Terms of Service apply.
